Page 106 of Heart of a Villain

“So, Joel said you need current information on Lorenzo?” Julien asked, leaning his elbows on the table. “He’s due to wed Chefe’s daughter in a little over a month. Their announcement says they’re honeymooning in Europe. Sweden, to be specific.”

Of course, they would.

To Lorenzo, he’d lost his property. He would show up as if he had papers legally granting him the right to Sayeda’s return to Brazil.

“He’s either looking for Sayeda, Rafael, or both,” Gage said, echoing what Adrían was certain was everyone’s thoughts. “Especially if Sayeda was a ‘gift.’ There’s no way he’s okay with losing her the way he did.”

Adrían drained the rest of the disgusting juice. The gift and Sayeda’s revelation combined into an oily, sludge-like porridge in his stomach.

“Rafael called her ‘Acoisa,’” he shared. “A coisa, in Portuguese, means ‘the thing.’”

Joel grunted. “That fuck didn’t seem anywhere near clever enough to come up with that. That sounds like his brother’s doing. ‘A coisa’ my ass.”

A row of servers appeared.

The servers maneuvered a couple of tables together and set breakfast platters on the tabletops, and as Adrían stared at the steaming bacon, he tried to figure out why Alpha had turned out this way. It was the ass crack of dawn, and not one of them complained about having to listen to him bitch and complain about his shortcomings. They owed him nothing, and they were there helping him plot revenge because his girlfriend was now like a sister to them.

“I’ll keep tabs on the target, mostly to make sure he stays away from Seda,” Julien said, dipping a knife into a dish of golden butter. “In the meantime, we should talk about going to Brazil. We’ll leave Chefe, his wife, and the target’s new wife alone?—”

“Kill them,” Adrían said, pouring syrup onto a Belgian waffle. “If they get in the way, they’re dead.”

Mike shrugged. “Chefe was complicit in what happened to Seda. I’ll take out Lorenzo’s mother if I have to, shit.”

“Oh, so you all already know what he did?” Adrían asked. “I guess I understand why she didn’t tell me, but I wish she’d said something before there was anything sexual between us. How do I know that every time I touch her, she’s not thinking about Lorenzo…defiling her?”

The table chatter faded.

For the second time that night, Adrían realized he’d overstepped Sayeda’s boundaries, revealing information he was sure she didn’t want being blabbed all over Europe. It was difficult to contain, however. He wanted as many people involved as possible in ending Lorenzo’s life, along with whoever else might decide to toss their hat into the ring.

“He did what?” Dez hissed. “Oh, so I see we’re about to wipe out the whole fucking Chamas cartel.”

Giorgio’s hands were moving so rapidly that his brother had to steady them by handing him a fork.

Eventually, they managed to eat.

The harbor buzzed, unfazed, as daylight continued to rise. Car horns blared, echoing up to the terrace from street level as tires slipped over asphalt. Ship engines went from muffled to quiet, the rumbling intertwined with splashing water and the sound of the wind creating miniature waves in the bay.

“You okay?” Joel asked, and due to the seemingly endless jabs they repeatedly tossed at one another, he grew to learn the difference between a serious question and a sarcastic one.

Adrían swallowed his last bite of waffle. “No.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t either after Eesh and that Lavigne shit.”

“Sayeda thinks she broke up with me.”

“That’s cute.”

“Isn’t it, though?”

“Well, if you need to cry,” Joel pointed his fork at Gage, “Gage has the strongest shoulders here.”

Gage tapped one shoulder for emphasis.

Adrían managed a quiet laugh.

“But whatever you do,” Joel went on, “let her be in control. Help her work through it, but don’t do it for her. And don’t set the pace for her either, fast or slow. If she says she’s ready to move forward, don’t tell her she’s not.”

“I don’t want to re-traumatize her.”

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