Page 158 of Hate Me

His loves were suspicious.

Well, one of them most definitely was.

And particularly so.

Dannazione!

It wouldn’t be long now.

Time was running short.

I had just hoped for a little more of it.

I hadn’t wanted to broach the difficult subject matter until this war was won. It would most definitely serve to complicate matters. And, worse, it risked impacting Caspian’s steady hand and stable emotional state. His reputation for being unflappable was renowned, however the truth that I was keeping from him would test that beyond measure.

That control and steadiness was already reaching its breaking point with him as it was. There were only two things tethering him at the moment—his loves and envisioning the victory of this assault tonight. If either was compromised, however, I feared he would finally snap.

And that wouldn’t bode well for anyone. Not with the power that he wielded.

That power, the resources, the influence absolutely had to remain in the hands of somebody steady, shrewd, and benevolent. If not, it would prove absolutely catastrophic.

Everybody had weaknesses, no matter how formidable they were, how learned.

One of Caspian King’s was failure.

He didn’t do well with that.

Fortunately, given his abilities, he hadn’t faced a lot of it.

But the night Jameson and Laura King had been murdered was considered one such failure to him, despite him having been merely a child at the time. To this day, a part of him still believed he could have done something to prevent it. Given the way he saw such things, should this war not end in absolute victory, it greatly concerned me how he would react.

What he would do.

Movement approaching brought my thoughts to a grinding halt.

I swung my head a moment before my Capo, Matteo, appeared at the window of the black, unmarked van. Decked out in all black leather, he had his balaclava hanging out of his jacket pocket for now, his moussed-up spiky chestnut brown hair on full display.

I unrolled my window and ordered, “Report.”

“That King-Tech is the shit. It worked out really well. We were able to discern all enemy targets within the warehouse, as well as their exact positions. They’re gonna be lambs to the slaughter. I’ve just relayed the positions to our guys.”

“Show me.”

He was holding out his phone to me a moment later. I took it and scanned the plans of the facility, noting the locations of all thirty hostiles he’d marked down. I nodded as I handed it back to him. “Coordinate a concurrent assault. No wild shots. This is an arms facility. And I want the spoils.” Well, they would actually be for Caspian, but my organization didn’t need to know that yet. Especially not Matteo, for he wouldn’t take well to me appearing to have developed a benevolent streak. It was more than that. Far more. Something he would be made aware of soon enough. Soon all would be revealed regarding my true intent behind nurturing a friendship with Caspian King.

“Understood. It’s why we brought in the sharpshooters, Boss.”

“Maintain constant contact with me via COMMs.”

“Of course.” His gaze flicked to my two security members, one beside me, and one in the driver’s seat. “I’d feel a lot better if you moved further back.”

“You’d feel a lot better if I wasn’t here in person at all.”

“A fact I’ve made clear. It’s a risk, Boss.”

Yes, Matteo, nor my security team had been happy about me insisting on coming down to the site of the operation. Nor had they taken well to me being off-territory lately and beyond the esteemed protection of the Mancini Syndicate, each time having concerned meeting with Caspian.

I had many enemies.

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