Page 42 of Devil Mine

I appreciate the directness of her question.

Not many would dare.

Her muscles work beneath the cold metal as she swallows thickly. As scared as she is, there’s still a defiant look in her gaze. Grudgingly, I feel a touch of respect for her.

Ignoring her question, I say. “You might not know where Tess is, but you know someone who does, that I’m sure of.” I lift the gun slowly until it rests against her forehead. My words are low and chilling when I speak next. “You tell my fiancée that I want her backnow. If she doesn’t come back to me, I’ll happily pay you a second visit and this time Marco won’t stop shooting until you look like a piece of Swiss cheese. That’s my promise to herandyou. Can I trust you to deliver that message, Dagny?”

She nods tremulously, staring unflinchingly back at me. Blood oozes between her fingers and down her arm but she doesn’t pay it any attention.

“Good,” I say, rising to my feet.

Marco is already out of the apartment and I’m standing in the doorway when Dagny speaks again.

“I did warn her. I told her you wouldn’t let her go.”

Looking back at her over my shoulder, I find her standing, clutching her arm and giving me an assessing look.

I nod, my face devoid of any emotion.

“She should have listened to you.”

???

Chapter Sixteen

Thiago

The next day

“We killed two more Italians this morning, jefe. Both of them were Leone cousins,” Marco says.

I’m in my home office, in a meeting with my top lieutenants across all the branches of the business. The producers, smugglers, distributors, suppliers, sales reps, accountants, money launderers, and enforcers are all giving me status updates. I’ve had to rely on them more over the last couple of weeks as my main focus has been getting Tess back.

My phone rings on the desk, distracting me from answering Marco. It’s an unknown number, likely one of the ground level operatives checking in, so I pick up.

“Speak,” I answer gruffly.

An irate voice shouts through the line. “Youshotmy best friend?”

My eyes close as a violent jolt electrifies my body. I breathe in for the first time in what feels like weeks, almost as if I’d spent the last month holding my breath underwater and am only now erupting past the surface and able to pull in a massive inhale.

“Get out,” I order, moving the phone away from my mouth. When nobody immediately moves, I roar. “Get the fuck out.”

Understanding passes over Marco’s face and he grins at me, grabbing Arturo by the collar and yanking him out. The others quickly follow suit after them, leaving me alone with the woman on the other end of the line.

My fiancée.

Leaning forward, my hand gripping the phone so tightly I’m afraid it’ll crack under the pressure, I speak my first words to Tess in over a month.

“Amor,” I say, unable to stop the rumble in my voice caused by the intensity of my reaction. I can’t believe she’s calling, that I’m this excited by the prospect of a phone call, like I’m some seventies middle schooler.

I hear the way her breath catches between her lips at my rough tone before she masks it away.

“Don’t call me that, you psychopath. You shot Dagny. Are you clinically insane? If you haven’t been diagnosed yet, I’ll gladly be a character witness to your madness.”

Fuck, just the sound of her voice is enough to get me rock hard. Excitement painfully stiffens every muscle in my body. I can’t focus on anything but my need for immediate relief. I won’t be able to access a single rational thought until I come.

I yank my zipper down, reach into my trousers and pull out my cock.

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