Page 45 of Sworn to Revenge
I could never function like this—balancing two worlds, navigating chaos with such precision.
“Pedro, we need to figure out who this woman is. She’s staying out of sight, but she’s making a lot of noise. I need you on this,” he speaks to me, for the first time, not as a command, but as a brother. Like how he talks to Mariano. He’s finally trusting me enough with the dirty work, and yet I can’t even summon the courage to talk to him about Bay. Is this why theysay a woman could cut your balls off?
I nod and immediately send a message to Mateo, urging him to track her down through his informants. I have my own suspicions I’m waiting for him to confirm.
“The southern warehouses were torched, but we managed to save most of the product. I just sent you a list of who was there, but no one spotted any women this time,” Mariano finishes his long phone call and updates Luca.
“Those fuckers never learn,” he mutters under his breath, clenching his fists in anger. “How the hell do they even find our warehouses? Who’s the fucking snitch?”
“I’m on it,” I try to calm him. “Waiting for Mateo to check in with his contacts in the police. It doesn’t make sense that we’ve found nothing on her. I think we’re looking in the wrong places.”
Now, all five men in the room turn to me, questioning. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been looking for ties to the Russians and people in their territory, but if the rumors are true, and she was Stas’ woman—the one no one ever saw or heard of,” I start explaining, standing up from the office couch, can’t direct them on my main suspect yet with no proof, “then odds are she’s not connected to the Russians at all. And if you add in her knowledge of our world and several tactical locations, it leaves only one option—she’s tied to another organization. I’m trying to find out now if she’s connected to the French.”
Luca’s face hardens, and he lets out a string of curses through grittedjaw. Maybe I was too optimistic, thinking he was back to his old self. If he were fully himself, he would’ve come to this conclusion a lot sooner. Should I start worrying?
“I expect an update within the hour,” he barks at me. “And you two,” he points at the two men standing next to Abert, whose names I don’t even know. The way they shrink like scared minnows in front of him tells me they’re new here. “You’re going with Abert to the club, in case any of those bastards show up today.”
Did I just call them minnows? As if the tail that popped up again this morning in the shower wasn’t enough—now I’m starting to think like a fish. Shit.
Abert and the two men quickly exit the room, and I can’t blame them—Luca’s not in a good mood. He moves to his leather chair behind the desk, slamming his arm down on it hard, his gaze fixed on me.
A soft tapping at the door interrupts him just before he starts breathing fire. “Am I interrupting?” Alin asks quietly, poking her head in.
No, sister-in-law, you arrived just in time to put out the flames. Thank you.I let out a silent, relieved sigh.
“No, you never interrupt,” Luca’s expression immediately softens when his eyes meet hers. Predictable.
She steps carefully into the office, settling onto his lap, and he welcomes her without hesitation. She shoots me a quick glance, signaling something, and I understand right away.Oh no. Not now, Alin!
I press my lips together tightly, taking a deep breath through my nose,knowing there’s no stopping what’s about to happen.
“Why didn’t you tell me you ordered Pedro to stay away from Bay?” she asks, and I clench my fists, using every ounce of willpower not to snap at her right now. I feel the familiar sparks begin to prickle in my palm, fueled by the mix of my anger and anxiety.
Luca’s eyes now lock onto mine, filled with pure rage, but Alin grabs his chin and turns him to face her. “Iasked the question, not him.”
There’s a long pause before he finally exhales quietly and responds, “Because I didn’t want to complicate family matters any further.” His honesty with her is both refreshing and terrifying. Maybe sheisusing some kind of spell on him.
“They’re both adults,” she gestures in my direction, though his gaze never leaves her face. “Their relationship won’t affect ours. Let them fight, screw, or lick each other’s wounds at night—I honestly don’t care. But giving that kind of order as the capo just because I didn’t like it? That’s an overstep,” her tone is scolding, but the relaxed way she sits on him makes it clear she’s anything but upset.
“If something happens between them, I’m not sure I can trust Pedro to perform in the field the way I need him to,” he answers her, and for the first time, I hear the real reason behind his demand. Every ounce of sympathy I might’ve had for his situation vanishes instantly. Anger fuels me.
I cut off their conversation at once, “after everything we’ve been through, you think of me as just—” A spark flies from my hand toward the desk, igniting the papers on it.Fuck.
Alin doesn’t even flinch. She calmly uses her power to send the waterfrom Luca’s glass flying over the small fire, extinguishing it in an instant.
“What the hell?” Mariano stands up from the couch behind me, jaw dropped in shock.
“Pedro, you and I need to start training your powers together. It’s going to get very dangerous for everyone around you if you don’t learn to control them,” Alin scolds me now.The women in the Spallo family…
“And what exactly are his powers? Setting things on fire?” Luca asks, his brow raised with question, holding up the charred piece of paper that’s left on his desk floating, watching the water now dripping onto the floor.
“He generates electricity, and it’s a very dangerous ability to have if you don’t know how to control it,” she answers, her eyebrows furrowing in my direction as a warning. “If that spark had hit my husband, you’d be on your way to the hospital right now.”
“Great, a new weapon for the family,” Mariano sighs from behind us. “Does that mean Alin has to join us for training now too?”
“We’ll talk about training later,” she dismisses him and turn to Luca, “Pedro is so loyal to you that he won’t even touch her when she throws herself at him. He’s fighting himself to keep his word to you, and you think that’ll interfere with his work? With that level of restraint, I wonder if anything could break him.” She circles back to the reason she came into the room in the first place.
