Page 86 of Vicious Kingdom

Three pairs of eyes focused on me as I rose.

“We have business to discuss,” the don started to say.

“Reschedule.” I moved to the door.

“It’s good you two are getting married,” my brother said, words slow and pointed. “There’ve been too many rumors about you, fratello.”

“There have always been whispers about me,” I snapped. “Nothing’s changed.” I gave Annaliese a pointed look.

“Nothing will change,” she said carefully. There was hurt lurking in her blue gaze. She no doubt sensed the shift in my mood.

As bad as it hurt, I forced myself to face her. To let the hurt create a pain in my own chest. It grounded me.

“Che cavolo?” Sandro snapped.

Yes, brother, what the fuck?“There are many envious bastards who suspect me of playing dirty,” I responded in Italian, wondering if Annaliese understood like the don’s wife.Now there would be another surprise. “How does this marriage squash those rumors?”

“You’re such an ass,” Penelope muttered.

Sandro groaned. “Your marriage will be a sensation, draw the spotlight off your sins.”

My marriage was going to be my greatest sin—never my salvation! Couldn’t he see that?

“You tell me to be careful, then you invite me to tempt fate? Which is it, Don Mancini?” I glared at him.

Annaliese sat there, watching me with those blistering blue eyes. Even now, as I fought to do the logical thing, I was powerless against her. She held my heart fast in her grip, inescapably bound to her with every fiber of my being, every cell in my body.

But my head came out the victor. “This will never work, Sandro.”

This marriage was supposed to be for personal reasons. And here, my strategically minded brother—and his wife—were spinning it into something good. Something useful. Fuck…. Now I couldn’t let them down, couldn’t disappoint them.

“Better to marry the enemy you know than a civilian you will forever keep secrets from,” the don said sagely.

Letting out a growl of frustration, I marched through the door. I was caught in this twisted mess, and it was going to damn us all. It was time to bury myself in work, ground my turbulent mind in something I was actually good at.

Chapter 29 – Leonardo

Stepping out of the skyway, something crackled in the night-drenched parking garage. It was softer, drowned by the buzz of the light fixtures, but it was there, loud and strong. The skin on my neck prickled, the conversation on my earpiece was abandoned, and my fingers inched toward my weapon.

Where are you?

Too many cars were parked haphazardly to see clearly. It might be after ten at night, but there were still plenty of business professionals eager to make a buck, refusing to be the ones who left work early.

I wouldn’t be leaving if I hadn’t been there all night going over the books and all day doing the normal operations of running a Fortune 500-level company.

Another sound caught my attention, this time a distinct shuffle of feet against concrete. I froze, my hand now fully gripping my pistol beneath my suit jacket.

A metallic clang echoed through the garage—a car door maybe? Or something worse. The scurrying grew sharper.Closer. I hunched, peering around me for any flicker of movement.

Where the hell are you?

Maybe they didn’t know I was here. I crouched low, moving from car to car. But then several empty spaces spilled before me before the next vehicle.

Crap.

Just as I was about to make a run for it, the sound of a bullet jacking into the chamber made me freeze.

I drew my own weapon and rose.