Page 18 of The Mastermind
‘Sure thing, Boss.’ He left as silently and stealthily as he did everything.
Cesare’s focus hardened on me. The power of his stare blazed like a dozen suns. ‘Is that true?’
‘What are we talking about, exactly?’ I hedged.
The ink on his arms rippled beneath his expensive cotton shirt, impatience dripping off his body. ‘Don’t play dumb. Is someone slacking on your protection? Before you rush to answer that, remember I was able to cross the room to where you stood in the nightclub with very little opposition while your soldiers stood around with their thumbs up their asses.’
‘That was to prevent senseless violence because even you aren’t dense enough to start shooting in a nightclub full of civilians.’
His eyebrows rose. ‘Be very careful who you call dense,duci,’ he warned softly.
Duci. Sweetheart.
The endearment ping-ponged through me, seeking a soft place to land. A soft place I wasabsolutely notgoing to allow.
‘Why have you summoned me here? I have nothing to say to you.’
He didn’t respond right away. He strolled to the large drinks’ cabinet set on the far side of the massive living room, poured himself a shot of MacCallan 21, then flicked me a glance. ‘Drink?’
‘No. Thanks.’ My gaze flicked to the door once more, before giving up, not relishing a dozen guards dragging me back here to continue this meeting.
Instead I moved into the room, my gaze lingering on the large French doors that led to a terrace with stunning night-time views of Baku City. Then back inside, over the banquet-like dining table. And the silver trolley standing beside it with multiple covered dishes.
Cesare stoppered the bottle, then, crystal glass dangling from his fingertips, he strolled over to the wide sectional and sank into it. ‘Take a seat.’
I shook my head. ‘I’d rather stand. I’m not going to be here that long.’
He sipped his drink, and I tried to keep my eyes off the roll of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed.
Tried. And failed.
‘You seem to be under some misapprehension about what’s happening here. Either you think I was kidding or you know I wasn’t but are still not taking me seriously. Which is it?’ he asked, his voice all silk and muzzled terror.
‘If I said neither, what then?’ I dared. Far too foolishly.
Despite his careless sprawl, he was barely bridled. A restlessness skulked just beneath the surface, ready to unleash vicious claws and shred me to pieces.
If I’d had to guess, I’d have said the last two weeks hadn’t been easy for him. Perhaps he’d even suffered some consequences of losing to a Mancinelli. Like mine, OrazioSalvatore wasn’t known for being the warm and fuzzy kind of grandpa.
It staggered me how two men who’d been best friends as teenagers loathed themselves so viciously now. How they’d infused that hatred so effectively in the blood of their offspring. All because of a dead woman no one had ever even met. I’d often wondered how she would’ve felt about this vendetta in her name had she lived. Whether she would be flattered, romanticise it even, like some movie star gangster’s moll would, or be horrified by all the death in her name.
I knew firsthand how the whole family cowered beneath Bonafacio’s legendary rages when things weren’t going his way. How my two youngest sisters had often cried themselves to sleep from sheer terror when they were younger. The two fake molar implants I’d needed after taking a beating meant for my sister Jacinta were testament to his ferocious temper.
Cesare’s nostrils flared now. ‘You’re not foolish enough to have not bothered looking into the situation.’
I wished I could look away from him. But then I would never turn my back on a leopard, so I was fully justified keeping my eyes where they were. Right? ‘Fine. I investigated it. There’s no mole.’
‘Bullshit,’ he replied smoothly, his low, deep voice reaching across the room to wrap around me. Hold me in its thrall.
‘What makes you so sure, anyway?’
‘Some chump whose name I never bothered to learn,’ he said, then he allowed himself that half-twitch of a smile that had so fascinated me. Once upon a time. ‘And the fact that you Mancinellis haven’t had an original thought about anything. Ever. So excuse me if I find it hard to believe you’ll have the balls to be innovative enough to improve your piece of shit engine. Especially when I know every single engineer in your team isn’t capable of the leaps you seem to be having.’
His use of the past tense for the snitch was deliberate. My stomach dutifully hollowed at the raw violence in his voice even as my hindbrain rejected what could possibly have happened to the guy.
‘Even if what you say is true, what makes you think the sabotage is coming from us? It won’t come as news to you that you’re not the most beloved person or team in the paddock. Not everyone is a giggling fan of the great Cesare Salvatore.’
Every last trace of amusement vanished. He jerked forward so suddenly, I stumbled back a step, then cursed under my breath for the vulnerability when faint dizziness washed over me. I saw him clock the misstep. His eyes narrowed as his gaze swept over me.
