Page 144 of Their Princess

The diamonds were my gig. Not his.

I opened my mouth to say so, but Wilde cut in, “Of course I will be here.”

The Prez stepped over to Massimo. “You can go, Sas. I’ll meet you all downstairs.”

Rafe was still at Massimo’s side, and Adelina sauntered back over.

Graff pushed me into the elevator. “Don’t fucking do it.”

As the door closed, I reached out like I could grab her from thin air. Or maybe rip Massimo’s throat out with one swipe of my claws.

Chapter Thirty-Two

RAFE

I lookedbetween Massimo and Adelina, holding myself in place beside the exit. When I focused again on my half-brother, it wasn’t Massimo standing there, but our father. Internally, I flinched. Massimo had pushed himself beyond our Papà’s expectations, while I went off to serve the country. And now, Mass was the mobster, and I, the monster.

A ghoul who craved the off limits. My eyes dropped my eyes to focus on a knot in the hardwood floor.

Mass and I were probably equals in the numbers of deaths that could be laid at each of our feet, but his were all enemies to la Famiglia and likely had bloodstained hands like him. Some of the people I had slaughtered were—no, I couldn’t let those little faces creep into my head now.

But what was I to do when they certainly would’ve fired the guns they had trained on me?

Stop! Please, please, stop,I begged the thoughts and visions to stay away.

I forced my eyes to stay open, though my vision had blurred. My fists clenched at my sides—another battle with myself to notpress the heels of my hands to my temples. I needed to focus on the business at hand and push all that other stuff down deep.

Adelina crossed her arms over her chest, hanging closer to Wilde than Massimo. Every time she looked at me, she had the same fire in her eyes. It was probably fury with Sas, who had basically been dragging her out, but I also suspected it was because of last night.

When our gazes met now—like they’d been locked together while Sas fucked her—the intensity in her dark irises burned me deeply, leaving my soul sizzling. She, though, felt the wrongness too, because she averted her attention back to Wilde.

“Mia figlia,” said Massimo, calling her over like she was precious to him.

Lies. Mass didn’t know the meaning of the word precious.

“Have you called your mother?” He opened his arm, hand toward his side in a silent order for her to come like a dog.

“I talked to her a couple of days ago,” said Adelina, returning to him with her head bent.

“We haven’t taken her cell phone,” said Wilde. “She’s allowed to communicate with the outside.”

“How... modern of you.” Massimo curled his upper lip and then snapped his fingers, beckoning his assistant into action. “Get my wife and my younger daughter.”

The assistant scurried off, her skirt tight to the curve of her ass. Massimo never changed, learning from our father. I didn’t know this assistant’s name, but there had been many like her. There would be more after her.

Would he put a bastard in the skirt’s belly like our father did with my mom?

Adelina faced the young woman with a placid, business-like mask. The assistant was probably Adelina’s age, if not younger. The acerbic thoughts I suspected were passing behind her professionalism made my skin itch, as though I’d bathed in acid.

However, her statuesque demeanor spoke volumes to the fabric of the woman she was becoming. She would say nothing of her thoughts now, but something brewed in her mind.

“If this really is a family event, then Sas should be here,” said Wilde.

“Mister Tate had a few days to marry my daughter,” said Massimo with a dismissive shrug. “When Neomi’s father dropped her off, we were married within the hour. It’s not my concern that your man hasn’t taken the opportunity. Except, that is, when it comes to bringing him into la Famiglia’s business.”

“The deal said a wedding,” said Wilde, his jaw tensing with every word. “Isn’t that why we’re fucking here?”

“Your bastards aren’t religious,” said Massimo, returning a small growl.

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