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I was kind. I even returned the bullets, albeit in a second box.
I sit forward, resting my hands on my knees, and stare at him with the look I know some have described as a vision of imminent death.
His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows, and his smile fades away to nothing.
“I agreed to meet with you, Anders, because I have a message for your boss and I need you to deliver it in person.”
Casually, I draw my gun from the holster at my side and lay the barrel across one knee.
“Fuck, Rio. I didn’t come here to make trouble—”
“Tell Rossi I have the Carlotti girl,” I cut in.
Anders’s head jerks up, and his mouth drops open before he swivels to reassess the room.
His gaze lands on Bianca, sitting alone at the bar with a watchful Danelli hovering nearby, her long legs crossed in an elegant fashion. One high-heeled foot twitches in a small sign of nerves. A cascade of dark hair tumbles down her back, secured at the nape of her neck by a sparkling clip.
The swollen cheek and eye are not visible from this angle, and she looks every inch the assured Mafia princess as she stares down into her drink, twirling the contents aimlessly with a straw.
Something unfamiliar stirs inside me. I tamp it back down. I need to concentrate on the matter at hand.
Anders returns his gaze to me. “Her? Holy shit, man, are you sure? Everyone’s been looking for her for years.”
“AndIfound her.” I glance at my Rolex. No need to let him know I am yet to receive the DNA confirmation. “We will be married within the week, and the Agosti-Carlotti union will be official and irrevocable. The cartel will be mine. Tell your boss that if he wishes to keep doing business in this state, he had better back down now. He has lost, but there is opportunity for both of us, if he toes the line.”
“Yourline, you mean? He won’t like that.”
Anders is pale, my message clear, but he needs to posture a little to save face. I can’t be bothered with it. Anders’s ego is Carlos’s problem, not mine.
“Yes. My line. And I don’t care if Carlos likes it or not. You may leave.” I nod at Danelli, and several of my men step forward to ensure the three visitors are escorted out.
When they’re gone, I lean back, satisfied. No bloodshed required, at least for tonight.
Putting Bianca over by the bar was not only to stop her from hearing our discussion. It was to give her somewhere to shelter, should Anders or his men decide they preferred to shoot first and ask questions later.
My phone pings at that moment with the message I’ve been waiting for.
I read the text and open the report that accompanies it before looking at Bianca. She is glaring at me with a stormy gaze that morphs into confusion, and then outright fear, as she glances down at the phone in my hand and back up to meet my eyes.
I smile, a predator with his prey.
Bianca Carlotti is about to get the shock of her life when I show her these results.
Time to set the Agosti-Carlotti cartel permanently in place, and get this cursed marriage game underway.
5
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
Abraham Lincoln
Bianca
I stare downat the DNA results confirming I am Bianca Carlotti, last remaining heir of the Carlotti crime family.
“Uh-uh. No way.” I shake my head.
Only once I start, I don’t seem able to stop. I shake and shake until Rio reaches out and grabs my chin to stop the movement.
