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Never to my face.
But as the talks go on, he's not the only one at the table who can't help looking at me. Despite myself, I feel a heady rush at being the center of attention. Hadria was right. I have power here, power that I've tried to avoid for most of my life. My father always dangled me in front of men like these, but I was never dressed like this. Never so obvious, designed to claim attention, to divert.
It's intoxicating.
And yet there is one person in the room who seems to find it very easy to ignore me completely. Hadria continues speaking without even a glance my way, until Nero interrupts brusquely. "You can't just seize what's mine," he spits out.
Hadria raises an eyebrow. "I already have."
The implied meaning makes Nero flush crimson. He grips the table, leaning forward menacingly.
"I should rip your collar off the bitch and fuck her over this goddamn table. That'd show you just who owns this city."
The room grows tense, men exchanging uneasy looks. Hadria remains unruffled.
"You're welcome to try, little brother," she replies mildly. "But it would not end well for you." Her eyes flash a warning that makes every Imperioli man at the table lean back a little, unwilling to be in the crossfire.
And Nero leans back too, scowling.
His reactions reveal how easily Hadria manipulates him. His fragile ego crumbles under her psychological tactics. The dynamics of power in this room revolve around perception, and Hadria is a master puppeteer.
A puppeteer who controls my strings as well.
So I do something that is perhaps unwise, but is a little gesture of defiance, a little power play of my own.
I catch Nero's eye, and I run my tongue seductively over my bottom lip.
Abruptly, he surges to his feet. "That woman belongs to me," he snarls, stabbing a finger at me. "And I'll goddamn take her back from you tonight."
He nods sharply at his men, but the Syndicate members are already pulling out their own guns.
A split-second later, chaos erupts, shouts and screams filling the air. Hadria shoves me down, hard, under the table, and I go easily, my heart pounding wildly.
I grab frantically for her, but she's had to dive to the side as bullets splinter the chair in which she was sitting. "Hadria!"
Bullets pepper the walls, and I have to duck my head to avoid shards of wood and glass. The Syndicate members scatter around the warehouse, shouting and shooting, except for Lyssa, who tackles Hadria to the ground a few feet away, shielding her body.
Fear and adrenaline surge through me. Is Hadria okay?
Mario crawls over to me; Lyssa has taken a few of the top trainees on this mission. I guess it's a baptism of fire. "Suzy!" he gasps. "You okay?"
"Yeah." And seeing Mario, remembering the time I managed to overpower him—me, little Suzy Sunshine, flattening someone built like him—gives me my courage back. Peeking out over the top of the table, I spot Hadria and Lyssa. They've scrambled to their feet, and they're shooting as they move for cover.
Oh, thank God.Thank God. She's alive and she's okay.
But then, across the warehouse floor, I see one of Nero's men taking aim at Hadria's unprotected back. Without thinking, I lunge for Mario, grabbing the gun from his limp hand. He gapes at me, stunned.
And then, praying to anyone that might be listening, I fire at Nero's man. The shot catches him in the shoulder and he stumbles back with a howl, blood pooling fast beneath him. His gun clatters to the floor.
Everything slows. I can only hear my thundering pulse as I lower the gun with trembling hands. What have I done? I've shot a man, possibly killed him. Bile rises in my throat.
Yet part of me burns with vicious satisfaction at the sight of him writhing around on the ground.
In seconds, Hadria and Lyssa dispatch several more Imperioli men with lethal efficiency. The rest turn tail and run, Nero along with them.
Panting in the aftermath, Hadria scans the room before her gaze settles on me. I expect anger over my interference, but instead she looks…impressed.
"Well done, Sunshine," she says softly. Lyssa's eyes flick between us, but I can't read her face.
