Page 27 of Corrupted Deception

Cielo turned and walked away, but I needed to make myself clear here.

“Don’t screw me on this, Cielo,” I warned him.

He stopped walking and turned back toward me.

“I may only be one little girl,” I went on, “but the people I’m connected to are powerful.”

It wasn’t the most “I am woman, hear me roar” thing to say. But Dad always said to leverage everything in my arsenal. And I had a feeling when it came to Cielo Luciano, I needed every weapon I could find.

He stared at me for what felt like an eternity.

“The clock’s ticking, Charlotte,” he said then disappeared around the side of the building and drove off a moment later.

I sagged against the door, not sure why my chest felt sore and my eyes were still stinging.

I had a job to do—before Cielo ran out of patience and before my mystery messenger decided to do more than send taunting messages.

Chapter Eight

Cielo Luciano

“Miguel Silva,” I told Deo as I navigated the flickering streetlamp-lit streets, lined with cracked pavement and trash. “He’s a Venezuelan senator, so my bet would be he’s lily-white on the surface.”

“Which means he’s as dirty as they come,” Deo filled in the obvious blank.

“Sì.” I turned a corner and came upon an unassuming brown-brick building.

The tension in my chest began to loosen even as adrenaline trickled into my veins.

“But why the sudden interest in what belongs to the Lucianos?” Deo mused aloud. “The man just announced his bid for presidency, which makes it a bad time to get caught up in drugs and guns.”

“Unless the drugs and guns aren’t for him but for whoever is helping to pave the way to his political success.” It was more than plausible. “Politicians are generally nothing more than puppets with every type of criminal pulling their strings.”

Deo sighed. “So, we find out when Silva’s most vulnerable, ask him very nicely who’s pulling his strings, then take him out,” he said, his tone resolute.

Admittedly, it sounded like a pretty good plan, but here’s where the conversation got tricky.

“We can’t move on him yet,” I said, clenching the steering wheel tighter as I pulled into an empty spot in the alley next to the building.

“Why not?” Deo said in a tone that made it clear that “can’t” wasn’t a word in his vocabulary.

“Because I agreed to wait.”

Silence.

Then Deo laughed. “She’s still got one hell of a hold on you, doesn’t she?”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “She needs us to give her time to get someone out of the way. I agreed.”

“And how many times before tonight have you made a concession like that?”

My jaw clenched so hard, my teeth ground together. “You know the answer.”

“Well, I’d argue with your call, but I’ve learned recently the importance of keeping your woman happy.”

“She’s not my woman,” I replied.

She belonged to another man.Cade Finley. The emotion in her voice, the sheen in her eyes; for once, Charlotte had been easy to read.

---