Page 27 of Mafia Betrayal

“You kill her, and I’ll kill you,” Alessandro said, face void of emotion.

Juan chuckled and tipped the gun back. “The offer was tempting, but I’m not into killing women who look like you, so I passed it up. Maybe next time.” He winked at me.

When he stepped back, I inhaled sharply and tried so desperately to calm myself down.

Alessandro snatched the bag of money from Juan. “Who?” he asked, a tenseness in his voice that I’d never heard before—something that I’d never thought I’d hear from him.

“That’s all I know,” Juan said.

After Alessandro gave him one hard stare, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back into the car, not even bothering with the umbrella. We walked into the rain, and he threw the bags into the backseat.

“Get in the fucking car, Chiara.”

Chiara…

My name had rolled off his tongue so rough, and part of me loved it. It was the first time he had said my name—my real name. Deciding not to be a total bitch now since we were in the rain and since I had found out that I had a hit on my head, I slid into the car.

Alessandro got into the car, started it, and drove for a long time before he spoke a single word. After about thirty minutes of silence, he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Who the fuck is after you?”

I widened my eyes at him. “You think I know? You think I walk around, knowing there’s a hit on my head without having fucking protection?” I stared out the window and shook my head, watching beads of water race down the windshield. “You’re a fucking idiot if you think that.”

“It’s because of the damn police you’re fucking with,” he said, angrily shaking his head. “The family thinks you’re a rat.”

I slammed my hand on the seat. Those were the same damn words the family had used to explain Mom’s death.She was a rat… when she wasn’t. I was sure of it. Absolutely sure.

“I’m not a rat,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Then, why are you sleeping with the cops?”

I turned to face him, droplets of water racing down my chest from the rain. “Just like what you do is none ofmybusiness, what I do is not any of yours.”

Something in his demeanor changed, and he saw a damn opportunity and took it. “So, you bribe cops with sex to get information for you? Is that all I need to do? Give you some information to get you to take the rest of your clothes off?”

Instead of scowling at him like I wanted, I stared out the windshield and laughed. “Oh, it’s not like you haven’t been thinking about it from the damn moment I met you.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “But, unlucky for you, I don’t go for man-whores.”

“You went for Tommy.”

“I need Tommy,” I said, jaw twitching.Don’t let him get under your fucking skin. “There’s a fucking difference.”

He drove down some side roads and then onto a run-down road, his hand inching closer to me every moment. “You need me too,reginetta.”

“And why do I need you?” I asked, suddenly starting to feel how damn wet and sticky my shirt was from the rain.

“Because I’m the only one who will take you out on business and I’m the only one who knows your little secret. I holdyourfuture in my hands. I can break you, or I can make you better than your father.”

I scoffed. “Why would you do that? Why would you even consider helping me?”

“Because this family is more corrupt than you think it is.”

“Corruption,” I muttered.Corruptionwasn’t the word I had for it.Fucked upsounded more like it. But this life was all I had known, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. All I cared about was getting revenge on the person who had decided to kill Mom. “If you care about corruption, you shouldn’t be in this business.”

He chuckled and pulled onto some dirt driveway. “I don’t give a fuck about corruption. I relish in it.” He gazed at me and cracked a smirk. “Maybe that’s why I always find myself in your company.”

17

chiara

After parkingthe car behind some bushes, he nodded to the shed behind the run-down house. “We bring the money there. Five minutes, tops.” He pulled the bags from the back and handed me two. “It’s simple,reginetta.Don’t fuck it up.”

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