Page 31 of Forbidden Bond

Carlo wrestles out of my grip, moving toward the rest of my employees.

“Hey, Cara. How’s everything going?” he greets.

Cara looks up at him for a fraction of a second. Her cheeks heat, and after a short wave, she goes back to work. My eyes zero in on that encounter.

“Please tell me you didn’t,” I groan.

“Didn’t what?” Carlo asks, a challenge in his eyes.

Never mind, that’s a battle I’ll fight later. He hasn’t noticed Katherine’s desk yet and she’s intelligently staying away and doing her best to be inconspicuous. I doubt she’d want to meet my brother which is why I need to get him out of here. When my eyes trail over to her, she’s seated in front of her laptop, jaw clenched and ignoring everyone and everything. Of course, my looking at her draws Carlo’s attention as well.

It only takes him a few seconds and then his expression sours.

“Topher,” he says slowly, “why does that woman look so familiar?”

I cross my arms over my chest and stare my brother down. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Really? Because if I’m remembering correctly, her name’s Katherine Malone. Daughter of James Malone. FBI diretor and a man that’s sworn on several occasions that he’s going to take down our family.”

I blow out a breath. One look and he immediately has all that information. It makes me wonder just how much he knows.

“Her name’s not Katherine Malone,” I say blandly. “She’s Stella Briggs.”

Cara lets out a very unhelpful snort and I shoot her an exasperated look.

“Uh-huh,” Carlo says. “Come on. Let’s take that walk you were talking about.”

I follow him out of the building and we start walking down the street. Carlo doesn’t say anything for several seconds. When he does speak, his words are in Italian.

“You’ve been doing so well,” he says on a sigh.

That causes me to stiffen.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, fratello.”

“Don’t lie to me. At first glance, it seems to me like this is one of your stunts. What are you planning this time? An elaborate scheme that’ll cause us a lot of trouble? You going to sell the family’s secrets to the FBI?”

I don’t even think about it. One minute, I’m trying my best to control my anger, and the next, my hands are on his chest and I’m shoving him back.

“Fuck off, Carlo,” I say.

“No! You need to understand that this isn’t a game! The family is more than just us, it’s Daniella and Daniel and every single capo, every man and woman we take care of. You can’t just decide to mess with us on a whim. We’re already going through so much shit.”

I see the tension lining his body, the anger in his expression. This is about more than just finding Katherine at my garage. Something else is going on.

“What’s wrong?”

Carlo doesn’t answer.

“I have a right to know,” I insist.

“No, you don’t. Because you’re not one of us. We’ll take care of our problems, Christopher. All you need to do is try not to add to them.”

My jaw grows tight at his words. “I’m not doing anything to add to them.”

“So what are you doing with her?”

“Nothing. We’re..” I hesitate. “Friends. Okay? We met a few months ago and I helped her out. Last week, she came here looking for a job and I gave her one because she needed help. There’s nothing else going on. This isn’t some elaborate scheme. I’m over those.”

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