Page 68 of King Of Order

No grief, no sadness—just greed. It was sickening.

Chiara’s face tightened. ‘I don’t know, Claudio. I haven’t looked into the accounts yet. The lawyers are handling everything.’

Claudio sneered, leaning forward, attempting to bully her into getting what he wanted. ‘Don’t give me that crap. You know something. What about the art funds? You sent the first fifty percent, but where’s the rest? You need to send it now.’

Chiara held her ground, though I saw her hands trembling. Not with fear but with unadulterated rage

‘I can’t move faster than the agreed terms,’ she scowled. ‘I’ve already done my part. They’ll get the money when it’s time. Now, if you’ve nothing else left to say except insults and empty threats, get the hell out of my house.’

Claudio was seething, his fists clenching as if debating taking a swing, but I stepped closer enough to remind him I was present and fucking dangerous.

His eyes flicked between me and Chiara before he finally huffed in frustration and stormed toward the door.

‘This isn’t over,’ he snapped, shoving the door open and slamming it behind him.

My eyes followed his exit.

My teeth gritted as I resisted the urge to follow him and finish this once and for all.

The guy was a loser, through and through, a bully, more interested in the dregs of their family fortune than hisfamiglia.

Despite his bravado, Claudio wasn’t the type to get his hands dirty. He was the kind of man who liked to bark orders and then disappear when things went south.

He relied on others to clean up his messes, never willing to face the consequences of his actions head-on.

His greed, masked under the guise of kindred loyalty, was transparent to me and anyone paying attention.

Claudio’s purpose had nothing to do with allegiance—it was always about control, power, and, most of all, money.

I turned back to Chiara. She stood staring at the door, her face pale.

‘What’s the deal with the cash he mentioned?’ I asked, not willing to ignore the issue.

She shook her head, not meeting my eyes. ‘Don’t worry about it.’

I frowned. ‘Chiara, you have to rely on me. I can’t protect you if I don’t know what’s happening.’

Her eyes flicked up to mine, her expression softening a little. ‘I do trust you, Rio. But this? It’s messy and dangerous.’

I stepped closer, cupping her face and forcing her to look at me. ‘Leonessa, messy and dangerous is what I do. But I need to be in the loop.’

‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

Her jaw clenched, and I tagged a flame flare in her eyes.

Damn stubborn woman.

‘You’re going to tell me, regardless,’ I growled, even if I was apprised of a fair deal.

She pushed at my shoulders. ‘I’ve had a fuckin’ nightmare of a night and morning. I don’t want to stress out more thinking about the Barbieri Syndicate and their plans for me.’

She was combusting, the blend of grief and weariness hitting hard.

I stepped back, tucking away in my mind the nugget she’d shared with me.

‘I’ll let you off for now, woman, until you’re through with all this funeral shit. Then you’re explaining in detail.’

Not that I planned on waiting that long.

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