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“Who’s dead?” He grumbled as a greeting.
“No one yet.” I rubbed between my eyes, trying to stop the headache. “Is Gio marrying Zara off to Angelo Kent?”
I heard his heavy exhale, telling me what I needed to know. “They’re signing the contract in a few weeks.”
“What the fuck?” I couldn’t keep the anger from my voice. He had no idea I’d promised Ariella I’d find her sister a good husband. It wasn’t his fault. But I hated feeling backed into a corner. “This can’t happen.”
“I don’t like it either, but we have no reason to suspect it’s not legitimate. It’s a good deal. Gio might have secured his position with it.”
I listened to him detail the contract. It would give both sides a lot more money through drug distribution. But it left a sour taste in my mouth. Mitchell Kent was a ruthless bastard; I didn’t see him making such a generous deal. Especially because he already had an alliance with the Vancinis.
I wondered what else Gio had promised him. What lies he’d fed him to make this deal happen? “Ariella is pissed.”
“This is the life. Unless…” His beat of silence made my heart rate kick up. “She still has the video. She can use it and get her sister out. But they could never come back.”
“What?” My throat went dry. My airway constricted until I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
“Don’t tell anyone it was my idea. I shouldn’t even have told you. This marriage is what’s best for the family. But my wife would kill me if I didn’t say it.” I could hear the smile in his voice when he mentioned Emma, but it did nothing to stop the chaos inside me. “They’d be our enemies, but Zara wouldn’t have to marry Angelo.”
“There’s no other way? You’re the boss. You’re telling me you can’t reject this.” Fear slid through my veins. I couldn’t lose her.
“Not outright like that. It’s a good deal.”
He was my best friend, but he still had responsibilities. Hundreds of men relied on him to make money, to support their families. And he had a family of his own he had to protect.
I wanted to hate him for not helping, but I couldn’t. I hated myself for thinking my new position as underboss would create miracles. We didn’t live in that kind of world.
If I wanted Ariella, I’d have to do what was always necessary. I’d have to take her.
“Got it.”
After hanging up the phone, I stared at Ariella through the glass. She was beautiful as the moonlight lit her up. She was everything.
I took a steadying breath as I walked back outside. Her honey eyes filled with hope as she looked at me. “It’s true.”
I watched as her expression darkened. All the hope leaving her. “You said you’d help Zara. You promised.”
I hated the desperate tone in her voice. Hated seeing her upset. The words to save her were on the tip of my tongue. But saving Zara meant condemning me to a life without my nightling. And I wouldn’t do it. Not again.
“He’s not that bad.” The lie felt dirty in my mouth. But maybe it wasn’t a lie. Angelo only had one ex-girlfriend, and she was still alive. There were a lot of mafia men who couldn’t say that.
“They call him the Angel of Death!”
I winced at her rage. I was fucking despicable. A murderer who liked to cut out eyeballs as trophies, but you had to do a lot more to have a nickname like that.
“This is a trick.” She shouted, becoming more distressed. “They’re using her.”
“There’s no reason to believe it’s anything other than it seems. It’s a good strategic alliance for the Gallos.”
She looked at me like I slapped her in the face. Like I was becoming everything she hated. Everything she accused me of being last night.
I wasn’t. I was worse. I wasn’t doing this for the good of other people. To keep our business alive.
I was lying for one selfish reason. To keep her.
She shook her head as she set her wine glass on the ground. That tiny movement made my chest tighten. The way her eyes reflected so much hurt and betrayal as she stood.
“Nightling?” I grasped her hand, stopping her from pushing past me.
