Page 197 of The Billionaire's Secret
She blinks, as if surprised, then her cheeks flush, and she glances away. A hot sensation stabs my chest. Does she have any feelings for me? Will she forgive me for what I did—that I hadn’t been able to accept the fact that she was having my child? My flesh and blood.Mine.I tighten my grasp on her hand, then step forward. I urge her to sink into an armchair and stand next to her.
Antonio looks up from the settee across the room. Weston is seated in a chair on his left. Sinclair leans a hip against the wall, his gun trained on Antonio.
"Have you explained our plan to him?" I ask.
Weston nods.
I turn to Antonio. "You agree then?"
He lowers his chin, "You mean turn against my people, and lead you to the person responsible for what happened to the Seven of you?" He glances up, "What do I get in return?"
"You get to walk away from this alive."
"And if I don’t?"
I lean forward on the balls of my feet, "We’ll hand you over to the authorities, and trust me, you’ll never get to be a free man again."
He sits up straight, his massive frame taking up a big portion of the settee, "I’m not exactly a free man now."
"You’ll have a chance to rescue Nina—"
His jaw hardens.
Ah! Interesting.This is his weak spot. Clearly, the man isn’t as smart as I’d given him credit for. If he were, he would never have revealed it to me.
"You’ll have the means to leave the Mafia, start a new life with her, if that's what you want..."
The skin around his lips whitens. He squeezes his fingers together, and the skin of his knuckles stretches white.
This is a calculated move, of course. Dangling everything he wants in front of his eyes, only to rip it all away. Unless he cooperates, of course.
I prod him, "What do you say?"
Antonio glances at Gigi.
"Don’t look at her, you asshole," I growl, then clamp my lips shut. Apparently, Antonio isn’t the only one unable to control himself. This woman has come to mean more than anything in the world to me.
He tilts his head, "You love her?"
I frown, "What’s that got to do with anything?"
He levels an intense stare, daring me to answer him.
"Of course, I do, you piece of shit."
"You’ll take care of Victoria?" he asks.
I take a step forward and Gigi grabs my hand. I glance down and she shakes her head.Shit, I’m letting him provoke me. Again.
"Better than myself," I reply.
"You’re aware there’s nothing remotely romantic between us, right?" he uncurls his fists.
"The hell are you trying to say?" I growl.
"Nina was my ward, so to speak. I was responsible for her wellbeing. Human relations... They can be complicated, you know?" He drums his fingers on his thigh, "At some point, my feelings for her got more intense. I got personally involved. She’d never forgive me if something were to happen to her friend."
I drag my fingers through my hair, "So why did you shoot at Victoria?"
