Page 2 of Hot-Blooded Killer

Daughter of the second most powerful mob family in the country.

And quite possibly another means of taking our revenge on El Toro.

“I’m coming for you, Gia,” I murmur to the image. “You just don’t know it yet.”

CHAPTER1

LORENZO BENEVENTI

“Looks like you’re out of money to bet,” Edoardo Rossi says, staring at me narrow-eyed over the cards in his hand.

I cock my head, matching his gaze.

He puffs on his Cuban cigar, the blue smoke curling up in front of his face. He flashes an evil grin at me. “Unless you want to bet your share of Club Alfonso.”

I pretend to consider his words. True, my brother Massamiliano will crucify me if I lose. But Max isn’t here, and it has taken me all night to maneuver Edoardo into this position. I glance down at my cards and chew on the inside of my cheek, forcing myself to look indecisive.

Finally, I raise my gaze to meet Edoardo’s.

Time to find out whether all my machinations have worked.

Edoardo gestures toward the enormous pile of chips in front of him. “You don’t have enough to cover the bet.” He pauses. “Then again, that’s why they call it a bet, isn’t it?” He laughs, and several of his cronies sitting around the poker table—players who have long since folded but are still hanging around to see the outcome of the game—chuckle with him.

I shake my head. “Not unless you’re willing to bet something that means as much to you as Club Alfonso means to me.”

There we go. I’ve baited the hook. Now to see if he takes it.

Because as far as I know, there’s only one thing in the world that truly means anything to Edoardo, head of one of the rival Families in Vegas.

To be sure, it’s always been a friendly rivalry—as friendly as such things ever are in the Mafia, anyway.

In any case, there hasn’t been open warfare on the Vegas strip in years.

No, it all went underground when Edoardo allied himself with El Toro, the Colombian cartel leader who controls the drug trade into Vegas these days.

And then El Toro killed my family, rigging their car to explode.

Max and I are the only ones left.

I’ve sworn I’ll take revenge on El Toro by any means necessary—especially since my brother’s plan to kidnap the cartel leader’s daughter ended when he accidentally took a Colombian cam girl with the same name.

It’s turned out well for Max—he and his Valentina are madly in love—but his plan falling apart left our family unavenged. That was almost a year ago, and I’ve been plotting ever since to get to this very moment.

I lean back in my chair, drumming my fingers on the green felt of the table in front of me.

Our side of the room, the high stakes poker room at the Orlando Casino, goes totally quiet.

Finally, I give a sharp nod, as if coming to some internal decision—though my next words are actually the culmination of months of planning. “Your daughter. You bet your daughter, and I’ll bet my share of Club Alfonso.”

Around us, gasps ring out. I’m not the only one who knows how much Edoardo cares about his daughter Gia.

Edoardo, on the other hand, laughs aloud. The sound echoes through the room, cutting through the distant sounds of slot machines ringing their cheerful tones from the rest of the casino.

Edoardo’s chortle abruptly cuts short. “You’re serious,” he says, shaking his head in disbelief.

I give a one-shouldered shrug, as if absolutely unconcerned. “We both know you’ve been planning to marry her off sometime soon. If I win, you will marry her off to me. If you win, you get my share of Club Alfonso.”

Edoardo shakes his head. “No. If I win, I get your share ofallthe Beneventi clubs.”

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