Page 42 of Final Installment
“Might have been me.”
I scowled at him.“Y’all should be embarrassed at the way you run things.”
“Y’all?”he repeated with amusement.“My god, you really did go native in Texas.”
“I’m as Texas as bluebonnets and chicken fried steak.”
“You’reshquiptare.You always will be.”Kristo took another drink and then turned to me with an unsettling expression.“You’ll remember what it means to be one of us at your sister’s wedding.”
I nervously sipped my drink as an icy chill rolled down my spine.Was he trying to reassure me?
Or was that a threat?
Chapter Ten
Ishouldn’tbegawkingatthem like this.
But he stayed right there, rooted to the spot, staring out the window at Besian and Marley together in his garden.Somewhere out there, a puppy ran wild, but he’d lost sight of it.Neither Besian nor Marley seemed too worried about the missing dog.
No, they were too enthralled with each other.Besian held her waist in both hands, and she caressed his face, drawing her thumb along his cheek and lower lip.She smiled up at her husband, but it was Besian’s expression that left Luka all twisted up inside.
Tender.Vulnerable.Loving.
As he watched them talk quietly and embrace, Luka felt someone approach.He didn’t have to glance back to identify the intruder.Zec had what could only be described as a dark aura that seemed to radiate from him in thrumming waves.It wasn’t threatening exactly, but it felt unnerving.
Zec stopped next to him.He crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly.He seemed to be studying the married couple as if they were research subjects.Eventually, he said, “I hope you’re not envisioning this with your soon-to-be wife.If she lets you get that close, it’s only so she can slip the knife in tight between your ribs.”
Luka scowled.“You’re an asshole.”
Zec shrugged carelessly.“No one likes hearing the truth.”
“I don’t remember asking your opinion.”
Zec glanced at him, his eyes dark and cold.“If you had, I would have told you to put a stop to this marriage nonsense ten years ago when the money didn’t matter and the Raffaelli family was weak.We could have made a big move and gotten out from under this shadow.”
“Well, you didn’t, and it’s too late now.”He turned away from the window, away from the sight of Besian and Marley kissing so sweetly, away from the happiness he would never know.“What’s the situation with the Raffaellis?”
“The same as it always is,” Zec rasped.“Bullshit and bullshit and more bullshit.”
Luka’s cheek twitched.“You still think they’re playing games with the money in the trust?”
For the last few months, Zec had been hissing in his ear about his suspicions that Carlo Raffaelli had not been simply guarding and keeping the trust money safe.Zec had even gone so far as to demand to see the actual books, to audit the account.It had caused a great deal of consternation and even threats.In the end, Carlo had allowed Zec to look at them.
“You already went through their files like a forensic accountant.You didn’t find anything,” Luka tersely reminded him.
“I didn’t find anything in the files they gave me access to,” Zec retorted.
Luka sighed.“The Dushku accountant didn’t find anything untoward either.”
Zec scoffed.“We’re trusting our enemy’s math now?”
“They’re not our enemies anymore.”
Zec laughed harshly.“They’ll be our enemies as long as one drop of their traitorous blood walks this earth.”
Luka glared at him.“Someday, my child will share that blood.My heir.Your next boss.”
Zec stared back at him, his gaze unsettlingly still.Whatever he wanted to say, he kept to himself.Instead, he said, “I sent Drita to have lunch with your ex-girlfriend.”
