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It’s time for me to test my own mettle.
Every footstep into the house sees my resolve growing.
Ricardo had practically punted me out of the car this morning with a bid to stay put until he’s ready for me. He wants me to trust him when he isn’t forthcoming with the details of his plan. Everything is on the line here, and I’m supposed to, what? Wait?
How do I even know he’s got a plan?
He wants me to be patient with my knees bobbing and my face painted while he goes out to fix the problem I caused? Sorry, no.
Isabella Balestra is going to do things her way from now on.
Rafel hadn’t been too happy with me when I called him out for a meeting. It was the first thing I did when I got home because Rafel and Archie are the best tech guys we have working for us. Both of them have been sequestered down in the basement stronghold where the bulk of our business takes place, although the former hadn’t been too happy about his promotion.
It’s more money, yes, but he used to be Mia’s personal guard dog. Her driver who followed her every move until he intercepted a bullet meant for her.
He’s long since healed, but his investigative prowess made him a commodity that Daddy wasn’t willing to send back out there on the street on the off chance of another bullet, so Rafel has been chained to desk duty.
From what I’ve heard, he’s been invaluable.
And now…he’ll work for me.
When I’d gone to him asking for information on trade routes, asking for him to tweak certain parameters in the printouts, he’d been skeptical. Glared at me as if I’d asked him to chop off my sister’s right leg and brandish it above his head.
It’s fine. I don’t need him to be happy about giving up the information I requested, especially not when I refused to tell him why I needed it.
But I’m a Balestra whether my father wants me to be part of the clan or not. My word is law. It’s time I stopped acting like the flippant child they’re content to pamper and start acting like the intelligent fucking woman I am.
“Miss Isabella,” Rafel had begun. “This information is classified.”
“I understand,” I’d answered patiently. “But it’s there to be used in case of an emergency, yes?” I brightened the wattage of my smile. “This is an emergency.”
It’s not all about Ricardo and his knowledge, I think to myself as I sit in the car outside of Drago’s mansion with my fingernails drumming out a beat on my knee. He might know the lingo, the details, but I know people. And I know myself.
I’m not going to give Drago what he asked for, even if it means taking a risk with several lives besides mine as chips on the poker table. There has got to be a way to tread the line between the two options, both of them bad.
There’s enough information on the zip drive I carry to satisfy Prokhor and to hopefully distract him while I plant the bugs in his house, all four of them stuffed into my bra and out of sight. Once those are in place?—
We’ll be able to listen in on what happens. And Mia’s people will move in for the killing strike when the time is right.
Done and done, right?
So why do I feel like I’m going to throw up on the spot? My stomach twists in agonizing circles. Nausea has sweat trailing down my spine and goose bumps breaking out along the top of my ass, the way they always do right before I'm about to lose it.
Throwing up in Drago’s lap might be satisfying short term but I’ve got to think about the long run here.
I lose ground if I show him any weakness.
“I refuse to ruin my makeup because of this,” I tell myself. A sick version of a pep talk.
One of the men I’ve taken with me stands outside of the car door with his fingers draped over the handle, ready to open it for me at my word. Ready to release me into this house where I will bring every person inside to their knees.
My naivety is going to work for me. It will be my burning sword of justice sweeping through this place, and victory will be all the sweeter because no one expects it out of me.
Sweet Isabella. Useless Isabella. Good only to be given direction and nothing more because she’s too good for this. Do any of them realize their insistence on pushing me to the side has only cemented what I’ve always felt about myself?
That I’m good for nothing.
I draw in a final deep inhalation before squaring my shoulders and steeling myself against what I might have to do today. There’s always the possibility of another sexual act. Whether I want it to happen or not, and I tried to make peace with that on the drive over here.
