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“So,” Roman starts, ready to get this all over. “Why exactly did you ask for this meeting?”
“Sorry, son. Just a minute. My other daughter’s running late but she’ll be here any moment.”
My eyebrow flicks up.His other daughter?At that moment we hear the sound of heels clacking on the floors growing closer. When a woman shows up at the doorway leading into the room, I freeze. Every muscles in my body locks down. And a quiet strangled gasp escapes me.
Michael who’s standing beside me is the only one that hears it. He looks at me in question. But I can’t meet his eyes. I’m too busy staring as Sophia walks into the room, flanked by two other men. She doesn’t look at me, immediately moving to stand behind her father’s chair beside her sister.
“This is my second daughter, Sophia.”
She still hasn’t looked up.What the actual fuck is going on? This has to be a prank.
My muscles loosen and I want to take a step towards her. But then I catch the slightest rippling of an expression. Not Sophia’s. But her sister, whose eyes flick nervously from me back to Sophia. It’s only for a second but that that looks speaks volumes.
It really is Sophia. The woman I befriended. The woman that provided me comfort in the worst moments of my life. She’s really here. And she lied to me.
It’s completely clear that she used me. For one second, I feel like I’m sinking into a hole. I stare straight at her and she’s still not meeting my eyes and I feel fucking sick. My chest clenches and my fingers itch to hit something.
A ludicrous thought sneaks into my mind. And I notice she’s wearing pants. I’ve never seen her in anything other than those short skirts or dresses that drove me out of my fucking mind. I’m staring so intently and she’s looking nowhere near me. Then Eduardo starts to speak and an eerie calm settles over me. I finally look away.
I’ve never experienced an out of body experience before but this feels like it. Or at least it feels like I force myself to decompress. I forget she’s here. I pretend she’s not. Right now, her presence is inconsequential. It doesn’t matter. Not now. She’s intent on pretending she has no idea who I am. And I decide to do the same.
My gaze goes back to the one person I should have been focusing on from the start. He still hasn’t looked at me, that more than anything fills me with rage.
“You don’t want to fight with my family. You think we’ve hidden for so long because we’re weak? We’re so much stronger than you can imagine,” Eduardo is saying.
My jaw tightens.
“And yet, you requested this meeting,” Roman states.
“To negotiate. I’m willing to offer you incentives. As a gesture of my goodwill. You’ll stand down and maybe our families can come to an agreement. I’m getting old, and I have no interest in engaging in a fight with your family, De Luca.”
Can he hear himself right now?”
“I can assure you, there’s nothing you could possibly offer me that I require.”
“Oh really?” Eduardo looks at Enzo. “I hear you’ve been having struggles with the Russian government. Doesn’t the Russo’s main source of wealth come from the drug farms in Moscow?”
“I was wondering when you’d play that card,” Roman says and I can hear the smile in his voice. He leans forward. “So what because you’ve got the Bratva on your side, you think you’ve invincible?”
“That’s a rhetorical question by the way,” Enzo adds. “You’re not fucking invincible.”
Eduardo smiles without teeth. “Two little boys aren’t going to tell me what I am or am not.”
That fucking- That’s it. I can’t take this anymore.
“I’ve had enough,” I say, stepping forward.
Roman looks at me and I can see the warning in his eyes. The room grows quiet and everybody looks at me. But I only have eyes for him. His brown eyes finally meet mine. But they don’t so much as flicker.
“You know who I am,” It’s not a question, “I’ve been listening to you talk and you wanna know how I know you’re a coward, Eduardo? Because you haven’t mentioned the reason you’re actually here. The reason we’re all here.”
His jaw clenches but he doesn’t speak. I lean forward on the table, placing both my hands on it, my gaze still fixed on him.
“We’re here because you murdered an innocent, defenseless woman. Does that make you feel proud? You feel good about yourself?” I snarl. “And then you walk in here. Acting all high and mighty when you should be fucking begging. What the fuck did you say? You want to negotiate, you want us to come to an agreement? I’ve only got one thing to say to you, bastard. Go fuck yourself.”
I hear a sharp intake of breath from somewhere but I don’t look up. And then Eduardo begins to laugh. It’s a grating sound and my shoulders tense. When he finally stops, he sighs softly.
“You’re nothing like your father, Anthony. You’ve got a spark in you, boy. Reminds me of your mother,” he says with mirth. My breath hitches and my eyes narrow.
