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I swallowed a shudder and exhaled, dragging myself from the past. It took an entire minute before they started talking, like assassinations were an everyday thing. A whole minute before the brooding, armed Mafia Princes went back to staring down each other from across the room and the women dressed in Dior and Armani picked up where they'd left off mid-gossip.
Not all of them were Mafia, I'd figured that much on my own. Some were sons and daughters of the insanely wealthy, and I was guessing their world was as cut-throat as you could get, which made sense if they were going to a place like the Cosa Nostra Institute, run by someone or someones called the Commission.
I'd thought the Commission was a bunch of old men in wrinkled suits…it looked like I was wrong.
Only one of the rich didn’t engage with the others. A millionaire redhead, going by the sparkling pink diamonds she wore. She stood separate from the others, with a glass of champagne, catching their careful stares and whispers.
I mentally counted the worth of her diamonds, figuring out what kind of stocks I’d buy instead. Stocks that could not only provide a stable income, but could be used to layer half a million a year in blockchain investments. The kind that traded dirty money for clean. She lifted her head and met my gaze, her smile quick,hopeful. I broke the stare and looked away, tucking away the calculations in my head.
Don’t draw attention, just blend in.
Laundering money was the kind of information that’d get me in trouble. The kind of information that could get me killed. My phone beeped.
Dad: Button, answer me. Are you guys okay?
It was late. Ten-thirty by my phone.
The previous message from dad sat unanswered:Are you okay?
I still didn’t know what to say. Was I okay? No, my mind was racing at a million miles an hour. Somewhere on the island was the person who had the kind of connections that could get us free…without getting us killed. For now, I had to pretend this was what I wanted. I had to pretend I was one of them.
Focus, Anna. I had to pretend I wanted to attend this…Mafiainstitution,or whatever it was. To make alliances.And, God forbid…friends.
Cosa Nostra Institute, where alliances and royalty are born.
That’s what the damn brochure said, well…it would’veifthere’d been one. But to have a brochure about this place would mean it existed, and we all knewthatwas one of their damn Codes.Never acknowledge anything illegal.But even without the brochure, we all knew the reality of this place, or I did at least…it’d been drummed into me enough. I’d read about this place, researched more like it, what little there was out there to find. A secret island run by a secret organization, one protected under the rules of the Commission, the governing Mafia body that up until now had only allowed men on the island.
But now that had changed.
I lifted my gaze to the redhead as the engine of the boat died. But she was already moving, making her way toward the front of the boat. Three goddamn weeks…that’s all this was. Three weeks of lies, deceit, and hiding my real name. If gunshot-guy was anything to go by, I doubted I’d survive the night.
“Okay,” the gray-haired boat captain called as the boarding ramp slid into place. “Nice and easy, I don’t need to explain to your parents how you rolled your fucking ankle on the first night.”
Heels clattered, glasses of champagne were drained with a mutter. They strode through the trail of blood gunshot-guy had left behind as all twenty made their way off the boat and onto the dock.
I waited for them to leave, stepping out from my place against the wall, and swayed as the boat bobbed. Suitcases were hauled off by the island employees as they worked in the dark. I grabbed the steel railing and strode along the ramp. But the moment my boots hit the dock, the boat lurched sideways, throwing me forward. I stumbled, windmilling my arms, and hit the ground facefirst…hard.
Laughter cracked out like a shot as the metallic taste of blood bloomed in my mouth.Fuck.I lifted my head and shoved against the ground as one of the assholes from the boat laughed the loudest. My face burned.
“Fucking hell, nice spill,” he roared, and the rest of the crowd sniggered.
“Shut-up, you asshole.” The feminine growl drew my gaze.
The redhead shoved the guy aside and strode toward me. I wanted to die as a sudden hush washed over the crowd, then a deep, savage snarl took its place.
“Anna.” My name thundered through the crowd.
I jerked my gaze high.No…no...no…no.
Terror washed through me as a tall figure cut through the crowd in long, sleek strides and I swallowed the flare of desire. “Fin? What the hell are you doing here?”
“Me?” He focussed a scowl on me. “I could ask you the same.”
I bit my lip and winced. While my racing heart crawled into my throat, one stupid thought rose.Please tell me he at least didn’t see that swan-dive onto the goddamn dock.
Heat moved into my cheeks as he lifted me. Finley Salvatore stood in front of me, all six-foot-two of bulging, yummy muscles, and utterly terrifying. “You okay?” He searched my face, his gaze stilling at my beginning-to-swell lip.
“Fine,” I murmured, and winced at the sting.
