Page 31 of Revenge & Ruin

“I would wait on a woman like you for the rest of my life,” he flirts back.

I bite my lip, watching in satisfaction as his eyes drop to the movement, before taking my seat next to him.

“May I get you anything, mademoiselle?”the host says, drawing my attention away.

I make a show of placing my hand on his arm as I smile brilliantly up at him. “Champagne, I think. We’re celebrating, you see.”

The casual touch has its desired effect. The host’s face flushes brilliantly.

“Our anniversary, right,belle?”

I snap my gaze over to see Teo glaring at my hand, a tight expression on his face. I blink, and then he smiles again condescendingly.

Two can play at that game. “Of course,darling.”

I release the host, not bothering to watch as he scrambles away in embarrassment.

“As flattered as I am, Vitale,” I begin, crossing my leg over the other, “you’ll forgive me for not wanting to be associated with you beyond this table.”

“Did I do something wrong?” he replies innocently.

“I’m not sure you’re capable of doing anything right.”

Teo narrows his eyes slightly. “Why am I alive, Isabella?”

Another server—the poor Host seems to have returned to his post—pours champagne into my glass over my shoulder. I wait until they’ve moved on before continuing.

“I’ve always thought diplomacy garners more effective results than throwing people down stairwells,” I reply evenly.

Teo smirks. “So, you’re here to bargain with me?”

“I know what it is you want, Teo Vitale. I’d rather have a civil conversation about it before our respective families destroy everything accessible by bridge and tunnel. See if we can’t come to some kind of…arrangement.”

He raises an eyebrow at that. “So your heart bleeds for the bystanders?”

“Isn’t it always the civilians that pay the worst toll?”

My words linger between us as two servers bring out the first course of the taster menu. I wave them away before they can begin with an explanation of the food in front of us.

“You want to know where my mother is,” I state as I watch him over the rim of my champagne glass.

There’s no mistaking the darkness that falls over his expression. “You can’t expect me to believe you’ll give her up so easily?”

I tsk and put my glass down. “You’re correct, of course. But I’ve never encountered a man with exclusively singular goals.” I let my gaze wander to his chest, where his shirt dips tantalizingly low. “There must be other things you’re interested in.”

He quirks his head. “Why is it that we’re having this conversation? Did your brother think he’d have trouble seducing me?”

“My brother is otherwise engaged at present,” I reply lazily, sitting back in my seat. “It seems all negotiations between the Guild and the Prince’s Hand lie with us.”

Teo acknowledges me for a tense beat, as if he can hear the way my heart is hammering in my chest. Or somehow knows that I can’t stop thinking about the way his lip felt against mine.

“I feel as if I’m at a disadvantage,” he says, finally.

“How so?”

“You know what I want. It’s whatyouwant that I can’t get my head around.”

I give him a pointed look. “Oh, I imagine there are several things, Teo Vitale.”

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