Page 89 of Sinner's Fury

“That Christian married the daughter of Sienna Mitchell, the head of theSociety.”

“Not my mother.”

“But you were raised by her, correct?”

“Unfortunately. What’s your point?”

“My point is, someone like you, with all your knowledge, is quite valuable. What is stopping me from calling O’Malley and handing you over to him? You killed two men in his territory yesterday. Christian is half Irish. His loyalty is now in question.”

Smirking, I shook my head. “You won’t do that for the same reason I won’t tell Giovanni or Maxim Fedorov you are the reason Illyria was kidnapped from the Gentlemen’s Club. Because it was you who helped Boris Petrovitch escape with her undetected. I must say, Mr. Romano, that was rather a stupid move to play both sides of the fence, just for a seat at the table.”

“That’s rather inventive, Ms. Mitchell. Good luck proving it.”

“Don’t need to,” I stated. “Because when you failed to kill Dwayne Buchanon at the docks that same night, you marked yourself. Let me ask you this, Mr. Romano. Did you ever stop to consider that Dwayne Buchanon was more than a cousin to Giovanni Valentinetti?”

“He’s nothing but a biker in the Golden Skulls.”

“Yes, that’s true. Dwayne Buchanon is a brother in the Golden Skulls and a cousin of Valentinetti, but he’s also the nephew of Brian Buchanon, the current head of the IRA. Now, I don’t know about you, Mr. Romano, but Brian Buchanon doesn’t strike me as a man who would just let his own flesh and blood die without stepping in to save him.”

Renaldo Romano leaned forward and sneered, “What are you saying, Ms. Mitchell?”

“I’m saying, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who helped Dwayne Buchanon escape the pier that night. It was his uncle.”

“Bullshit,” he clipped, reaching for his gun.

“Touch it and I will fucking kill you,” I heard Christian threaten from behind me as he walked down the stairs. I said nothing as Christian kept his gun aimed at Renaldo, stopping before the two men as he held out his hand. “Give me your fucking guns.”

Turning back to Renaldo, I smirked. “You really didn’t think this through, did you? What did you expect would happen? Did you think you could come into Mrs. Moreno’s home, threaten me, and I’d just give you what you wanted? Because if you did, then you didn’t do your due diligence. Let me tell you a little something about me, Mr. Renaldo. I may look unassuming, innocent for lack of a better word, but that is the illusion I’ve created. From the moment I was born, I’ve been trained in a great many things. Subterfuge was a specialty of mine. The second you entered this house you lost the game, Mr. Renaldo. Because had you taken the time, you would have known that I am never truly alone. I always have someone watching me. Isn’t that right, Aurelio?”

Christian blinked. “What?”

I didn’t bother replying as Renaldo and his two men stiffened when Aurelio Vitale walked in from the kitchen, eating a sandwich.

“Remind me to never play hide and seek with you, Charlotte,” the man said as he stopped next to me.

“What the hell are you doing here, Aurelio?” Christian angrily questioned.

“Sorry, Chris, but orders are orders. You know that.”

“A heads-up would have been nice. Have you been watching us the whole time?”

Aurelio smirked. “Only since Chicago. Which reminds me, don’t forget to sterilize your mother’s dining room table before she gets home.”

Christian rolled his eyes when Aurelio turned and smiled at Renaldo. “Good morning, Mr. Romano. My brother would like a word with you.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Carly

Christian had been eerily quiet since we cleaned up and left his mother’s house. I didn’t know what was wrong, but I could clearly see the indecision in his eyes. He was warring with himself about something. Something that clearly upset him.

Even as he stood off to the side, talking on the phone with his girls, I could see the stiffness in his shoulders. Whatever was bothering him was only getting worse.

“Charlotte, are you listening?”

Blinking, I held the phone closer to my ear and muttered, “Sorry. I was thinking about something else.”

“Something or someone?”

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