Page 162 of Dangerous Contract: Part 2

It was at that moment that all the pieces fell together for Raz.Shewas the one who’d sent these motherfuckers his way. She was the one who’d sent Isla to him and put Miconi on Rose’s trail.

When his mother reached Isla, the younger woman’s swollen eyes fluttered open like she could sense her ally’s presence even in her beaten state. The sight of the two of them together made Raz’s skin crawl.

His mother looked down at Isla, her tone soft, sympathetic. “Isla, dear, what happened? Who did this to you?”

Isla whimpered, her voice a broken whisper. “Mo...nique. Raz’s woman,” she slurred, her busted lips barely forming the words.

Raz’s mother turned her gaze toward him and Monique, anger flashing in her eyes before she focused her glare squarely at him. “I sent Isla here to you, Orazio,” she began, voice laced with reproach.

As if she had the motherfucking right to reprimand him. But another thought struck him.So, that’s how she sounds.He hadn’t heard her speak in so long that he’d forgotten her voice. He’d forgotten his mother’s voice.

“I know I haven’t been very present in your life...” she started.

“Nonexistent,” Raz cut her off, his voice a low growl. “You don’t exist in my life, lady. In any of our lives.” He didn’t miss the way she flinched at his words, but he felt no pity.

She straightened, regaining her composure. “Be that as it may, once I heard you were in control of the family business and the organization, I sent someone to help you. Someone who knew what it took to stand beside a don. She was my gift to you.”

Raz’s lip curled in disgust. “I’ve never asked you for anything. You can keep your gifts. I don’t accept handouts from strangers.”

His mother’s gaze narrowed as she glanced at Monique. “Even if you didn’t want her, you shouldn’t have allowed your...her,” she sneered. “You shouldn’t have lethertry to kill her.”

Raz took a step forward, ready to drag this woman, this stranger, out of this building and out of their lives once and for all. But Monique’s grip on his arm tightened. That was the only thing that kept him from dragging his mother out and tossing her on her ass. He took a deep breath, forcing his fury into a calm, icy mask.

“Her name is Monique Rose,” Raz told the older woman, his voice dangerously calm. “Soon to be Monique Cattaneo. And the next person who says anything disrespectful to her or about her will get a bullet to the chest. In fact, don’t even look at her because I’m feeling trigger-happy.”

Eyes focused on him, his mother asked, “Why did she do this to Isla?”

Before Raz could answer, Frederico spoke up, his voice gravelly. “My daughter tried to kill Monique after I ordered her not to.Youput it in her head that she should be the wife of the new Don Cattaneo. And you sold me on it, too, which makes this just as much my fault. You offered to invest in her business, promising her enough security to silence her board if she married your son and reported the actions of him and his brothers to you. If you wanted to get to know them, you should have come to them yourself. Not used us.” He shook his head, pain evident in his voice. “I was so blinded by my own desiresthat I didn’t see anything wrong with the plan. Now, I see the flaws. All of our flaws, Yours, mine, and my daughter’s.”

His mother’s face hardened. “Flaws? There were no flaws in my plan. It must be the pain meds talking, Frederico. What happened to you? Did... did one of my sons do this to you?”

Raz crossed his arms, his voice cold. “I did. What are you gonna do? Put me in time-out?”

She tensed but didn’t look back at him.

“We’re leaving,” Frederico said, signaling his guards. “My daughter and I are going to the hospital.” His gaze shifted to Raz, his eyes dark. “Our conversation isn’t over, Mr. Cattaneo. And Rose...”

Raz’s voice was pure steel when he growled, “You don’t know a Rose. You never did, and you never will. Keep it that way, or we’ll have problems much bigger than the ones we already have.”

Frederico glared at him, his guards bristling, but a quick wave of his hand held them in place. As they turned to leave, Raz kept his eyes on his mother, watching with a strange sense of satisfaction settling over him at the lost look in her gaze.

He didn’t truly know what her intentions had been for sending them his way. Neither did he care because the simple truth was that he wanted nothing to do with her. There had been a time when he had wanted her.

A time when he’d prayed she’d come home. When he’d stared at other kids with their moms hugging them and wished he’d had that. Those types of hugs never came. And now, he no longer needed that, at least not from her.

Once the Miconis were gone, his mother turned to face him, stepping forward as if to close the gap between them. Raz raised his hand, and she stopped, eyes narrowing. The woman blinked back tears as she spoke.

“Please believe me when I say I just wanted to help. And this, helping you this way, seemed like the kind of help you needed. I want to have a relationship with you all. You may not believe this, but I missed you three. I’ve thought of you all every single day.”

Ignoring her bullshit, Raz looked over his shoulder at his brothers, taking in their expressions. Cas looked ready to vomit while Rome’s gaze was fixed on the floor, unwilling to look at the woman who’d abandoned them all those years ago. That sight only stoked the flames of Raz’s anger and brought back memories he’d tried to forget.

Memories of Cas asking why they didn’t have a mother like other kids did. Memories of Rome asking if they behaved better, would their mother come back. And now, she was right there in front of them, yet one of his brothers looked like he was about to be sick, and the other couldn’t even look at the woman.

Raz returned his gaze to his mother, his voice a sneer. “Look at us. Do any of us look like we’re in the mood to deal with whatever it is you want to deal with right now? Do any of us look like we want you in our lives?”

The anger drained from her face, replaced by something almost vulnerable as she took in the expressions of each of her sons.

“I know this is sudden, but let me explain, Raz,” she pleaded.

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