Page 130 of Ruthless Oath

“What?” I asked.

“You like her.” He laughed. “Good for you.”

“I’d like her better if she knew how to listen.”

“You like her just the way she is.” He took a sip of his drink. “You crave her fire.”

“She’s going to be the death of me.” I drained my vodka. My brother wasn’t wrong, but there was a time and a place for games. This wasn’t the time or the place.

“I hope not. I need you alive.” He swirled the liquid around in his glass. “I’ll make the travel arrangements for us when I get to the house. We’ll leave in a few days. I’ve finished vetting the team.”

“Sounds good.” I poured another shot. “Lissia’s coming with us.”

He waved me off. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t trust these people. You have to be at the top of your game and not worry about her.”

“I can’t leave her here.” I downed the second shot, but it wasn’t as smooth as the first. “It’s not safe, especially if I don’t know where the fuck Collins is.”

Milo sighed. “Alright, I’ll make sure she has her own security team.”

“Not Ricardo.”

“He won’t be making this trip.” Milo pointed at me. “You roughed him up pretty bad.”

“He deserved it.”

“Dad might think otherwise.”

“That might be true, but Ricardo defied a direct order. I can’t show weakness when it comes to our soldiers or they’ll all try to get away with stuff.”

“I’m not going to argue with you.”

“Ricardo is better off recovering at the main house.” I slammed my glass on the bar. “Because if I have to look at him right now, I’ll probably kill him.”

“Don’t worry about him.” Milo placed his empty glass next to mine. “We have more important matters to tend to. Lucas is briefing Argentina as we speak and letting them know what we expect when we arrive. Although, we’re not really in a position to demand anything.”

“Florida could be a mistake,” I said. “But it’s our only chance at making allies out of this cartel.”

“If they even want to be friends.”

“We have plenty to offer.” I looked out the window, taking in all the people and cars on the busy street below. An adversary could come at us from any direction, even our own doorstep.

“This could go either way.” Milo tapped his fingers on the bar. “It’s risky. We don’t have the upper hand in Florida, and we don’t have a lot of time to scope out the territory.”

“There’s no reward without risk.” I continued to stare down at the street. “Besides, we’re not safe here either.”

An Enemy

Sitting in the parked car across from the ritzy building with the tinted windows and the prominent residents, I gazed up at the penthouse. It was too high for me to see anything, but I knew he had her in that fortress.

I gripped the steering wheel tight, biding my time and exercising patience. She may have looked like a hostage, but I knew better. She was with Accetti because she wanted to be with him.

They would both pay for that.

The brothers would be taking a meeting with the cartel in a few days. My cartel. The one I had worked relentlessly to gain as an ally. One intercepted shipment had ruined all of my hard work.

Marchello would not take anything else from me. I would make him suffer, and she would watch. This war may have started with Gian and Nico, but it would end with Marchello and me.

All of their territory was up for grabs. A new era was taking shape, and it would have nothing to do with the old-school New York mafia.

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