Page 70 of Cassio (Belles & Mobsters 3)

My hands fisted into balls. “Don’t kiddo me,” I warned. “You tell the Kings they can’t have her and cancel today’s engagement party. Or I swear Jack, I’ll make you regret ever making that arrangement.”

Jack’s eyes flashed with surprise. This side of me I rarely showed to anyone. They wanted to think of me as a fragile flower. That was fine by me. I used it to my advantage, but I’d be damned if I’d sit and agree to have Margaret given to any of the King family members.

“I promise you, Áine, this is different.” Jack tried to explain but my anger at him burned. The disappointment that he would be so careless tasted bitter.

I turned my head to Hunter, narrowing my eyes at him. “What is your connection to the Kings? His messengers?”

Yes, when my temper flared, the reason was out the window.

Silence ticked for several heartbeats before Margaret cleared her throat, shifting her crisscrossed legs uncomfortably. “This is Cassio King. And his brother Luca.”

What the fuck?She must be confused. This guy’s name was Hunter.

“They are Benito King’s illegitimate sons,” Jack added helpfully. Or not.

I blinked, confused. “What?”

Whispers in my mind. Ice in my veins. Hate in my heart.You are not your father, my comforting words to him rang in my ears, and somehow it felt like a slap in my face. Or maybe his, I didn’t fucking know.

“Áine, meet Cassio and Luca King,” Jack repeated. He probably thought I was daft, my reason having a hard time catching up. My head whipped to Jack and then back to the two.

Cassio and Luca King. In Jack’s house!

Jack hated the Kings as much as I did. So why was he doing this?

Betrayal and another feeling inched into my heart. Jealousy was replaced with disgust. Self-disgust. I slept withCassio King. My enemy. The only man that didn’t make my body repulse and protest at his touch; the only man that could give me earth shattering orgasms was my enemy.

How could a single name change everything? I went from hope to desperation with a single name. Resentment wrapped around my throat, choking the damn life out of me. A single goddamn name!

“You’ll remember my name.” The back of my skull hurt, and though the fall already happened, it felt like I hit it again and again. Warm liquid trickled down the back of my head, but I was scared to move, staring into the cruel eyes of the man that was thrusting into a crying woman, tearing her in half. “Marco motherfucking King.”

Bile tasted like acid in my throat, burning. My throat was raw at this point, but I refused to say a single word. Instead, I bit into my split lip hard enough to draw blood, the metallic taste on my tongue.

I blinked, forcing my mind to now. A haze swam in front of my eyes and a headache throbbing behind my temples. Goddamn it, I needed to see Dr. Taylor.

Ignoring my headache, I snapped my head to Cassio.Cassio fucking King.He and his brother were barely a few feet away from me. All I had to do was take a few steps, aim, shoot, and they’d be dead. Except, I didn’t have my handgun. I should start using my thigh holster all the damn time. This was such a perfect opportunity to take them out, but I couldn’t do hand-to-hand combat. Not with those two. Cassio and Luca looked too strong to fight them physically.

I narrowed my eyes at both of them in warning and noted Cassio’s surprised look. The next instance, Cassio’s gaze hardened a flicker, showing me his displeasure. Well, too fucking bad. Lying son of a bitch. He had to know who Margaret and I were the moment he saw us in the hallway in Vegas. Or even in Temptation, the nightclub. And he seduced me!Me!

“You hate us,” Luca stated, then chuckled softly. “Well, this is perfect.”

“Who doesn’t hate the Kings?” I retorted dryly, my voice dipping with anger. “I imagine you’d need a very small piece of paper to list those names.”

Jack chuckled. I was surprised he wasn’t attacking them full force, instead of having them sit here like they owned the world. What in the bloody hell was my stepfather thinking when he allowed this arrangement to happen?

“Okay, kiddo. I would regularly agree with you but Luca and Cassio King haven’t worked with Benito nor Marco.”

My thoughts and hatred tripped.

“And you believe them?” I eyed them suspiciously. I didn’t trust them. None of them. “Maybe they just want the power for themselves.”

I haven’t heard a single good thing about the King family for as long as I could remember.

“Which is the reason we are connecting the Callahan line with the King’s.”

I shook my head. “That’s the dumbest plan ever.”

“Agreed,” Margaret muttered and we shared a glance.

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