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"You're disgusting, Nicodemus." Vittoria spat on the floor beside my hand. "I asked you if she was going to be a problem, and you lied to my face. I'm done.” She stripped off the diamond ring and threw it at me. “The engagement is off."
Ava sat up and covered her tits, even though it did nothing to hide her gorgeous body. I hooked my arm around Ava and lifted her off the floor.
"My father and brothers will hear about this." Vittoria shook her head, and her nose tipped up in disgust. "I don't want any part of this family or you." Then, she spun on her heels and walked away.
Dante snapped his fingers. "No, you don't. Get back here, Vittoria."
My ex-fiancee stopped at the entrance to the living room and angled her body to look at my brother. "You may have power over your family, but you don't control mine. And you never will."
Ava clung to my side, using my body to shield hers.
Dante strolled over to Vittoria and lowered his voice so I couldn't hear. He nodded for her to follow him, and then they were gone.
"What's going to happen?" Ava asked me.
I sat on a barstool and pulled her into my arms. "Remember when I said I would get out of the engagement?"
Her mouth widened in surprise. "You're sneaky. Why didn't you tell me this was part of your plan?"
"Because it needed to look real."
ChapterTwenty-Six
AVA
Nico was working from home, so I spent the day with him. My guys were afraid to leave me alone after the Vitales threatened another war because of me. So I spent most of the day on Nico's couch binge-watching Netflix.
Around dinnertime, my stomach rumbled, so I searched for Nico. I found him behind the desk, his suit jacket on the chair back, his long-sleeve shirt rolled up to his elbows. He clasped a pen, head down as he stared at a document.
"Are you working through dinner?" I stepped into the office. "I'm kinda hungry if you wanna eat with me."
He dropped the pen onto the desk and beckoned me with his finger. "Vieni, passerotta."
Holding his gaze, I strolled to him in the cute red dress he'd picked out for me. My men spoiled me like a queen.
He hooked his arm around me and sat me on his lap. "What do you want to eat?"
I slid my arm across the back of his neck and smiled. "Surprise me."
Nico removed his cell phone from his pocket and ordered us a pizza and a bottle of red wine from room service.
"You've been in this office all day. What are you working on?"
"Legal stuff."
"That's vague." I laughed. "What kind of legal stuff?"
When I stared directly into his blue eyes, I completely lost myself in them. Everything about Nico was so beautiful. And yet, the darkness inside him was so ugly.
But I loved him.
"I'm going over a bill that will take money from the casinos. It can't pass. So it's my job to figure out if there's a way around it or if we needed to crack some skulls."
"You’re looking for legal loopholes?"
He nodded to confirm. "It's not just the money the state will take from the casinos. The bill also affects how we run our business. It will create more roadblocks, making it harder to hide our less legitimate activities."
"Doesn't the state make more money if you do?"
