Page 10 of Revenge & Ruin

“Was I close?” I can’t help but goad her.

Her jaw locks. “You’ll get yourself killed doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Assuming you know everything.”

I ignore Mia, covering her snort of agreement.

“Enlighten me, then,” I challenge. “Where did I go wrong?”

Isabella sighs. “For one thing, my brother isn’t in that car. If you knew him at all, he wouldn’t lower himself to gruntwork.”

“Then why are you so anxious about it getting gunned down?” Mia argues.

Isabella tilts her head to look at her. “Because that’smyLamborghini Aventador, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ruin the paint.”

Mia sneers back, but Isabella has already turned her attention back to me. “For another thing, you really should have tied me up.”

It’s the only warning she gives before she slams into my forearm with brutal efficiency. Caught off guard, I feel the knife slip out of my hand and fall directly into her outstretched palm.

Within seconds, she’s pouncing on me. I stagger back for two painfully slow seconds before we tumble to the ground. In no time at all, I’m lying flat on my back. My arms are pinned down by her knees while her forearm presses down hard on my windpipe.

It would be so fucking sexy if she weren’t pressing the knife into my cheek.

“Open the gates,” is all she demands.

“Teo,” Mia says my name like a question. Like she would launch herself at Isabella in a heartbeat.

Isabella must hear it, too. “One step, and I’ll drive this knife into his skull.”

“You do that, and you’re never leaving this room alive,” Mia counters.

And I won’t be any closer to the answers I seek. No, if I’m going to smoke out Ida Natali, I need both of her children alive. Preferably, also in my possession.

“Be a dear, Mia,” I say, trying to casually ignore the weight of Isabella sitting on my crotch. “And tell Dante to release the Lamborghini. It seems we won’t be needing it after all.”

“Are you–”

“NOW.”

She huffs. “If she gets your blood on this carpet, I’m invoicing you for the cleanup fee.”

“Mia.”

I wait until I hear the door closed before I let out a sigh. “You know, you’re not making your case particularly compelling.”

“You underestimate how much I love my car.”

“Youunderestimate how much I love this position,” I counter.

Immediately, she lifts her body weight off me, an outraged expression on her face.

It’s the opening I need. I use my legs to knock her off balance. The knife skims across my face as she throws her arms down to catch herself, and I quickly wrestle her onto her front, Digging my knee in between her shoulder blades.

“You fucker!” she exclaims as she wildly tries to thrash her arms behind her, hoping to catch me with the knife.

It takes no effort at all to catch her arm and twist it back until she drops it.

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