AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Isabella doesn't need to know any of my musings, though. Not when she’s pushed up from the bed, her dress back in pace, and her bare feet padding across the rug. She continues to shake her head in denial.
Fury continues to smolder in my vines, but I say nothing, watching her pace. The long lines of her legs make every stride count. She drags her hands through her hair the exact way I’d wished to.
“I don’t understand, Ricardo.” She’s struggling to stay calm, and her voice is shockingly even. “How could I have agreed to something when he said nothing to me? Who is he? You know, don’t you?”
“What do you want me to say? That you are entirely fucked?” That she’s taken all of us down with her? “He’s a syndicate leader, Isabella, with avenues of his own. You played into his game.” I shiver as a chill took up residence where the liquor’s heat had been and take another sip, smaller this time, from the bottle.
It came at the perfect time, too, with the Balestras in chaos. The passing of the guard has been a long time coming, and old Edward Balestra, the family patriarch, has finally started putting the wheels in motion to hand over the bulk of control of the empire to Mia.
Which Drago and his band of bastards must have known.
Isabella’s mouth drops open as I struggle to keep my gaze away from her curves. Those strong legs and her bare arms. My words have stopped her in her tracks. “If I didn’t agree to anything, then there has to be a way out of it,” she says at last.
“You did agree. When you accepted the bracelet. It’s a binding agreement.”
More turmoil.
And our competitors, the ones we’ve been content to watch from the side, have stepped in to seize the opportunity to pull one over on us. Goddamn it. Prokhor hadn’t even been on our radar. We failed spectacularly by not recognizing him as a threat.
“And there is no way out of it?” she asks, chewing on her lower lip.
Do I tell her the truth, or do I sugarcoat this? She knows nothing, I remind myself for the thousandth time, to the point it’s become my goddamn life motto. To stay away from her because she isn’t a part of this, and her family has worked way too hard to keep it that way. Sending her away to school, physical distance. Trying to set her up in a separate apartment away from the house and never involving her in business dealings to the best of their abilities.
Which meant, according to Carter, I had to keep my fucking cock to myself because otherwise I’d fuck up and involve her. I’d get a taste, and I’d either want to keep her, or she'd want to keep me, and either way, it’s asking for a mess.
Except her desire is still slicked across my face, and I know I’ll remember her taste for days after this.
She accepts my silence for an answer, but when she turns to me, there are no tears running down her face. There is only cold resolve and grim determination.
“I’m not loving the expression change.”
“You know what? I’m not worried,” she says in an entirely unconvincing tone.
I scoff. “That makes one of us, then. What do you mean you’re not worried?”
“I can make this work.” She hurries over to stand in front of me, and without her heels, she’s dropped several inches. Not as short as her sisters but I’m still several inches taller. “Correction: I’m going to make this work.”
Now I really hate what I’m hearing. Worry shoots straight down to my core. Rather than letting her see, I draw up the internal walls and offer her a softer chuckle. “A competitor literally owns you, and you’re telling me you can make this work? Absolutely not.”
Her brows scrunch even closer together at my words. “There’s no need to be so morose about it,” she argues.
Morose? She’s out of her goddamn mind. Did the orgasm scramble her brain?
“It’s called reality. It’s much easier to play pretend when you don’t know the cost or the steps, which you do not,” I snap.
“I’m not playing pretend.” She stands statue-still in front of me, waiting to see how I react. “You don’t get it. You’re still underestimating me.”
“I’d be a little more inclined to listen if I knew what the fuck you’re talking about. Because I’ve personally seen your skills with your mouth, so I’m not underestimating you there.”
It might be a low blow, but seeing a little bit of spark return to her eyes is better.
“I can make this work. I’m going to be the man on the inside. You said Drago is a competitor, yes? Is he the one who has been intercepting our trade routes?” Her hands slide to her hips.
“We believe so,” I hedge.
“Then I’m your inside man. I’ll help you take them down from within his organization. It’s perfect.”
My eyes practically bulge out of my head. “You’re out of your goddamn mind. No.”
