Page 8 of Her Wolf

The Mafia

As soon as Lars closed the door behind Neo, Cora clapped her hands over her eyes. Scorching tears squeezed their way out of her lids, despite how hard she tried to keep them back.

“It’s good you didn’t show emotion,” Finn said, his voice moving as he came to sit beside her in Neo’s chair. “Weakness will always be exploited.”

“Weakness?” Cora tugged her hands away, giving Finn an incredulous glare. “He fed—” her voice broke “—he fed her to some animal.”

“Pretty sure it was a lion,” Lars said, taking the seat to the left of Cora.

Her gaze switched to him, now wide eyed with shock. “How…how do you—”

“He overheard Gabriella and Bailey talking,” Finn said. “They were in Javier’s zoo.”

“Should you still call it a zoo if there was only one animal?” Lars asked, and then crossed his arms over his chest when Finn threw him a glare. “Jesus, just asking.”

Cora wiped her eyes with the heels of her palms and sat back in her chair. “So that went well,” she muttered.

When her men had suggested this meeting with Neo, she’d known it would end in a shouting match. From the few brief encounters she’d had with Neo, she knew he was far from a gracious man, but she hadn’t expected his overwhelming anger.

“He blames me,” she murmured.

“He should blame Javier,” Finn said, reaching for her hand.

“But I killed him.” She moved her hand away. “Now there isn’t anyone else to be pissed at.”

“I’m more worried about the fact he made it pretty fucking clear he’s going to fight her for control of the cartel,” Lars said, directing the comment at Finn.

“Which puts us in a tight spot,” Finn replied, looking straight at Lars. “If he refuses to annul the—”

“I’m down here,” she said coldly, glancing first at Finn, and then Lars.

The men looked at her. Lars had the decency to look abashed, but Finn just regarded her with that speculative look he’d been wearing around her lately.

“Look, it’s all about trust, right?” Lars said, drawing her eyes reluctantly back to him. He gave her a small shrug. “You gotta figure out who you can trust.”

“And Neo shouldn’t be on that list,” Finn said.

“Which is something I’ll decide,” Cora said, giving Finn a curt, thin-lipped glance. “But you’re right—I don’t trust him.”

“And Bailey?” Finn asked quietly.

“You know the answer to that,” she murmured, looking down at her hands as she twisted her fingers together.

“Was it your heart or your head that decided that?” Lars asked.

“Both,” she said, glancing at him. “He did what he had to, to protect the people he loved.”

“And now he loves you, apparently,” Finn said.

There was venom on that last word. Turning, she grabbed Finn’s hand and squeezed it until he stared her in the eyes.

“Javier’s gone,” she said.

Finn’s blue eyes narrowed a little, but he remained silent.

“Which means you can leave any time you want to.”

A flinch touched his face, and his lips thinned.

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