Page 39 of The Mad Don
I shut it down.
“What’s the catch? Why do you want to help my sister so badly?”
Of course, there is a catch. I couldn’t care less about him and his sister.
“You and Kirill,” I say. “Split the route ownership 50/50. He keeps half, and you take half. No more attacks on his family.”
He stares at me then laughs. His laughter has very little humor.
“Such loyalty,” he says. “I told you, didn’t I. I told you I could fuck you better than he does. And here you are, still negotiating for him. Even after he had already agreed to the deal.”
His hand stays on my jaw a moment longer.
Then he lets go and steps back.
“I am not in the mood,” he says, “for your wagers.”
He walks toward the door.
“Go to your room. Avoid my sister’s wing. If I find you near her room again without my permission, we will not have a conversation. Are we clear?”
He stops with one hand on the door.
“Are we clear?”
“Clear.”
“No one knows about her existence. I have a good mind to get rid of you for this,” he turns to me with a smile, “but I did give thePakhanmy word.”
His eyes find mine. “I’ll kill you if any soul outside this house learns about her existence.”
He pushes my shoulder on his way past. I stagger back a step. He is through the door, the door is closing, and his footsteps are moving away down the corridor.
I stand in the empty study.
The gun is on the desk.
I stand, look at the door where he disappeared, and think about what just happened.
I think about his sister and the strength with which she held my wrist. There is something fishy about herillness,and finding out about it would help Kirill.
Chapter Eleven
Giovanni
“Don.”
Fabiano comes into the study without knocking. He is on the crutch still. The brace on his leg makes him slower than I am comfortable with. I am starting to get fed up. He crosses the room, sets a tablet on my desk, and turns it to face me before he speaks.
“You were right to ask.”
I am at the window with a cigarette I have not yet lit. I asked for a full file on her three days ago. It was immediately after she found Lucia, something I hadn’t planned for. But I didn’t plan to have her in my bed or to enjoy taking her either. A cascade of errors. Now, she knows about my only weakness, and with how eager she was to pitch help and make a deal that benefited Kirill, I knew I had to make a backup. Kirill trained her to be his blade after all, and I let her into my home.
Kirill does not put any of his close staff on paper anywhere. It took Fabiano three days working with our men in the state’s database to get anything on her. Kirill already discovered and removed our men from his home. Information about him is harder to get, but not impossible.
I turn from the window, and I sit down behind the desk. I pull the tablet toward me.
“Show me.”
