Page 120 of Dishonored

Caesar chuckled darkly.

Didn’t she know?

There was only one way his father would let her—and probably him—get out of this alive now. And she wasn’t going to like it at all.

“You’re never going to be free now, Aria.”

SIXTEEN

THIS WAS NOT what Aria was expecting.

This was not what she wanted.

This was not the plan.

“We go ahead with the original idea for her husband,” Angelo said, eyeing Aria from where he sat behind his ostentatious desk. “Send him back to his people with a message—make sure our point is driven home that our organization is not the one they want to mess with, and wipe our hands clean.”

“And what of her?” the man sitting in the corner asked.

She thought his name was Christoph—an underboss, or some nonsense, but she couldn’t be sure.

Angelo’s eagle-eye still hadn’t left Aria. “I am undecided.”

“We had a—”

“Quiet, Caesar,” Angelo muttered, raising a single hand to quiet his son. “You know just as well as I do that deals change all the time in this business.”

Beside her, Caesar stiffened. “Only dishonorable men renege on a deal.”

The man behind the desk chuckled dryly. “And you would know all about being a dishonorable man, wouldn’t you?”

That silenced Caesar instantly.

Aria chose to speak, then. “If you don’t return me, then they’ll raise hell. I guarantee it—given who my father was, and what has happened to my husband, they won’t let it rest. Camorra clans aren’t the type to shy away from retribution when it comes to something like this.”

Angelo raised a single brow. “Even for a woman like you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what it means,” the man returned easily, smirking just a bit. “You certainly put on a good show, Aria De Rose, but that’s all it is. And when someone strips you of the things you use to hide your intentions, the show is no longer amusing.”

Jesus.

“What’s to say she won’t come back on us, then?” Angelo asked Caesar, his gaze cutting back to his son lightning fast. “Should we hand her back over as a peace offering like she suggests, then what’s to say she won’t come back on us for what we’ve done?”

“You have my word that I won’t,” Aria said.

Angelo didn’t even look at her that time. “Your word is useless, donna.”

“She did start the war between our organizations,” Christoph added. “It’s not a stretch to think she might continue it on.”

“And that’s no good for us,” Angelo said heavily.

Aria didn’t want more fighting.

She didn’t need more bloodshed.

None of that was important, now.