Page 33 of Sin & Secrets

Marco stares at the meeting room door, cogs almost visibly turning beneath that salt-and-pepper hair. “You think it’s the rat.”

I shrug before pulling away down the corridor. “Let’s circle back to this later, shall we?”

He doesn’t reply until I reach the meeting room door.

Someone wolf whistles as soon as I walk in.

“Here he is!” Alessandro croons as he balances on the back legs of his chair. “Today is the day to put in your requests, folks.”

“You sleep well last night, boss?”

“Hey, could I borrow a hundred? There was this girl I was chatting with at the bar last night…”

I roll my eyes as I approach the seat at the head of the table. “All right. Enough.”

“He’s in a good mood.”

“Glad you’re finally getting laid again, man.”

“I said, enough!” My voice carries through the room.

The twelve other people around the long, rectangular table fall into an obedient silence.

Everyone except Alessandro, who mock whispers across the table to Marco. “Is it too late for him to get a refund?”

I glance over at Martino, who’s taken his usual position standing at my back, and nod.

In one swift movement, the giant man kicks out Alessandro’s chair from under him and smashes his head into the table with a satisfying crunch.

“Anyone else?” I survey my inner circle with a bored look.

No one dares meet my eye as I give the order for Martino to let go. Alessandro curses under his breath as blood begins to trickle down his nose.

“You’re on thin ice after that little mischief at the docks,” I reply to his unasked question. “Try not to piss me off, please.”

Alessandro grumbles something about only ever seeing two bikes but thankfully shuts up.

“Since it’s already public knowledge, I can confirm the negotiations with Lazzaro were concluded yesterday. Marco is in the process of rectifying the accounts.”

Marco merely nods his confirmation.

“I’m sure theCandelabrawill be very grateful to him for not sending his daughter out to make good on the repayment.”

This earns me a few good chuckles, and whatever tension was in the room fizzles out.

I quickly turn to other matters, pleased that many seem to have already moved on from the Lazzaro issue.

Having them believe I would actually do something like pay off a man for his girlfriend doesn't feel good. The fact so many of them had barely battered an eyelash when I’d brought it to them a few days ago was even more concerning.

But strangely, it wasn’t my reputation I was worried about.

Claudio’s little outburst in the negotiations had me inches away from snapping the fucker’s neck. Instead, my nice opal fountain pen had paid the price.

But glancing over at Alessandro and some of the others at this table, it was clear their opinion of Cas was barely worth remarking on.

The words they use to describe her, what they believe she’s doing to me behind closed doors, makes me want to beat them all bloody.

The only thing worse is that voice in the back of my head that wants nothing more than for me to go home right now and take her, taste her, consume her, exactly like they’re all imagining.

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