Page 39 of Broken Saint

His eyes narrowed and his face darkened. I didn't know if he was pissed or bored. Either way, I got the impression he was about to explode.

"You make a lot of baseless assumptions about family business for someone who knows nothing about the actual business."

"Why is that? Because I'm a girl? You cannot be so naive as to think that because you exclude us, we actually allow you to keep all the secrets. I guarantee you, there isn't a female in the family who doesn't know what the hell is going on." By the time I finished, I was practically yelling. I was so tired and out of sorts, I'd completely lost control.

"Well, thanks for the tirade," he smirked. "But my comment didn't mean shit about your gender. I was referring to your five-year exile. If you haven't been part of the family, then you don't know shit about the business, which is fine, because you shouldn't."

"My father told you that?"

"No, he did not. But I did my research before coming here. While information about Catherine may be scarce, Nova is an open book. However, when I put the two of you together, I get a complete picture. You left on your eighteenth birthday and haven't been back since. Which, in our world, is unusual. I don't even see any evidence you've been living under family protection, which pisses me off, by the way. So, tell me. Why were you exiled on what should have been your most important birthday? I mean, I would have expected him to have a husband contract already in place. Someone high-level even. To ban you makes no sense. Unless you did something really wrong."

I took a moment to catch my breath and let his words sink in. I don't know why I didn't expect him to know more about me than I wanted. If nothing else, my father would have told him I wasn't a virgin. Virgins were used for the high-level negotiations.

"You just assume I did something terrible, instead of the other way around."

He shrugged. "All I know is, it's information your father left out of the negotiations, and I want to know why. Hiding information is not usually a sign of good faith."

I sighed. "This wasn't how I imagined spending my evening. Talking about my father was the farthest thing from my mind."

"Why? What happened between you two?"

I put my shoes on the table and dropped into one of the nearby chairs. I truly couldn't stand for a minute longer. I hated thinking about that night. All I could see and feel when I did was the cold as ice rage I'd seen on his face when I lied to him about my virginity. That he hadn't exploded still surprised me. I believed my mother's presence saved me.

"My father did arrange for me to marry as soon as I turned eighteen. He was going to send me to Italy to marry one of the Rossis." I doubted I needed to explain to Ronin who they were. Romeo Rossi and his family were considered the most powerful family in Italy and most of the United States. They had a strong presence here in Vegas, as well. "When he explained my obligation, moments before my birthday party was to begin, I panicked. Honestly, I was terrified. So, I told him I wasn't a virgin."

Ronin whistled. "I bet he didn't take that well. If he'd already negotiated with your future husband for an eighteen-year-old bride then I'm certain your virginity had been part of the bargain."

I nodded. "Yes, it's the whole reason I told him.”

"You lied, didn't you?"

As if he'd read my mind, Ronin asked one of the questions I still did not want to answer. That had been my secret alone, all these years, and one I'd planned to never divulge. If my father discovered I'd lied all those years ago, what would he do? I'd gotten away that night with just an exile as punishment. But if he ever learned that I lied my way out of his arrangement? That could blow up in my face and I'd have a lot bigger problems than the man standing in front of me.

"That's not important. It's ancient history. What's important is the current arrangement and what we're going to do about it."

"Your non-answer is a fucking answer. You lied. And we aren't going to do anything about this arrangement. It's a done deal."

He was spewing words as if they were venom. It was almost enough to make me back down and retreat. But there wasn't a lot of time to regroup and start over, so I was just going to have to go for it anyway.

"What if there was a better deal? One worth a hell of a lot more money and probably more enticing than whatever bullshit my father cooked up."

His eyebrows shot up and I could read the disbelief between the lines. That was to be expected. What I wanted to do wasn't going to be easy.

"What exactly are you saying? You want to buy out your father's contract with us?"

I nodded, clasping my fingers together to keep my nervous fidgeting down to a minimum. I was about to lay my cards on the table, and this was it. The only shot I would get to get out of this.

"I have something my father wants. Badly. He's got Romeo Rossi up his ass to find it. But he won't. Not unless I want him to."

"What is it?" Ronin finally looked truly interested in something I had to say. Although that didn't mean I could trust him quite yet. We needed our own little negotiation before I would reveal any details.

"Something that could get us both killed."

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