Page 6 of His Ruthless Vow

He seems amused by my defiance. "You want to know what's going on? Your buddy here got in over his head at our tables. Thought he could beat the house." Armando shrugs. "House always wins."

"Griffin?" I look at him, waiting for him to deny it.

The shame in his eyes tells me everything.

"How much?" I ask, my voice tight.

Griffin shakes his head. "Don't worry about it."

"Seventy-five thousand," Armando says casually. "Plus interest."

The room seems to tilt beneath me. "Seventy-five thousand dollars?" My voice rises. "Griffin, what were you thinking?"

"I was on a streak," he says weakly. "Then I wasn't."

Armando checks his watch. "Touching as this is, I've got other stops to make." He straightens his jacket. "Two days, Griffin. Or we move on to breaking things that don't heal."

I step closer to Armando, my heels clicking deliberately against Griffin's hardwood floor. The prosecco bottle feels heavy in my hand now. I could swing it if I needed to—not that I would, but the weight is reassuring.

"I'll take care of it," I state, my voice steady and firm.

Armando's laugh fills the room—deep, dismissive, and utterly patronizing. "You'll take care of it? Honey, this isn't some overdue library book. This is seventy-five thousand dollars, plus interest."

I lock eyes with him, refusing to flinch. "I said, I'll take care of it."

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" He looks me up and down again, his gaze lingering inappropriately. "Though I'm sure we could work out some kind of payment plan that would be mutually beneficial."

My lip curls with disgust. "I'll speak to Luca directly."

The change is immediate. The amused glint in his eyes dissolves, replaced by something wary and cold. His posture stiffens ever so slightly.

"Luca Mantione?" He tries to sound casual, but I catch the edge in his voice. "And what makes you think the Don would give you the time of day?"

"That's my business," I reply coolly. "But you can tell the rest of your crew that Griffin's debt is now my concern, and I'll be discussing terms with Luca himself."

Armando steps closer, invading my space. I force myself not to back away. "You know who Luca is?"

"I know he's running things now. And I know he prefers to handle business directly." I'm bluffing, pulling fragments of information Skye has mentioned, but my face betrays nothing.

He studies me for a long moment before stepping back. "Forty-eight hours," he says finally. "That's all I'm giving you." His eyes flick to Griffin. "Or I'll start taking my payment a different way."

Once the door closes behind Armando, Griffin collapses onto his sofa, face in his hands.

"Jesus, Kendra. What the hell did you just do?" He looks up at me, blue eyes wide with panic. "You can't just name-drop Luca Mantione like that. Do you know what he's capable of?"

I set the prosecco down, suddenly not in the mood for celebration. He knows that he was just at a wedding with Luca and didn't even tell me about this.

What else isn't he telling me?

"No, Griffin, what I want to know is how the hell you got mixed up with the Mantiones in the first place. Gambling? Really?"

He has the decency to look ashamed. "It started small. Just a few hands of poker at the Emerald Oyster. I was winning at first, then—" He gestures helplessly. "I kept thinking I could turn it around."

"Seventy-five thousand dollars worth of 'turning it around'?" I rub my temples, feeling a headache brewing. "You should have called me before it got this bad."

"I never wanted to drag you into this." His voice cracks. "I'm so sorry, Kendra."

I wave him off. "I'll handle it."

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