Page 85 of Revenge & Ruin

“No? Could have fooled some of us.”

I swallow. “I’m with the Prince’s Hand.”

Luis’ eyes flicker dangerously. “I know who you are,IsabellaNatali. I know who your brother is, too.”

“Then you know he would reward you handsomely for my safe return to Manhattan.”

This spurs another round of laughter.

“Do you know what your brother did this afternoon?” Luis begins to circle me. “Rumor has it, he burned down a Guild casino in broad daylight.”

Fuck. No.Leon.I said buy me some time, not start awar.

“A casino inBrooklyn,no less. Now, I hate the Guild as much as the next guy. But the cartel? Well, weownBrooklyn. And your brother just pissed in our backyard.”

It seems like the wrong time to inform him that Brooklyn is resolutely owned by the Guild, although the words bite at the tip of my tongue.

No. I can’t antagonize. Only delay. I can only keep him talking.

“I didn’t know,” I whisper.

“You dumb slut. You really thought we would just hand you back over to your brother?”

It’s only when my back hits the wall that I realize I’ve been retreating. “N-no.”

“SPEAK UP.”

I raise my head as confidently as I can. “What will you do to me?”

This is the right question to ask, it seems, as Luis resumes his casual pacing. “I’m sure my friends and I could come up with a few things.”

Maybe I can just keep him talking.

“I’m worth more to you alive.”

Luis steps forward, very purposefully stepping into my space. “Oh, don’t you worry. I very much intend on keeping you alive.”

I remember thinking once that Luis was quite handsome. But here, up close and personal, he is truly the most ugly thing I’ve ever seen. He has malicious eyes that feed off every expression of fear he can rip from me.

I wonder, awfully, if this is the last face I’ll see.

If it is, I vow to take those terrible eyes with me.

I flex my fingers again. My nails are sharp as claws. Yes. I can do it. I can get at least one good shot in before…well.

The others are closing in around us now. The patrons by the door abandon their posts to get a closer look. The men at the bar are jeering at Luis’ shoulders, half whispering obscenities into his ear.

Will I have a chance to claw at them, too? Or will they watch me brutalize their leader and decide it’s safer to keep my hands restrained?

If they have any foresight at all, they’ll do that first.

“You know, I really thought the cartel was smarter than this,” I say stubbornly. “You think the casino is all my brother intends to burn? You lay one finger on me, and your ships will sink to the bottom of the bay.”

Luis very pointedly lifts a single finger and runs it down my cheek. The touch burns in a festering kind of way as if he’s smudged acid across my skin.

“Your brother barely has enough manpower to take on the Guild. He wouldn’t get within ten blocks of our docks before we destroyed that fanciful ego of his.”

His finger withdraws, and I let out a small gasp of relief.

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