Page 95 of Where the Wicked Reign

He scrubbed his hand over his stubbly jaw.

“I don’t like thisdevelopmentbetween us being kept a secret.”

“You mean no longer being at war?”

“It’s much more than that and you know it.” He challenged, “Unless you’re going back to your denial bullshit?”

“I told you I wouldn’t, and I’m not.”

“Good.”

“And I don’t think I’m your dirty little secret, if that’s what you’re worried about. This is part of the plan. We can’t let them know that we’re on amicable terms. Your father wants you leashed and mine wants me punished. They need to believe that’s what this coming marriage will be to the both of us. It gives us an advantage and an opportunity.”

“I’m all for logic, reason, and puppet mastery. But with this… with you… it’s accompanied by a bitch of a burn, too. You’re finally with me, finally open to that part of you that you tried to deny and bury for so long. And it fucking enrages me that it’s still got to be kept on the down low, that we’re both forced to pretend we’re those two distanced enemies that we were for years on end.”

“But we’re not. That’s all that matters. The rest is just a necessary façade.”

He blew out a breath. “Yeah. It is.”

I shifted my weight on the bed, groaning as the movement pulled at my stitches. “Last night was a success. Both the operation itself and how the four of us conducted it, that we were able to come together and work as one, as an allied force, a team. It solidified trust between us all that we need to continue in this vein and move beyond one operation, to working on the big picture of taking the power that’s owed to us. You came to me that night in my apartment to get my cooperation on the marriage directive in return for making me a deal that wouldbring their entire world crashing down around them. I told you that couldn’t happen until trust was earned. Now it is. It’s time to fully engage in this alliance.”

“We’ll start with an exchange of intel and data. Are you prepared to reveal and relinquish that, Caterina? I know that information is a great source of your power to you.”

“Like you said, if I want true power, doing this is the way forward.”

“With us.”

“With you,” I confirmed. “The whole crazy crew of you.”

“Then send me what you have today and I’ll do the same, then we’ll come together and review, take it from there.”

I frowned. “Where’s the usual urgency?”

“I saidtoday.”

“Still. The apologies? You treading more carefully than usual? What’s going on?”

He ground his jaw.

“Nico,” I pushed.

“I got word a couple of hours ago.”

“Word on what?” That could mean any number of things, given his role as Capo. He was stalling. Knowing the way he strategized as well as I did from our long war, it was likely he’d move onto redirecting next.

“You said you had a meeting at the crack of dawn. I woke you up early, but you don’t have all the time in the world. Especially when factoring in how long it’s going to take you to get ready in your injured state.”

And there it was. Redirection.

My initial reaction was to tell him not to concern himself with my business operations. But that felt too harsh now we were… where we were at. Somewhere that I wasn’t exactly sure of or able to define—or sure if I should define—beyond us having solidified our alliance.

So, instead, I said, “I have time. Now give it to me.”

“Give it to you? Is that a challenge?Because I’m more than happy to oblige. Even with you injured, there are still many filthy things I can do to—”

“Nico, spill it.”

He shifted his weight in bed, sitting up all rigidly straight and intense. “There’s a covert meeting taking place between key figures in the Marchetti and Leone families. I’ve been asked to come ahead of the rest by my father. He’s given me a heads up because he wants my outward support and me falling in line, but coming early is due to our engagement, Caterina. Contracts have been drawn up, arrangements made, and I need to be briefed, so I show nothing but my support for such a move in front of everyone when this summit gets underway.”

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