Page 71 of Cassio (Belles & Mobsters 3)

“Now that Benito is dead, Marco King’s havoc is uniting the worst type of criminals. This will strengthen us and protect our people.”

I rolled my eyes. “Again, a stupid plan,” I argued. “If he is causing such havoc, why don’t you just kill Marco? He’s a little weasel anyhow.”

Laughter boomed through the office and my head snapped in its direction. It was Hunter’s. I shook my head. Not Hunter, the fucking liar. Cassio’s.

“It is not that simple,” Jack added, and I inwardly frowned. “Otherwise, he would have been dead a long time ago.”

“He should have been dead a long time ago,” I muttered. “Both Benito and Marco.” I tilted my head towards Luca and Cassio King. “All of them. It would have spared this world a lot of trouble.”

Something passed Cassio’s face, and for some reason, regret hit me at my harsh words.

“And it would have caused a full blown war in the underworld,” Cassio added. I had a feeling he was hiding behind a cold mask.

“It sounds to me like you two are not up to the task,” I challenged him.

Cassio kept his cool, but annoyance crossed Luca’s expression. I didn’t give a damn. I didn’t trust them. Hunter, no Cassio, may have succeeded in causing my body to bend to his will, but now that I knew the truth, I wouldn't bend for him any longer.

Damn it!I was looking forward to having a date with him and now… well, needless to say, it was out the fucking window.

“Despite Marco’s dwindling forces, he still has support and the alliances that were faithful to my father. Until we destroy his leftover businesses, we risk a lot of innocent people getting hurt if we attack openly.”

I glared at him. He certainly had an answer for everything. “Well, get to work.”Asshole. However, my parents taught me well, so I swallowed the insult.

“Well, this is awkward,” Margaret muttered. “Áine wants to kill them both.”

“Like I said,” I deadpanned. “There is a long list of people that want the members of the King family dead. If we killed you two now, people wouldn’t bat an eye.”

“Áine!” Jack’s voice warned but I ignored him. I didn’t need his babysitting. I could hold my own.

“You can try,” Luca chimed in lightly, his eyes shining with amusement. “Trust me, we are not that easy to kill.” Smug asshole. “And if it was that easy to kill off Marco, we would have done it a long time ago.”

Though I wholeheartedly agreed with killing Marco, the way he said those words sent chills through my heart. They had no scruples in killing their family. It sounded like these two men only had allegiances to themselves. Marco King had no qualms about anything. He killed women, children, anyone that got in his way. If these two grew up the same then I had no doubt they had similar values.

Was I being slightly hypocritical after the words I spoke to him over the phone? Undoubtedly.

“Kiddo, Cassio King is our ticket to getting rid of Marco and pushing him out of our territory.” Jack’s words had me turning back to my stepfather. “I kept you out of all this, and I know you don’t know much about what he’s doing, but trust me when I tell you he has to be eliminated.”

Jack had no idea.

I narrowed my eyes on him. “So what? Use Margaret as a pawn in some agreement to fix things that people in both of your worlds fucked up?” I took a deep breath in and then slowly exhaled. I never lectured Jack or anyone on their way of life. If they trafficked women, I just killed them. Other things… well, it was their business. “Please don’t tell me you trust him. He lied about his own name for Pete’s sake.”

Jack Callahan was a smart man. He couldn’t just blindly trust him. Could he? The moment I saw a stormy expression pass Jack’s eyes, I knew I said the wrong thing.

“What do you mean?” Jack growled. “You two know each other?”

Shit, I said too much. There was no way I’d tell Jack about my little rendezvous with Hunter two years ago or six weeks ago. That probably wouldn’t go over well. Besides, what happens in Vegas and nightclubs, stays in Vegas and nightclubs.

Margaret answered before I had a chance to come up with a neutral response. “We got stuck in the elevator in Vegas with these two,” she muttered. “That’s all.”

Jack studied my face, but I kept silent. It was better not to say too much. I bit into my lip to stop any words or excuses from slipping through my lips. It was a habit to start blabbing when nervous.

“It’s my middle name,” Cassio chimed in, breaking the tense silence. “Cassio Hunter King.”

My head whipped in his direction. Okay, so he omitted a bit of his name. An omission was still a lie. Right?

I wished I could read this stranger better. I thought I had come to know him over the last six weeks. Now, I wasn’t so sure. His expression betrayed none of his thoughts, and I was desperate to know what he was thinking. Jack seemed to trust him, and they had a common goal to take Marco King down. But what if it was a trap; we couldn’t afford to trust any King.

My eyes studied his face. He was beautiful, high cheekbones, angular nose, full lips, and jet-black hair. I’d lie if I said he didn’t impact me. My eyes lowered to his full lips and my belly clenched. I could remember so well how those lips felt on me. The only time I ever enjoyed a man’s touch was him. Only him. And he did so much more. Why couldn’t I feel that with anyone else? Or even better, why couldn’t he be anyone, fuckinganyone, just not a King.

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