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Now it was the end of the day, most everyone already gone, and I was still sitting in my chair,wondering what in the hell I was going to do. Before overhearing Nero’s conversation with Aurelio last night, I had trusted that he’d know what to do about Franz Meier. Even if I hadn’t trusted him with my heart before last night, I had trusted him to handle the situation with Franz. However, now I didn’t know who to trust. All I knew was that Nero was keeping a secret from me, my sister was avoiding me, and my parents were no help. I could fight my way through a courtroom without breaking a sweat, but when it came to dealing with territory wars, I had no idea where to start, despite my upbringing.
On top of all that, I’d gone and done the stupidest thingthat I could possibly do, muddying the waters even more. This morning in my office, I had looked up whatil mio cuoremeant. I had used a language translator, and if Nero was indeed speaking Italian to me, then he was calling me ‘my heart’, and I had no idea what to do with that piece of information, especially since he had first called me that at my parents’beforewe’d gotten married.
“Good, you’re still here.”
Startled out of my thoughts, I looked up to see Ryan standing just inside my office. “Ye…yeah,” I muttered. “I…I’ll probably be here a while. What about you?”I grabbed my phone, looking at the time. “Is everyone already gone?”
Ryan nodded. “Yeah, it’s just you and me here.”
“Well,now, that’s not exactly true, Buckner.”
I stood up out of my seat as soon as Franz Meier walked into my office, shutting the door behind him like he had every right. When Iglanced over at Ryan, my first instinct was to protect him, but all that changed when it dawned on me that Franz had called Ryan by his last name.
With anger and dread swirling around in my gut, I asked, “What’s going on?”
“I told you that my source wasa reliable one, did I not,mein schatz?”
Jesus Christ.
I looked over at Ryan, doing my best to sound calm. “What’s he talking about?”
“I did this for us, Kasen,” heblurted, and I could feel my eyes widen at that. “When you told me that you’d rather live here than hang out with a man that you have to pretend to love, my heart broke for you. I couldn’t stand the thought of you being unhappy. Then, when you told me that you had no choice but to stand idly by while he slept with other women…” He shook his head. “I…I just couldn’t believe it.”
“Ryan, friend or not, it’s not your place to interferein my marriage,” I pointed out, doing my best to keep my wits about me.
“And I wasn’t going to,” he lied. “But…but then I saw…”
“Saw what?” I bit out, irritation joining all my other jumbled emotions.
His shoulders deflated a little. “I saw Nero Sartori walking you out of your office Monday evening. I was still here, and I…well, it wasn’t hard to guess why he showed up here.” He shook his head again. “His blatant lack of respect for you finally pushed me to make a decision.”
This dude was nuts.
“Have you lost your mind?” Though I was angry as hell, Istill felt a rush of relief that Fia hadn’t been the one behind all of this. My sister was in the clear, making this situation that much more easier to navigate. While I still had no idea what was going on, at least my family was safe.
“Now, now, now,” Franz drawled outmockingly. “I see no reason not to tell Mrs. Sartori the whole truth. Do you, Ryan?”
Ryan’sface turned red, and that’s when I knew that this mess was not about my damn happiness. Again, no matter how I’d chosen to live my life, I’d been raised by a Mafia Boss, so I knew a fucked-up situation when I saw one.
“What are you talking about?” I asked again, addressing Franz this time.
“Well,mein schatz,your buddy, Ryan, has a bit of a gambling problem.” Franz looked over at Ryan. “Don’t you, Ryan?”
Ryan started shaking his head, but I could see the truth written all over his face. “Don’t listen to him, Kasen,” he said. “I really am doing this for you.”
“Doing what?” I snapped. “Bringing the German Mob to my fucking doorstep?”
“No, no, no,” he rushed out, his nerves getting the better of him. “With Nero out of the picture, my debt might be cleared, but you’ll be happy again.”
My head reared back in surprise at how naïve Ryan sounded. Did he really believe that the Germans were going to let him live? Did he really believe that he wasn’t going to go down forthis? Even if the Sartoris didn’t kill him, no way were the Germans going to let a degenerate gambler live after something like this. That’s not how things worked. The Mafia left no loose ends, and if Ryan wasn’t so blinded by his gambling addiction, he’d recognize this.
“You told them that I would kill Nero Sartori to clear your fucking tab?” I couldn’t believe how enraged I felt over his stupidity. He had dragged me into something that I had no idea how to get out of because he was a fucking idiot. “Are you insane?”
“Are you?” Franz countered, and when I looked backat him, he added, “After all, if you don’t do this, then I will kill you both.” He cocked his head at me. “Are you willing to die for Nero Sartori.”
“I’m not stupid,” I snapped. “Regardlessof who I’m married to, I’m Renzo Milano’s daughter; I know how this works, and this doesn’t end with me quietly poisoning my husband or smothering him with a pillow in his sleep. If I kill Nero Sartori, then the entire Sartori family will burn this city to the ground with their revenge.” I looked back over at Ryan. “How stupid can you fucking be?” His eyes widened like a child’s. “Do you seriously think that they’re not going to do everything in their power to cover their tracks, Ryan? Do you honestly believe that they’re not going to get rid of all the loose ends once the Sartori Prince is dead?”
“N…no…no,” he stammered. “They promised.” He looked over at Franz. “You promised that you would clear my debt and leave me alone if I got Kasen to kill Nero.”
