Page 67 of Dishonored

“I have no doubt.”

“You will need to step back, now, you know. I’m home—let the boss handle this little problem. I am sure I will get it done in no time at all, and we will have the territory we want to show for it. Hell, maybe even more.”

He posed those words like all her efforts had been in vain. As though she hadn’t gotten anywhere, or gained any ground on the Accardo organization. And maybe she hadn’t—not in a way that Raffe would see as good, anyhow.

That hadn’t been the point.

She put something else in motion.

That’s what she needed.

“I’m sure you’ve been enjoying playing the little queen, though,” Raffe murmured, his hand drifting from her cheek to rest on the side of her throat. Still soft to the touch, though, so she forced herself not to stiffen. “You have enjoyed it, haven’t you?”

“I tend to be good at it,” she replied.

“You do; that’s fair, my sweet girl. But you will step back now.”

Aria nodded. “Of course.”

To him, anyway.

Then, Raffe’s hand tightened roughly around Aria’s throat, and she instinctively sucked in a breath at the harsh action. His fingers dug into her neck, and her airways constricted.

“Now, do you care to explain to me why Giovanna has been to visit several times, but you were nowhere to be found? Or why there’s rumors that you were leaving the house late at night without the proper people knowing?”

Shit.

Sometimes, things were just too good to be true.

“Nico took me to the movies,” she lied, “and I had business, also. I always had someone with me.”

Raffe’s gaze narrowed, and he tilted his head back to search her face for any lie. “Giovanna says—”

“Giovanna doesn’t like being punished for stepping out of line against me, Raffe.”

And the bitch would die for this.

Aria guaranteed it.

Raffe’s hold loosened. “Maybe so.”

“There’s no maybe about it. She’s a petty cunt who enjoys the misfortune of others, but especially when she is the cause of it. She doesn’t even try to hide it, Raffe.”

“Yes, well, at least the woman is warmer than you when she’s told to please a man.”

Aria blinked.

He was fucking Giovanna?

“Does Simone know you’re—”

“Mind your business,” her husband snapped. Then, he twisted her around, grabbed the back of her neck, and pushed her down the hallway. “Meet me at the foot of our bed. Be naked by the time I get there.”

Aria said nothing.

She simply went.

NINE