Page 72 of Sin & Sapphire

The older man nodded once, and Dario turned back to me. “Throw in Ana Costa, and we’ve got a deal.”

Red misted at the edge of my vision as I examined his words, twisting and turning for any meaning other than selling him my angel to close a business deal.

When I didn’t respond, he smiled. I might have allowed him to charm me if it weren’t Ana on the line.

“No fuckin’ way you and Rochefort would let that bitch run wild after what she did to Tchérnov. You’ve got to marry her off—may as well marry her off to a business partner and solidify your links to Rome. She’s a slut anyway. I’d be doing you a favor taking her off your hands.”

When I next blinked, the upstart was shoved against the wall, my fingers wrapped around his neck, as I cut off his air supply. The table was flipped, sending stacks of files and blueprints and contracts flying.

His men moved to draw their weapons. Mine were faster. In seconds, we were at the center of a room bristling with arms, testosterone and violence vibrating in the air. My favorite place to be.

“If you say her name again, if you eventhinkher name again, I will come to Rome and I will destroy your family. I will burn every piece of property you own. I will interfere with every business deal you’ve made. My men will rape your sisters like Grégoire Tchérnov raped Ana. My boyfriend will rape your mother. And I will rape your father. Do you understand me?”

The young man shook underneath me. “Let me go!”

“You’re the one trying to do business with me,cucciolo.”

I squeezed my fingers tighter, watching his face turn red as he struggled against my weight.

“Costa!” Dario’s consigliere said. “This won’t solve anything.”

“It’ll keep Ana’s name out of this whelp’s mouth,” I said. “She deserves his respect.” Dario kicked backward, weakly, and I squeezed again.

“He won’t say a word about her again,” the older man said. He moved as if he wanted to place a calming hand on my shoulder, then jerked it back at the last minute. Good boy.

“Ana’s not going to marry a Roman child whose father sent him in case I killed you instead of making a fucking deal,” I snarled in his ear, spit spraying over his face.

“You’re as psycho as she is,” he rasped, barely able to squeeze the words out.

The red mist closed in over my vision. “How the fuck do you know how psycho she is?”

The guns in the room cocked. I didn’t fucking care. I’d kill this pipsqueak before they could kill me, and Valentin would protect my girl.

“Ana Costa fucked half of Europe, blitzed out of her mind, before she got bored and blew up that boat. I know how psycho she is and how tight her cunt is.” The upstart sneered at me, as if he knew I wouldn’t really kill him. “And now you do too, don’t you?”

In one smooth motion, I let him go, drew my gun, and shot him in the face. Blood exploded over my suit, and I swore softly. I didn’t have time to get it dry cleaned, and I sure as fuck didn’t have time to clean up the mess I’d made.

I pointed at the consigliere, the cowardly fuck. “I don’t do business with rapists.”

I did. I had. Shame wrenched through me at the thought. Ana deserved better. “And if Fontana still wants this deal, he’s going to get on his knees and apologize for sending this disgusting worm of a man to try and do business with me.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was the soldier guarding our apartment while Valentin and I fortified our positions until we could take Ana home.

“Boss, I lost her.” I didn’t have to ask who. My angel had escaped. Again.

“What the fuck do you mean, you lost her?” I shouted into my phone. “Do you think I give a fuck if she shot you? How did she get out the door?”

If I hadn’t been so terrified for Ana, I’d have admired her bravery. But as smart and capable as she was, she wouldn’t last long on the streets of Nice with half the criminals in Europe hoping to kidnap her and make her their bride.

My lips curved up, as delighted with her cleverness as I was pissed that she’d slipped through my fingers once again.

I should have bought her from her father at sixteen. I should have claimed her the moment that American upstart murdered her father. I should have chained her to the bed and trained her to crave my cock more than life itself.

The reality of having Ana on her knees in front of me was wildly different from the fantasy I’d built up in my mind over the last decade.

The reality wasbetter.

I was going to catch my little angel and bind her so tightly to me she’d never fucking leave.

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