Page 23 of The Devil Can Be Kind

“Everything okay, Jesse?”

He seemed quieter than usual as he ate. I had grown somewhat accustomed to his mannerisms over the last two weeks, and his silence now was unsettling.

He just shook his head and downed my glass of coke from the counter.

“Boss wants to see you.” He nodded in the direction of the study and rose to his feet as he spoke.

Apprehension suddenly made me edgy.

I hadn’t realized the Don was back again.

I wiped my hands on the kitchen towel and took the plate of brownies with me as I followed Jesse to the study. He didn’tknock as we entered, going straight in and standing beside the corner window rather than leaving like he normally did.

My stomach churned when I observed the Don and an older man I didn’t recognize opposite each other, engaged in quiet discussion.

Hesitantly, I moved forward and placed the plate at the edge of the desk before sitting in the only available seat. I didn’t miss how the Don’s gaze followed the movement, nor the way he seemed to study the plate as if I’d put a pig’s head on his desk instead of a pile of gooey chocolate brownies.

“Ada, this is Benny. Benny is my consigliere.” There was that nickname again.

I did my best to ignore the sudden sputter of my heart and turned to the man beside me.

“Hello,” I offered, returning the older man’s smile.

I couldn’t help but notice the air in the room was tense. Benny’s smile was clearly forced, and Jesse’s reticence was out of character. Only the Don looked unaffected by it, though I had a suspicion that it was rare to find him affected by anything.

“Our discussions with your family have concluded,” Marco began, bringing his hands together in a pyramid over his lap. “They have been unsuccessful. Your father is refusing to meet our demands.”

My stomach fell to the floor.

What?

My mind swirled like a hurricane, confusion and anger obliterating all rationality.

They wouldn’t do this to me, would they?

“You’re lying!” I’d hoped my voice would come out furious and accusatory, but it just sounded hollow.

It surprised me when Jesse stepped forward to answer instead of the Don, “Adalyn, just listen to him.” I met Jesse’s eyes and saw nothing but concern in them. “It’s true.”

“H-how much was it?” I asked, not really expecting an answer but asking the question anyway.

To my complete surprise, the Don responded. “One hundred mill.”

My stomach knotted with his answer.

Admittedly, I didn’t know much about the state of my family’s finances…but I knew that wehadone hundred million dollars. My family owned an assortment of clubs and casinos, many of which were situated right off the infamous Las Vegas strip itself. If we didn’t have that kind of money lying around, then it really wouldn’t have taken that much effort to raise the funds Don La Torre was demanding.

They just didn’t want to.

My chest constricted and my breathing suddenly became labored.

Not only had my family turned their backs on me and left me inside enemy territory…but by doing that, they had told Don La Torre just how worthless I really was to them. To him.

The Don now knew I was a liar…that nothing and no one was going to protect me now.

Panic started spreading like frostbite.

It suddenly didn’t matter that I was in a room with three very powerful and emotionless men. Tears welled in my eyes, and I hid my head in my hands as a quiet sob caught in my throat.

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