Page 56 of Forbidden Obsession

His eyes widened, and he went on a tirade, speed-talking as I watched him. When he calmed and his speech slowed, I responded.

“Are you done?”

“Your business is my business, remember?”

“When I said that, I meant the business of this business. Not my personal business.”

“Excuse me, I didn’t know you had personal business, motherfucker.”

I suppressed a smile. “She’s a friend.”

“Oh.”

“Only a friend.”

“You can’t lie to me with a straight face.”

I sighed deeply. “She’s a friend I like. Are you happy?” I interrupted him before he responded. “If not, too fuckin’ bad. You’ll have to deal with it.”

He laughed. “I’m happy for you.”

“I’m not getting married, Bruno.”

“Maybe. But this is a step.”

“You didn’t tell me your plan for capturing The Black Rose.”

He smirked, catching my change of subject, and then his face turned stoic.

“He’s got a pattern.”

“Which is?”

“He’s marking people associated with the business. Those who hold power and the ones between. I think he’s vexed. There’s something he wanted that he didn’t get, and he’s pissed about it. I have a feeling it’s us, The Lucas Cosa Nostra, who has pissed him off.”

“And you think that because…?”

“He uses our signature to mark the deaths. It puts us under the gun. Our allies, while maintaining cordial relations with us, look at us with hesitancy now. Their security is deeper and more thorough, and some have refused to share drop points until the last minute.”

“They’re wary of us.”

“Because they think one of us is The Black Rose.” He shook his head. “How fuckin’ insane is that?”

“With the points you’ve made, I can see why. It must be why I received looks of indifference at the Niccolò masquerade ball.”

“You attended that?”

“I did.”

“Why?”

“To represent us and our loyalty to our allies.”

He nodded. “You’re smart. I’ve always liked that about you. Tell me about these looks of indifference.”

“I sensed them coming mainly from Riccardo himself. He’s been an annoyance of mine since I was a boy. But this seemed different, a bit tenser than normal. Whenever I caught his eye, there was something more there that I couldn’t put my finger on.”

“He doesn’t trust us.”

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