Page 12 of Playing the Sicilian's Game of Revenge

She had expected to be bored to death, waiting around, but she was so twisted up with anger and a hot, dangerous sense of purpose that watching for his car’s arrival felt like watching a movie.

When he finally appeared, sliding out of the slick luxury car and waving off the valet, she felt a surge of too many conflicting emotions to wade through. If he didn’t have the valet park his car in the garage, he was planning to come back out and use the car again.

He was so tall, so sure and handsome. It twisted inside of her hard and sharp, like grief, when the only thing she would allow herself was fury.

Besides, why should she grieve a love that was a lie?

He disappeared for half an hour, and in those ticking minutes, she pictured walking across the street and slapping him when he came down. Going up to his apartment with sultry smiles and dirty invitations—just to see if she could sway him from his purpose. She pictured herself doing all sorts of things, and every little daydream ended in his embarrassment and begging her forgiveness.

Perhaps if she had not watched her brothers conduct business with cool clarity, she might have indulged in any of those flights of fancy. But that was not how you won.

Clearheaded thought, follow-through, and surety were how you won.

When Teo reappeared, she paid her bill by leaving cash on the table and moved swiftly to her own car—well, Brianna’s car, which she was borrowing. When Teo pulled out of his parking spot, she did so as well. She wondered if he’d be paranoid enough to notice Brianna’s run-of-the-mill “mom car” tailing him.

She wasn’t sure she cared. Part of her almost hoped he noticed. Confronted her. Part of her was dying to cause a scene.

But they drove through the glitzy, nicer parts of Palermo to the rougher back alleys. To a hole-in-the-wall bar she’d never been to. It was hard to picture Teo spending much time in this rough establishment either, but then again, she didn’t know him.

He was a liar. A fake. A rat.

She waited in her car for a good ten minutes after Teo went inside before she got out of her car, and then took time to lock her car, check her reflection in the window, waste time until she saw a group of large men approach the door. She hurried her steps so that she could enter the bar, hidden behind their bulky forms.

Inside, she immediately spotted Teo even though the room was dark. He was sitting at a table in the corner, eyes on the door. But if he could see her through the crowd of men, his eyes passed right over her—likely thanks to the baggy clothes and her hair back in a braid that hid her usual soft waves—which was why she never wore it like this.

She kept her body as much behind larger men as possible as she worked her way through the crowd. She had a target. A booth right behind Teo’s table. She would have to walk by him—so close he could reach out and touch her—but his gaze was so hard on the door that she decided she could take the risk.

She edged around the table, keeping her face tilted away, and calmly slid into the booth close enough to be in earshot.

He didn’t even glance her way. His gaze never left the door. He was clearly waiting for someone very specific.

She let out a slow breath and stared hard at the wall. Her back was to him now, so she could not see him. Could not do anything but sit here and wait and hope that when his meeting partner came, she would be able to hear their conversation over the buzz of voices and the steady thrumming bass of the music playing over the speakers.

“You sure you want to wait for your friend?” a woman’s voice asked. Saverina didn’t twist in her seat, but she carefully angled her head so she could see Teo’s table out of the corner of her eye.

A waitress was leaning over, trying to entice Teo to order something. Flirtatiously. Saverina watched, stomach twisting in knots, expecting him to smile, flirt, or charm her right back.

He did not. He ordered two drinks—clearly to get the waitress to leave him be—his gaze never leaving that door.

It didn’t matter whether he was flirting back or not, so she would not be relieved. They would never, ever be together now. He could entertain himself with as many women as he pleased.

And damn her breaking heart for throbbing there in her chest like a weak virginal youth at the thought.

She sucked in a breath, focused harder on the wall, and reminded herself what all this was for. For her brother. For the Parisi name. For herself.

“You’re late.” Teo’s voice, low and cutting.

Saverina dared a look over at the table. A large man sat across from Teo now.

“Here are the results.” The man slid a large envelope across the table. “They are what you hoped. How do you want me to proceed?”

She watched his profile as Teo took the envelope. He sucked in a breath, but no real emotion showed on his face. Knowing him made it clear to her that whatever was in the envelope was of the utmost importance to him.

“I’ll deliver copies of this report to you when we’re ready to go public. You’ll distribute it to your contacts to go far and wide. It cannot get back to me.”

“It won’t.”

“Then let’s raise our glasses in a toast,” Teo murmured. “To the destruction of Dante Marino.” Teo’s smile was cutting and harsh. His eyes glittered with that revenge he’d spoken of.

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