Page 57 of Revenge & Ruin

I raise an unamused eyebrow.

“Who also dabbled in management from time to time,” she concedes. “Okay, I get it. I’m still not qualified to give you advice on your next big empire if that’s what you’re looking for.”

“Okay, fine. Are you qualified enough to at least hear out my plans for this place, then?”

She rolls her eyes and gestures for me to continue.

“I want the main hall to be on this floor, right at the top, so that our highest paying customers can appreciate the views and location?—”

Mia lets out a snort.

“I’m sorry. Do you have an opinion to share with the class?”

“It’s a terrible idea.”

“Why?” I pretend to be offended.

“You want to hide away your high rollers up here? The one thing those old codgers love more than spending their grandaddy's money is letting peopleseethem as they spend their grandaddy’s money.”

“Mmmhmm.”

“It’s a casino, Teo! Windows are your enemy. You don't want people looking out at the city and thinking damn, it’s dark already, I should probably go home. You want to create a sense of timelessness, comfort, safety so that they never actually want to leave.”

“Sure.”

“You want to use this floor for something? Turn it into a concert venue. Force people up three flights of stairs to get here and ply them with alcohol. Then, they’ll have to trickle backdown while resisting all the pretty lights leading them straight into temptation.”

“Of course.”

“And then you could—” she suddenly freezes, then turns to look at me. “You were never going to put the high rollers up here, were you?”

I grin back at her. “Nope.”

She scowls at me, which does nothing to disguise the flush of her cheeks. “So what, you’re tricking people into free business advice now?”

“I thought you weren’t qualified to give me advice on my next big empire,” I retort.

“What is this about, Teo? Really?”

I consider her for a moment. The teenager who had once made my life a living hell was now grown, capable of making her own decisions about her life.

Yet her father’s words have stuck with me. There is no doubt that Marco Chiavari would have a heart attack if he knew what I was about to ask. But he can’t protect her forever, and Mia has been flirting with this life for too long now.

She needs to make a choice or risk being forced into the Guild against her will.

“I want you to run this place,” I say simply, letting the words settle between us.

Mia bites her bottom lip. “As like, a bartender?”

I give her a long look. “No, Mia.”

“But I’m not a part of the Guild,” she argues, suddenly seeming very small in that oversized jacket.

“Your father is?—”

“I’m not my father!”

I can see this going further south every time I open my mouth, but I can’t stop it.

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