Page 9 of The Leader

After she opened and closed her mouth a few times, her cheeks turned red with anger. “You can’t just kick me aside like this! I spoke to a lawyer and I know I have certain rights—”

He spun around, and she hastily scooted back, her eyes filled with fear. He couldn’t help but compare her reaction to Jazzy’s. There was no way that hellcat would have backed down.

“Don’t ever threaten me. I was clear about what I wanted from you upfront. So don’t pretend as if I promised you a white picket fence.”

“But I love you.”

She loved his money. She loved the gifts he had his assistant buy her, the clubs and fancy restaurants she got into by using his name. “No, you don’t.” She’d overplayed her hand by pretending to want to settle down. Even more stupid, she had gone to a fucking lawyer.

“You coldhearted bastard! Itistrue what they say about you. You have nothing but a black chunk of ice surrounding your heart.”

After her little rant, she started to sob. Vanessa was one of those women who could muster up tears whenever it suited her.

He ignored the waterworks and went into his shower. When he returned to the living room a little later, Vanessa had left. He poured himself a glass of whiskey, and stared out at Union Square, which was buzzing with activity, when Jackson called.

“I have an update on your fugitive.” There was a smile in his brother’s voice.

“Fucking hilarious, Jax.”

“I like this girl already.”

Gio had slightly mixed feelings. “Where is she?”

“On her way to Paris. As soon as we found out her destination, we called our contacts over there. They will notify us the second they spot her at Charles de Gaulle airport.”

“Did she board the plane alone?” If she’d fled to France to be with a lover, that might change things. Though, he hadn’t missed the way her body had responded to him. She might not have liked it, hence the fleeing, but it was undeniable. It also was a testament that whoever she was sleeping with currently, was clearly doing a piss-poor job of it.

“She did. Of course, this doesn’t mean she won’t meet someone over there, but according to her credit card records, she bought the plane ticket after you spoke to her on the phone. Also, she didn’t check in any luggage, so we can rule out that it was a planned trip.”

“I’ll be at the airport within an hour.”

“Yeah, about that…don’t. See, I thought you might say that, so I notified your pilot to get the jet ready. He just called me back and it seems that there is a problem with your passport. As in, you’re on the no-fly list.”

“Excuse me?”

“You can’t get on a plane right now. Even with the contacts we have, it’s gonna take a while before I have you removed from that list.” Another laugh followed. “Guess we can add hacking to her skills.”

Gio closed his eyes and counted to three. “You don’t have to sound so fucking amused by this. But fine, I’ll send Vince after her.” He didn’t like that he had to hand this over to his brother—surprisingly not liking the idea of him charming Jazzy—but he didn’t have much choice.

“Actually, you can’t do that either,” Jackson said. “She put him on the list as well.”

“Come again?”

His brother chuckled. Actuallychuckled, like this clusterfuck was something amusing.

“We’re all on the list, brother. Any Detta name she could probably dig up. You know what this means.”

Yes, he did. His wayward bride had fucked up, though. She forgot to put the honorary Detta in their midst on the list. Hector “The Wolf” Diaz. His blood brother and head of security. His firm supplied him with the best bodyguards, made up of former military and contract workers. Hector might not be a Detta in name or his brother by blood, but he sure was by heart.

The former Marine scared the shit out of anyone, and Jazzy Rossi was past due some fear in her life.

CHAPTER 7

JAZZY

Three weeks later…

Rome was like a big open-air museum. Jazzy could spot remaining pieces of architecture or ruins from the Roman Empire on practically every corner of the city. It was truly amazing and after seeing a few art galleries, she totally understood why the city—and the Vatican Museums, specifically—had made it to Mike’s bucket list. It was the third city she visited in as many weeks. The great thing about Europe was that there were no borders. At least not in the parts she visited. No border control meant no paper trail for Detta to follow. She was as free as a bird. Which was funny, considering the good man himself was grounded for the foreseeable future. Her friend Tess—one of the top hackers in the world—had seen to that.

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