Page 160 of Dangerous Contract: Part 2

Raz frowned. “Isla?”

Monique nodded, swallowing hard. “She tried to kill me, Raz. She... I stopped her.”

His eyes darkened, rage flaring within him. “Isla Miconi tried to kill you?”

“She was trying to take me out of the picture,” Monique explained. “She thought if I was gone, you would choose her. Don’t worry, I taught her a lesson.”

Raz’s jaw clenched. The urge to hunt Isla down and finish what Monique had started burned inside him.

“Where is she?” he asked, his voice low, dangerous. He was ready to put a bullet in the Miconi duo and bury their asses together with his father.

Monique shook her head, placing a hand on his chest. “I didn’t kill her. And you can’t kill her either. She’s all Frederico has left, and I... I couldn’t let her die.”

He didn’t give a damn about what Frederico had and what he didn’t have.

“I know that look,” his Rosa whispered. “Let it go. There’s been enough...” her gaze drifted past him, and he knew what she saw. His father. Dead. His brothers, broken. His little cousin with a tear-stained face. “There’s been enough pain today. I’m ready to end this.”

The anger slowly drained from his eyes. He reached up, brushing a thumb over her cheek.

“Okay. If that’s what you wish.” He’d let it go for tonight. Tomorrow was a different matter. “You shouldn’t have gone through that alone,” he told her. “I should’ve been there.”

“I’m fine, Raz. Now let me get a look at you. You’ve been running around, fighting while still recovering from me drugging you... I mean...”

Toya burst out laughing. “You still drugged him, even though the kidnapping was off? That’s my girl!”

Monique's cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“I deserved it,” Raz said. “Plus, it’s Rome’s fault she had the drugs in the first place. If anyone should pay, it’s him.”

A phone rang. Raz looked back to find Cas pulling his phone from his pocket. Meka was standing by his side, holding his other hand. But her gaze kept drifting to the dead body in the middle of the floor.Shit.

He needed to get them away from here and get the clean-up crew on the way. His gaze met Rome’s. Rome nodded, seemingto read his expression, and pulled out his phone, stepping away from the group to make a call.

Still holding Monique close, Raz listened in on Cas’s call. When Cas hung up, he relayed the message to Raz.

“That was Bryce. He’s with Tatianna and a team he brought with him. They’ve cleared the main gala. No guests were killed. However, a few were wounded. Many of our guys didn’t make it. Along with dad, I mean, theold don’smen. Guests have been escorted to their cars. Landon is here helping also.”

“Landon? Landon Harrison?” Raz asked.

Cas nodded. “He was on the guest list. He stuck around to help out. He was able to keep police from hearing about what happened. He has someone on the inside. Apparently, he has way more connections than he used to.”

True. Back in the day, he’d been called a train wreck in his hometown. He’d even been sent to prison for a crime he hadn’t committed. He was back now, and Raz had a feeling a lot of people were going to suffer his wrath.

Raz was willing to lend a hand if Landon needed him. He could connect with his old friend later. Right now, they needed to get everything cleaned up.

“Bryce said that Landon wants us to get away from the facility as soon as possible. His connects are keeping the police from finding out. But once guests are away from the facility, some may contact authorities that his connections can’t cover. It’s best if we’re not here when they arrive. Bryce is already working on a cover story about dad, theold don,coming here. The story is that Dad showed up uninvited, causing chaos because you’d taken over the company. He wounded dozens of people before escaping. Now, he’s in hiding from the family.”

That story was vague enough to take some heat off them, but the police would still have questions. As long as there were no bodies here when they arrived, they should be good.

Raz nodded. “Leo...” he glanced over at Leo and found him leaning against Toya for support. “Who beat your ass?”

Leo didn’t respond. Toya did. “I’ll have you know he was outnumbered. He held his own, though.”

If Leo smiled any harder, his cheeks would burst.

“Did he? Was he holding his own when Rosa was fighting Isla?”

Leo’s smile evaporated. “Boss, I...”

---