Page 101 of Coerced Queen

“What?”I bite out.

Dante sneers.“He fled like a dog with his tail between his legs.”

“Motherfucker,” I say under my breath.“Do we have any idea where the rat might’ve gone?”

“No.He was clever about it.He walked out dressed as one of his guards.Our guy who’s keeping an eye on his house takes photos of everyone who comes and goes.I recognized Raphael’s face when our man emailed me the latest photos to get a headcount of how many guards are left on his grounds.”

Fuck.“I guess we’ll just have to smoke him out.”

“I’m working on it.I’ll involve Anya.She’s good at making clever plans.”

“Not tonight,” I say, stealing a glance at where she’s pouring wine for Nicole and saying something that makes everyone laugh.“This dinner is a big deal for her.She’s finally making new friends.”

Laughing, Dante shakes his head.“You really are clueless.”

The fact that he thinks I’m in the dark about something makes my hackles rise.“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Anya isn’t doing this because she needs friends.”He points a finger at me.“She’s doing this for you.”

To draw me out of my shell.To force me to look the world in the eyes with my new face.She did that effectively enough when she carried five million into After Dark—in cash.That move was so dangerous it still gives me nightmares.The fear of losing her will make me face my demons any day.

But back to the point, Dante is right.When she first mentioned the idea of a barbecue with the Wades, her agenda was to reintegrate me into life.As always, my selfless girl isn’t acting in her own interest but in mine.

“I hope you know how lucky you are,” Dante says, scrutinizing me.“She’s not like anyone I’ve met.She deserves more than your husbandly duty of respect and protection.Anya is the kind of woman who wants to be loved.Don’t be an asshole to her about that.”

My voice holds a warning.“I told you before.Keep out of it.”

“You don’t have to punish her for what your ex-wife did to you.She’s not Rachele.”

“I fucking know that,” I say through clenched teeth.

Anya proved it so well too when she rejected Bennet’s proposal in her humble way without rubbing another man’s desire in my face.She could’ve flaunted the power a dangerous man’s interest gave her and sent a message that said I could easily lose her to someone who’d treat her better, that she had her pick of men in New York City, but she didn’t.Rachele would’ve definitely used that attention as a tool to manipulate me.If she were in Anya’s shoes, she would’ve employed my jealousy to coax things out of me I didn’t want to say, things likeI love you.

“Your wife is valuable,” Dante continues.“You better treat her like she’s fucking precious.Do you want to know why?”He gets into my space, the mask of charming carelessness he perfected dropping from his face to reveal the cold, dangerous, and scary motherfucker he is underneath.“In case the fact didn’t penetrate your thick skull, she’s the most powerful person in our organization.”

His words hit me like punches, knocking the air from my lungs.I can only stare at him, not wanting to admit what that means because the truth is too terrifying.

“She knows our suppliers and our clients,” he says.“She knows our informants in and outside the force.She knows our strengths and our weaknesses.She knows how many weapons we have and where we keep them.She knows every man’s most personal details down to his secret offshore bank accounts and the name of every enemy’s throat he slit.She knows how and where we launder the money.She knows fucking everything because she pays the bribes and the bills.You know what my old man used to say?He said the person who manages the money runs the business.Well, she runs your business.And do you know what her greatest power is in the eyes of our enemies?”He deals the final blow with flourish.“She’s your biggest weakness.”

I go stone cold.I want to deny it.But everything he said, every frightening word, I already know.Isn’t that why I work so hard to keep a barrier between us?

Biting off every word, I make sure there’s no misunderstanding about what I’m saying.“I do not fucking love her.”

“Yeah.”Dante bobs his head, a smirk curving his lips.“That’s what you keep on saying, but that’s not how you behave.You can tell the world you don’t love her as much as you like, but people have eyes in their heads.No one believes that.The only person who does is Anya.”He adds before turning away, “I hope you realize that.”

I catch up with him before he’s made it two steps, stopping his progress with a hand on his arm.

He looks at where I’m gripping his bicep, but I’m too livid to care that I’m crossing a line.

With my fingers digging into his muscles, I snarl in his face.“Anya is nobody’s business but mine.”

His laugh is wry.“Wrong again.She’s yours in one way, but she’s ours in another.She’s the backbone of this organization, and that means she belongs to everyone.She’s not simply an accountant managing the money or a boss lady making decisions when it matters.She’s the keeper of our secrets.That’s why every man in this business will protect her with his life.”

Grabbing the lapel of his jacket, I give him a shake.“What the fuck are you saying?”

He watches me with a cool, emotionless gaze.“I’m saying that we better do a damn good job of protecting her.I’m saying that if, God forbid, our enemies ever manage to snatch her from under our noses, the biggest mercy you can show her will be to drop a bomb on the lot of them because I don’t have to explain to you what they’ll do to her to get the information they want.”

I shake him harder.“Never, do you hear me?I’ll never kill my own wife.”

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