Page 99 of Declan

“She went to Rome yesterday!” she cries, her voice cracking under the panic.

Smart move. One less killing, for now.

“Where is Alek?” I grit out, moving closer to Giovanni. Silvana is still screaming her lungs out as the guard holds her.

“Fucking hell, shut up, or I’ll break each of his fingers. Do you understand me?” I raise my voice, sharp and deep.

She shuts up, covering her mouth with her hands as tears fall in streams down her face. Her pleading eyes lock onto mine.

“I know it was you who almost got Viviana killed that day,” I taunt her. “I have a special plan for you.” My smirk widens as her face pales. She opens her mouth to say something but knows better.

“You’re too late,” Giovanni sneers. “By now, Alek already has her. You’ll never see Viviana again.” The fucker laughs, and my restraint hangs by a thread.

Kian hits him in the back of the head, and Giovanni curses. “That bitch almost cost me everything,” he snarls. “I told her torun when you chose her, but she was too afraid of what you’d do.” He tilts his chin up, defiant fucker.

“So I had the idea to make it look like she was the informant. It was easy. Nolan was too eager to believe it. The asshole had a crush on her since they were kids. Once an informant showed up, he jumped at the chance to blame her.” He spits blood onto the floor, grinning.

“She’s your fucking daughter,” Kian snarls, his control on the verge of snapping.

Giovanni lets out a guttural laugh, his entire body shaking and I start to see red.

“She isn’t,” Giovanni blurts out. “My wife had adventure, that fucking bitch.” He shakes his head.

Kian snaps his eyes to mine. The fuck? This explains a lot, and I bet I know who her father is.

Thank fuck. This will make things easier.

“Who is her father?” I ask, my tone icy.

His eyes lock into mine and I snap for a second, hitting him the gun, his front teeths falling the ground as blood flies.

“You fucking asshole! It’s that fucking Carlos!” He snarls, “I kept him around; he knew too much. But every time I look at her, I see that bastard’s face fucking my wife,” he grunts, wiping the blood.

“You still raised her. She still treated you like her father,” I say, my rage simmering.

He lets out a chuckle. “She never liked me. She ran from me as soon as she could. Little bitch.”

Yeah, he shouldn’t have said that. I clench my fist and punch him in the gut. He doubles over, clutching his stomach and cursing loudly. I kneel in front of him, grabbing his chin roughly and pressing my fingers into his flesh until it reddens.

“Call her a bitch again. I fucking dare you,” I warn, hoping he does. I want to turn him into minced meat.

“But nothing matters now. Alek has her. You got another one of your women killed,” he laughs, his body shaking.

“Dad, what did you do?” Silvana whispers, her tear-filled eyes fixed on him. “You said Alek wouldn’t hurt her. Even at the restaurant, you said he wanted her.”

Her tears start falling again, but now there’s anger in them.

“It wasn’t Alek’s idea. The restaurant, the informant story—it was all your dear father, trying to save his ass by getting Viviana killed,” I say, studying her face. She looks genuinely surprised.

“I…” she starts, her hands fidgeting with the seam of her dress. “I didn’t know. This wasn’t the plan,” she murmurs.

“Look at me,” I commanded. Her throat bobs as she swallows, but she obeys. “What was the plan, Silvana?”

Her gaze drops to the floor. “My father was losing clients to the Irish Consortium. Your taxes were too high, and the clients preferred to deal with you directly. Things were getting difficult.”, she stops staring at her father, I hint of hatred in her gaze.

“Continue Silvana”, I order stepping closer to her while Kian keeps her father kneeling on the floor.

“Alek Koslov found out and made a deal with my father. They needed someone inside the Irish Consortium, someone they could trust. But we all knew you wouldn’t let any of our men in. So Alek said that maybe, if you were single, you might take one of us…” Her eyes darted to her father.

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