Page 140 of Seeking Vengeance

He raises a brow. “Talkto him?”

“Yes.Talk.” I grind my teeth, hating the vow that keeps Emmanuel alive. “I won’t betray Lorenzo.”

“Do you plan on taking her with you?”

“Yes.” I can’t do this any other way. The man who spawned me won’t have her killed if I’m standing in the line of fire.

At least, he never would’ve in the past.

Emmanuel Costa has, and probably always will, see me as the one rightfully meant to take over the family business even though I walked away.

There’s a reason that fucker hasn’t retired despite the money piled in his bank, and I’m sure it has everything to do with him still wanting me at the helm.

Problem is, it’s risky to assume he hasn’t changed.

I don’t know him anymore.

Before today, I’d tried to kid myself about the lengths he would go to for success. Forpower. I’d prayed for the sake of my siblings that the rumors of blood on their hands hadn’t been true. But today, Remy alerted me to a callousness I’d been oblivious to. One Layla had painstakingly survived and her family kept hidden.

Emmanuel is more inhuman than I wanted to believe. More sick and twisted.

That’s where I get it from.

But as long as I stand between her and his vengeance, she’ll survive.

She has to.

Bishop clears his throat, subtly regaining my attention. “You’re going to take her right to your father’s door?”

The description punctures my chest, wielding a vicious blow.

I slam my fist against the table and glare. “He’s not my father.”

Layla startles in my periphery, her fear punching me with guilt.

“Biology disagrees,” she snips under her breath, settling back into her haughty posture of hostility, bratty even in the face of what’s to come.

“My apologies.” Bishop lowers his voice, the deep rumble of the jet giving us a modicum of privacy from her prying ears. “Are you sure you want to drag her into the heart of this? You’re not worried they’ll slit her throat in front of you?”

“Remy and Salvatore wouldn’t dare. And Emmanuel is supposed to be laid flat from complications of a bullet wound.”

“That part could be a trap. Nobody has heard a word about his injury.”

“Nobody heard a word about him abducting Cole fucking Torian’s niece and killing his brother-in-law either,” I snarl.

“True. But still…”

He’s right. This could be a setup. Emmanuel might have concocted the entire plan—a fake instigation of war, a pretend vulnerability.

Layla knew nothing about Emmanuel being targeted. Lorenzo hasn’t said a word about his brother-in-law being shot.

The fucker might have even paid the Virginia Beach gangbangers to do the hotel drive-by so Remy had an excuse to find me after all these years and claim to give a shit about my well-being.

“If they attempt to harm her in any way, I’ll break the vow to my uncle without a thought.” It’s a pledge. A fucking promise. “And if you’re forced to do the same, I’ll pay the price. I’ll take the blame.”

“Neither one of us are going back to that life. Not now. Not when—”

“I’ll deal with it,” I grate. “I just need to know you’ll protect her if I can’t.” I hold his gaze, conveying the importance of what I’m about to say with a hard look. “I have no right to ask you to guard her with your life, but—”

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