Page 151 of Devil Mine

I lean back into my chair, looking at the man opposite me. If I was sitting in front of the man who’d killed my father, he’d already be dead.

“Not a fan of his?” I ask.

He barks out a laugh. “Not at all. He was bad for business. Thefamigliaused to be the crown jewel of the Underworld, and look at us now. Barely scraping by on historically earned respect and nothing more. I intend to restore us to our former glory and I finally might be able to with him out of the way.”

“And why would I let you do that when I could just kill you right now and knock another piece off your family’s board?”

He gives an easy smile. “You can, if you want. There’s an endless line of Leone cousins waiting to becomecapoafter me so you’ll just be replacing me with someone far less amenable to working with you.” He rubs a hand over his jaw, considering me. “There’s room enough for both of us. If we work together, we can pull each other towards the top and maximize our profits.”

“I’m already at the top,” I point out, unsure why I’m even entertaining this conversation with a man who is at best related to the people responsible for Adriana’s death.

“Take my family’s situation as proof that getting to the top is far easier than staying there. If the two of us stand shoulder to shoulder, we can fight off those encroaching on our territory. We could expand beyond the UK, which I know you’re interested in.”

This isn’t an impromptu drop-in. Clearly the man did his research on me before coming here. That explains why there was no immediate eye-for-an-eye killing retaliation after Augusto’s death.

Matteo takes in my blank expression and adds, “I have something to offer you that’ll sweeten this deal.”

“Go ahead.”

“I’ll help you find your sister’s killer.”

My eyes narrow on him at the same time as I hear the sound of a safety clicking off a gun from behind me. I look over my shoulder and see Joaquín with a livid expression on his face, his gun hand shaking as he points it at Matteo.

The man in question barely flicks him a look, remaining unaffected by the danger aimed at him.

“Why would you do that?” I ask, not correcting Joaquín for his protectiveness.

“I don’t want a rogue individual in my organization any more than you do and, unlike my father, I won’t protect him. I’ll help you get to the bottom of what happened and will hand any culprits over to you. I won’t interfere with whatever punishment you choose.”

“What do you want in return?”

Matteo spreads his arms, the very image of congeniality.

I see him for the chameleon that he is.

“A truce. No more bloodshed. No more going after members of my family. This ends today. If I walk out of this door without an agreement, then it’s war. But if you can agree to those terms, then I’ll overlook your crimes against my family up to this point.” He smiles. “I think you can agree my offer is extremely generous.”

I examine him, trying to see the lie in his eyes.

He’s right. His terms are almost charitable in their leniency. I wouldn’t forgive crimes against my family for so small a price.

The smile fades, his lips pulling down into a flat, serious line as he clenches his jaw. The muscle in his cheek twitches.

“And,” he adds after a moment.

There it is. I knew it was too good to be true.

I lift a brow at him. “I knew this wasn’t a selfless pursuit.”

“Never claimed it was,” he quips back.

“What do you want?”

Sharp, intense eyes pierce mine. Whatever it is he wants me to give him, he’s ready to go to war for it.

“The woman in the gold dress.”

I stiffen, my shoulders straining against my shirt. That’s just about the last thing I expected him to say.

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