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“Should I send Jameson to the study?” Brody asked, seeming nervous to leave me with the De Lucas.
I stopped in front of him. “After he’s done cleaning up the mess I just made.”
Brody nodded, reaching into his pocket for his phone, and walked out of the foyer. I stared at the don. “I apologize for my appearance.”
“What’d you do? Play around with your kill?” Dario asked.
“If that bloody handprint around her neck is anything to go by, I’d said someone played with her,” Ivano said.
Nicoli grinned as his eyes bounced all over me.
Revealing nothing, I gestured for them to follow me, and I led the way to Stefan’s study. Once inside, I went to sit behind Stefan’s desk, while Nicoli, Dario, and Ivano took in the room as they walked in.
“This was your father’s office?” Nicoli asked as he sat in one of the chairs in front of Stefan’s desk. Dario and Ivano went to sit on the couch in the seating area, while the two goons they’d brought with them stood up against the wall near the door.
“It is.” I leaned back in my father’s chair and brought my joint to my mouth.
“Is?” Nicoli repeated.
I blew out rings of smoke as I debated how much to reveal. “Yesterday, Stefan was taken. We don’t know if he is dead or alive. My family wants to proceed as if he’s already dead, which is why I am in the position I am in.”
“You really are honest,” Dario said.
I smirked at him. “Were you testing me?”
Dario didn’t respond. He didn’t have to. I could see it on his face that he had been expecting me to lie.
“What would happen to our alliance if you recover Stefan?” Nicoli asked.
Before I could answer, the door to the study opened and Brenna walked in with a new black suit and emerald-green heels for me. She made her way over and handed me my pants first.
I scooted my chair back and put my feet through the leg holes of the slacks. “Stefan would honor the alliance, but I know you probably won’t take my word for it, so I’m open to suggestions on the best way to handle this,” I said as I stood to pull up my pants.
“You asked us for the alliance. Shouldn’t you be trying to convince us?” Ivano asked, frowning.
Brenna set my heels on the ground in front of me to step into. As if reading my mind, she held open my suit jacket.
“I may have asked for the alliance, Ivano, but I’m not the only one here who wants it.” I held my joint between my lips while I unbuttoned Jamie’s shirt. Without hesitation, I took off his shirt, revealing my breasts covered in dried blood.
Nicoli smirked as he stared unabashedly. Ivano’s brows tried to touch his hairline. Dario also appeared slightly surprised.
I took the jacket from Brenna, slid my arms through it, and buttoned it closed. I pulled my hair out of the collar and took the joint from my mouth after taking another pull from it. “Close your mouths, boys, you’ll catch flies,” I said as I sat back down.
“Can’t blame us for staring,” Nicoli said.
Brenna went over and sat in one of the leather armchairs. Dario’s eyes tracked her the entire time.
“I know you want an alliance, too, Nicky,” I said, getting us back on track.
Nicoli turned serious. “I do, but I can’t give you one if you’re going to step down if Stefan returns.”
Understandable.“What if I don’t step down unless Stefan agrees to honor the alliance?”
“What if your father kills you if you refuse to step down? Or worse, it causes a war within your family?” Dario asked.
“Don’t underestimate Stefan’s love for his daughter,” Brenna said, staring Dario down. “Stefan would kill every member of this family before he let any harm come to her. If you don’t believe that, then know this…Stefan knows Maura used the cocaine as currency to buy your help. If it had been anyone other than Maura, she would have been branded a traitor because it lost the family millions. Or it would have, if Stefan hadn’t paid all that money back to cover up what Maura had done.”
Nicoli looked pensive. “Stefan did call me and thanked me for helping you.”
