Page 42 of King
“That son of a bitch. Did he really think he could leave me in the dark our entire lives together?”
“My brother loves you, Alana.” He grasps my hand and squeezes it before letting it go. “I’ve never questioned the love he has for you. That’s why he refused to let you go.”
“That isn’t love Emilio.” I rub my temples, hoping to stave off the impending headache. “That’s someone who wants absolute control over someone’s life. He knew I’d never play second to anyone, so he tried to have us both. I can’t fucking believe I wasted so much time of my life.”
“Can I trust you to help me?”
He ignores my comment about his brother. Emilio knows I’m right. Matteo doesn’t know what love is. He’s a fucking control freak and I can’t believe I fell for all the shit he spewed all these years. I will never willingly be the side bitch in any relationship. He knew it was only a matter of time before I found out the truth and left his ass.
I look out the window thinking of the best way not to get involved in this. I hate Matteo for what he’s done to me, but most of all what he’s done to, I don’t know how many women and children. But can I really usher him to his death?
“Make no mistake, Alana,” Emilio says when I don’t answer quickly, “Matteo will die. It’s up to you to decide whether you and Amelia want to be alive when it happens.”
My eyes widen. “That sounds like a threat, Emilio.”
The car pulls to a stop. I stare at him in silence while he gazes back at me with all the warmth in his eyes gone.
The back door opens.
“I’ll be in touch with a time and place, Alana,” he says without saying anything about my comment which let me know that it is a threat.
I don’t think it’s a threat from him but a warning that he won’t stop anything his brother does, like he’s done in the past.
I step out of the car, close the door, then stand in shock as the red lights disappear into traffic. He took my silence as an agreement. Even though I didn’t accept his plan verbally, what else can I do? My time is running out. Emilio all but confirmed it. I have to do this, or I’ll die along with Amelia.
What other choice do I have?
Chapter Sixteen
KING
Ipaceinsidemyoffice while Alana sits on the couch with her long ass leg crossed over the other like she didn’t do shit wrong. She just finished explaining to me what happened with Emilio Messina and his plans. I can’t believe she’d do something so reckless.
When Saint called to let me know she disappeared after saying she had to take a piss, I lost it. Now I’m just beyond livid she lied to me and took a risk with her life. All she had to do was come to me. Of course, I would have told her fuck no, but we could have come up with a better plan other than her sacrificing herself for her friend’s safety.
I like Grimm’s little sister. She’s funny as hell, a great tattoo artist, and although the little sister of a brother, she’s not who’s important to me. There’s no fucking way I’ll let Alana trade herself for her friend’s life.
“There’s no other way, Dylan.” She sighs. “If I don’t do this Amelia and I are both dead. Why not let Emilio handle his brother?”
“Because it’s fucking stupid for us to believe anything this motherfucker has to say, Alana. He’s his damn brother! You really think he’s gonna choose you over him?’”
“I understand your caution. I really do. But I know Emilio and I believe him.”
The calmness in her voice irritates me even more. Like she’s not taking any of this shit seriously. She’s literally thinking about risking herself as bait, hoping that a damnmade manwill kill his own brother.
“Apparently you don’t understand shit about me if you think I’d go along with something like this.”
“See, you’re the reason I met Emilio on my own in the first place. If I had come to you, you would’ve tried to stop me, and Amelia would be dead.”
I stop pacing and pinch the bridge of my nose as I try to calm down. I want to strangle her for valuing someone else’s life over hers. While I don’t agree with the shit her ex is involved in, once again she’s putting someone else’s safety above her own just like when she went to Grimm with all the information, she had on the Bianchi Syndicate. All while knowing good and damn well, she might get killed in the process.
“You’re damn right I would have!” I cross my arms over my chest to keep from reaching out to her and shaking some common sense into her. “You could have been killed pulling the shit you did today. What the fuck don’t you understand about that!”
She leaps from the chair, and for the first time since she’s been here, I believe I see the real Alana Robinson. Of course, she’s beautiful. She’s also one of those women whose personality isn’t like anyone you could ever imagine existing. But there’s something about the rage on her face that has me falling absolutely head over heels for her even more. Something about it is so intoxicating. So primal. She looks like a damn avenging angel. An angel I want to fuck into oblivion.
“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to like that?” She points her finger at me. “I understand the danger. I understand the risk. I’d be damn if I let the only family I have left on this godforsaken planet, be killed because of some shit I did.”
“Alana…”
