Page 3 of Savage Kingdom

“Come on, Gideon couldn’t have been that big…he’s not bigger than me, right?”

“I need a meeting with Franco,” I told him.

Bastian started coughing.

“Estacado?”He gaped. “The man who they were just discussing wasthatFranco?”

“Yes.” I opened the balcony doors that looked out at the ocean.“So beautiful yet deadly.”Gideon’s words rang louder than before.

“Why?” Bas glared at me. What I was doing was reckless. To set foot in Italy to the king of the Estacados was suicide.

I’d made a vow covered in snow and dripping in blood—that I would burn down the pillars in which our kingdom stood. Watch the ashes blow as I laid the foundation for something new—something better. I vowed I was going to make them all pay.

The time had come.

“It has begun,” I told him, knowing he would have no idea of what exactly I implied.

“Yeah,I’m going to need you to explain it to me like I’m five.” Bas jumped on the bed and put his hands behind his head.

He had no idea what I was talking about, but he was used to it and had learned to roll with my vagueness.

“Because I need the Estacados and to get their support, I will need Franco. He’s the oldest of the three brothers; they have to follow his lead. Without them, I am nothing,” I said. “He controls Europe and half the US from Italy, and Ignacio has control over Canada, the Caribbean, all from New York. Giovanny controls the rest of the US, and Mexico, and Central America from Chicago. Having them as allies would give me a foot in this war.”

“You do know Rivera and Sergio kidnapped his only daughter, and the Sekt helped,” Bastian repeated as if I wasn’t already aware of the fact.

“No shit.” I walked over to the balcony. “A game has started, and players are starting to make their play, I need more on my team. I need an army, one who won’t care to go up against us.”

“You’re going alone, aren’t you?”

My response was a simple nod. All men were proud, but Hispanics, Latin, Italian men guarded their daughters like jewels. They defended their families and doted on their daughters, and to have one taken away, that was a sin all on its own. Franco must be going out of his mind.

“And why won’t Franco kill you on sight,” Bastian asked as he got up and made his way to the wet bar. I cocked my head and studied him. Bas might be older than me in years, but I was brought up in this life since I was eight. I’d lived through the horrors he’d only ever read about.

“Because I promised to make them all pay.” My response carried a lot of weight. Bas didn’t make a big deal to try and decipher it.

* * *

The next dayI was dressed much like I was the day earlier, except a few more weapons. Damian could bitch and moan for all I cared, but the last thing I wanted was my body in a fucking dress when I needed more weapons than what I had between my legs. Pussy would only get me so far. I had a plan, and for it to work, I needed all my skill sets. A good hunter knew how to catch their prey, and lucky for me, my new prey wanted to be caught.

The door to my room burst open. I turned to look, expecting it to be Bastian, but it was Damian who had strolled into my room. He was done with his touristy getup he was sporting yesterday, and now he’d showered, his hair slicked back, in a three-piece suit and pulling a suitcase.

“Leaving so soon?” I arched a brow at him, not even acting surprised. He would never again get the upper hand with me.

“I don’t need to bother with the filth; that’s why I have dogs at my disposal.” The small scalpel I was stashing in my pants twitched, and I took it as a sign that it wanted to land on Damian’s throat. The hotel management would bitch about the cleaning of blood, and it was too soon to make him pay. I put it away and reminded myself that revenge would come, and it would be delicious.

“Please stop suffocating me with your loving words,” I told him. There wasn’t any love lost between the two of us. Damian’s greed triumphed whatever sort of loyalty we were supposed to have.

“Daphne,” Damian uttered as he fixed his tie. “Make sure our new allies are well taken care of. I don’t need anything questioning our new loyalties.”

Sometimes I believed I was crafted from fire. I felt it in the way my body burned from rage, the way my hands trembled as if I was trying to contain lava in my fingertips. I may have been born from snow, but fire had resided in my soul. I did the best I could to ignore Damian’s words. I controlled myself before I brought everything to blows.

“Would you like me to fuck all of them?” I asked, pretending not to give a shit that he wanted to whore me out. What little reservation I had for the next phase of my plan was quickly diminished when Damian spoke. There was a part of me that held me back and told me that doing what I wanted to do would send me into a tailspin I wouldn’t be able to come back from.

“If that’s what it takes.” He smiled at me, and I stopped myself from flinching. He fixed the button on his jacket then turned around and made his way out of my room.

“Am I included in this fuckfest, or does it only stand for the Riveras and Sergio?” Bastian asked as he made a move for my bed. He made no sound when he came into the room, having slipped in just as Damian was walking out. Putting my finger to my lips, I shushed him. I didn’t trust that Damian hadn’t installed a bug before he left. Bastian followed me to the balcony. I leaned against the rail as Bas’s body came pressing to mine, his hands coming to either side of my hips and gripping the rails.

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Bastian was just a sexual guy, even when he wasn’t trying. And right now, he was off pussy, which made him twitchy. His hand came to my cheek, slowly dragging his finger down the curve of my jaw, then tilting my chin up.

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