Page 49 of Into the Fire

“Love?” He raised a dark brow at me.

I nodded miserably. “I can’t have her. She belongs to someone else. That doesn’t mean I won’t protect her though.”

He nodded wordlessly. “In our family, our marriages are arranged.”

“I’m not looking to be married,” I said, locking eyes with him. “I won’t marry if I’m not in love.”

He inclined his head at me. “A talk for another time, perhaps.”

While I wanted to argue with him and tell him it was completely off the table, I decided to pick my battles. This was Matteo De Santis, the biggest Italian crime boss in the country unless I counted Anthony DeLuca and Enzo. Hell, probably the world. Matteo ruled all he touched, and he didn’t get there by smiling and giving people candy.

“Who is this girl?” he asked, swirling his alcohol in his glass.

I licked my lips, not wanting to bring her name into the mix. “It’s not important—”

“Tell me, my son, who has captivated your heart so that you come to me for help? That you tremble on my couch as you think of her name. I want her name so that I too may protect her.”

“Rosalie Bishop,” I whispered.

He was silent for a moment before sitting forward, his eyes flashing.

“The betrothed to Lorenzo DeLuca, son of Anthony DeLuca?” His voice was tight.

I nodded.

He sat back and steepled his fingers, his eyes now narrowed.

“Tell me everything.”

“There’s nothing to tell. I’m her mentor. Friend. We attend the same college.”

“No, my son, tell me how you came to love the betrothed of our enemy.”

I was quiet for a moment before I spilled it all to him, not even sure where the hell my head or heart was. Maybe I was just so desperate that I was willing to do anything at this point, even trust a man like Matteo De Santis.

When I finished, he sat silently, his eyes just slits of green.

I’d left out Everett fucking me.

“Everett Church,” he murmured. “Everett Church.”

“He’s a monster.”

“We all are, but he’s a monster who feasts on the weak and unprotected.” He was quiet for a moment. “I killed his daughter.”

I blinked at him. “Why?”

“She was an implant. He placed her in the path of the horsemen to gain knowledge of their inside work. With the creation of sugar, we didn’t need that getting back to him. He already has a strong enough hold on the Underground. No need in giving him more with a wonder drug.”

This information floored me.

“Macy was a good person from what I understood.”

“Guilty by association in our world, Alessandro. An unfortunate way of life. It is kill or be killed. Squash or be squashed. You know this.” He drank again. “Klaus interrogated her. I’m sure you know who he is.”

I nodded. Everyone knew Klaus Seeley. A complete madman and one of Matteo’s enforcers. He was Levin Seeley’s father, one of the kings who chummed around with Matteo’s son Dominic.

My brother.

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