Page 102 of Blood Vows

Anger flared inside her. “Don’t talk about him.”

“I loved Antonio,” he insisted.

“You had him killed.”

Hale stopped. “Is that what Vitale told you?”

“No.” Elena held his gaze. “You did.”

He sighed. “Your father became a problem.”

“He was your friend,” she shouted.

“He became weak,” Hale said.

Her stomach turned. “He wanted out.”

“He wanted to destroy everything we built,” he insisted.

“Everything you stole,” she countered.

Hale’s eyes sharpened. “So you found the records.”

“Yes,” she admitted.

“Where are they?” he asked.

“They are somewhere safe,” she said.

“Give them to me,” he ordered.

“No.” His expression changed, and she saw the real Vincenzo—not her uncle, or her father’s friend, but the monster he’d become. He was a man who wanted control. Hell, he expected it.

“Elena,” he said.

“You built accounts in my name,” she said.

“For you,” he lied.

“You tried to kill me,” she accused.

“For the empire.”

Her stomach twisted. “You really believe that makes sense?”

“You don’t understand what your father created,” he said.

“My father told me to destroy it,” she warned.

Hale went still. “You saw the video.”

“Yes,” she admitted.

His face hardened. “Antonio was a sentimental fool.”

“And you were a greedy bastard.”

He smiled coldly. “You sound like him.”