Page 84 of Vicious Vows

My father laughed. “Your negotiation skills need serious help.”

Why did I come here? I glanced at the floor. This was a bad idea.

“I’m going to do a little digging,” he said. “I’ll see what I can find out.”

I looked up at him with hope.

“Don’t celebrate anything. I’ve turned the tables, and now I’ll be able to come to you with my demands. Do you see how this works?”

If he found something that could get Nico home, I didn’t care what I had to do to get that information.

“The information you gave me might have violated Marchello’s trust in you.” He shook his head. “You took a huge risk, and I admire that.”

You would.

“I’m doing this for all of us,” I said. “Nothing good can come from this war, and I don’t know why you can’t see that.”

“I see a lot of things, my beautiful child.” He kissed my cheek. “Now I just have to get you to see them.”

“I haven’t forgiven you for anything.”

The lights flickered and the house made a strange noise, almost as if a surge of energy jolted through it. My father glanced around but didn’t seem bothered.

“I need to get back to work.” He motioned toward the door. “I’ll be in touch.”

“Okay.” I grabbed my bag from the chair and hurried out of the study. I wasn’t ready to accept defeat. If I could pull this off and get Nico home, I could make up for all the trouble I had caused Marchello and his family.

I needed to get back before Marchello realized I was gone. I dug through my bag, searching for my phone as I swung open the front door. When I stepped out onto the porch, I smacked into Marchello.

“Oh!” I held up my phone, remembering he could track me.Shit!I had hoped I would be in and out of here before he even thought to do that. “What are you doing here?”

He glared at me. The vein on the side of his head twitched and his jaw clenched.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

“The more appropriate question would be, what areyoudoing here?”

NINETEEN

Marchello

The best laidplans didn’t always work the way they were supposed to, especially when the window of opportunity was so tight. Lately, my windows had been getting smaller and smaller.

In order for this to work, there could be no mistakes. No unexpected surprises.

I had minutes to walk into the Gallanti estate and pull the trigger. Our IT guy had disabled the security system with a quick surge, so the cameras were down, and Gian’s guards had been called to an emergency on the docks. He was inside the house with limited protection. Milo and my guys made sure we would not be interrupted.

I hurried up the stone path to the main house once Milo gave me the all-clear. The front door lock had been tripped, but it would only be a matter of time before Gian’s security firm realized the system had been breached.

My steady heart rate allowed me to move in a serene fashion. Anxiety was not permitted in these situations. I strolled up to the porch with a concise plan. Take out Gian and calmly walk back to my car that was waiting on the other side of the property line.

In and out.

I had been trained for this type of job since I was a teenager. This situation was no different than any other hit I had performed. I kept telling myself that, but it was only to get me through the task.

This time, when I looked into the eyes of my target, it would be more personal than usual. This assassination had the power to haunt me for as long as I slept beside the woman who had stolen my heart.

“Chello,” Milo’s voice came through my earpiece. “We have a problem.”

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