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He hadn’t meant that to come out so forcefully. Hadn’t meant to let on that crushing the kind of parasites he abhorred had been the only reason he’d taken on this particular client.
‘Why is it inevitable?’
‘Because people have the unfortunate habit of believing the worst can never happen to them. That they’re safe trusting the best of people who lie and cheat their way into positions of power. Right up until they discover differently. Almost always by then, it’s too late.’
As it’d been too late for his father, his mother and far too many members of his family. In the space of one lazy Sunday afternoon, his family had been decimated by men his father thought he could trust.
The speculation in her eyes deepened and he wondered why the hell he couldn’t shut up. She didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to work out that there was somepersonal historybehind his clipped words.
He turned from her, stabbing his fingers through his hair as the roiling intensified within him. He’d never been great with being away from Sicily at this time of year. It had been his mother’s favourite season, every moment before Christmas Day a time of joyous celebration. Even after the tragedy, despite her sorrow and heartbreak over her dead husband, she’d been determined to put on a brave front for her sons.
Of course, it also inevitably reminded him of all that had been taken from him, and reignited the vow he’d made to make his enemies pay.
Maybe that was why all these useless emotions were leaking from him.
Basta...
Massimo had better present himself tomorrow or he would hunt him down and make him regret these silly games he was playing with him.
Until then...
He turned back to her, his gut clenching again when he found her eyes pinned on him. Her expression was a mix of sympathy and heated curiosity. He hated the first, was unwillingly drawn to the second.
Alessio couldn’t...didn’t feel inclined to look away.
Somethingin Gigi Parker’s eyes drew him. A spark within the smoky grey that propelled fire and need through him that had nothing to do with the turbulent situation with his brother, his client, his stolen heirloom or the outside world, and everything to do with the comprehension that he wasattractedto her.
Diu mio.A growl left his throat before he could contain it.
She startled in her seat, but surprisingly, after a beat, said, ‘Well, the only way forward that I can see is for your client to come clean or to buy off these people who own the fifteen per cent. As much as it sticks in my craw to help them profit further, sometimes it’s better to cut your losses.’
Interesting. ‘And if they won’t go away?’
Her eyes widened into sparkling pools that he wanted to get lost in. Then a shadow crossed her face and she lowered her gaze for a second before meeting his again. ‘Everyone has a price. Or barring that...’
Her voice drifted off and a look came over her face, a reluctance as she took a breath.
‘Or what?’
Her lips firmed, then she forced the words out. ‘A weak spot that they don’t want exposed?’
Now it was his turn to burn with curiosity. The depth of feeling in her voice told an intriguing story. The need to know pounded through him, boundaries be damned.
He forced himself to suppress the need to demand to know what it was.
‘You recommend that I exploit that weak spot?’ he asked, quietly impressed and intrigued.
‘Aren’t you going to anyway?’ she returned, mild challenge and...something else in her eyes.
Something that resembled... She wasn’tjudginghim. Was she?
‘You find something wrong with the way I fix problems,duci?’ he asked silkily, wishing his earlier fury with her would return. Because, really, who was this creature to judge him? She was athief. A common, albeit alluring, mercenary. ‘Aren’t you, right in this moment, playing dirty to get what you want?’
She had the grace to blush—another intriguing ability he wouldn’t have believed her capable of at their last interaction. Alessio followed the pink trajectory, an urgent craving to trace his fingers along her skin attacking his insides.
‘Would you have given me a chance any other way?’
‘No.’ Alessio didn’t have any qualms about admitting it. After the harrowing experiences he’d endured, he apologised for very little. Still, he avidly watched her reaction to his response.
