Page 88 of Falling for the Enemy

“Tell me you found him,” Ari says to Casper, who with one look at his face, I know doesn’t have La Famiglia’s Caporegime bound and gagged downstairs. “Tell me you have that betraying—”

“Nyet,” he replies, confirming my suspicion. “He must’ve left through the tunnel that leads from the basement to the back of the property before we arrived.”

Swiping away the sweat that beads on his forehead with the back of his hand, he shakes his head. “Stefano may have slipped through our fingers, but we’ve crippled La Famiglia. The dead outside now that the fight is over… Well, there are many.”

Ari stills. “How many are Kings?”

Her bull smiles. “Zero.”

I admit I’m impressed.

Even more so since my lieutenant refused to obey my command and run into the open, drawing fire so we could enter the premises more easily. The cabrón acted as if I were asking him to grow wings and jump off the Empire State Building.

Swoop and swerve.

That’s all that was required as he moved.

Turning his attention to me, Casper lifts his chin. “You good?”

I nod. “You?”

A smile curves his lips. “For now.”

I chuckle.

Maybe the ghost isn’t such a hijo de puta, after all. I’ll never speak such a truth aloud, but I’m glad I didn’t kill him. It would’ve been a waste of a good soldier. Not to mention, Manzana would’ve likely shot me if I had.

She’s temperamental that way.

Without speaking further, Casper walks out, leaving Ari and me alone. “What now?” she asks, more to herself than me. “Every minute that he’s free, Mina is at risk. Carmen, too. I can’t—”

Grabbing her arm, I pull her to me. “Hermosa, stop.” Few things in this world affect me to such a degree that I feel an invisible dagger plunge into my heart then twist. But the distress on her face causes my chest to ache like not much else has. “We’ll get the motherfucker.”

Unconvinced, she’s close to unraveling.

“I want him to bleed, Krasavchik. For what he did to me, and tried to do to you, along with our families…” She shakes her head, her blonde ponytail swishing with each movement. “I want him to hurt, to feel the pain he tried to bestow on each of us tenfold.”

Releasing her arm, I cup her nape.

“Manzana, listen to me.” Infuriated stare holding mine, she seals her lips. Even when irate, she’s beautiful. “That’s my good girl.” I dip my face, dusting my lips over hers. “I vow to you, no matter what it costs, or what I must do, I will capture Stefano and deliver him to you on a silver platter.”

“If you follow through with that promise,” she whispers, sending chills racing down my spine. “I swear to make you a very happy man.”

Consider my curiosity snared.

“And how will you do that?”

“By giving you anything you want.”

I lick my lower lip.

“I already have what I want.”

The infamous head tilt returns.

“Da, and what’s that?”

There’s no hesitation on my part. “You, Ari. I have you.” Another broken piece inside me welds itself back into place. “And I’m keeping you forever.”

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