Page 11 of Vicious Vows

“He cares about her. He constantly asks for her.”

“Of course he does. It’s his fault she was taken.”

“He fell victim to her charms.” Milo stared at me. “And he’s not the only one who allowed that to happen around here.”

“What the fuck is it with everybody and Ricardo? I should have taken him out when I had the chance.”

Milo shook his head in disapproval.

“Why didn’t I?” I asked. “Oh, because you stopped me.”

“You would have regretted it.”

“Well, now we will never know, will we?” I drank the bland water, craving the silky texture of my expensive vodka instead.

“Chello?”

“No, Ricardo stays here.”

“Fine.” He stood. “I’ll put another plan in place if we need someone else to look after her.”

“I’ll look after her.” I tightened my jaw. “She’s my responsibility.”

“Don’t make bringing her a mistake. You can’t afford to lose focus, and let’s face it, Lissia makes you do that.”

How could I deny that? I had been off my perfect game ever since she blew into my life.

“I can’t leave her here.” I rubbed my jaw. “I don’t trust her enough to do that.”

“You think she’ll run again, don’t you?” He shook his head. “Christ, Marchello, what are you doing?”

“I don’t think she’ll run, but she is impulsive and does things she shouldn’t because she doesn’t expect consequences. I’m working on that.”

He closed his eyes and muttered some foul words in Italian under his breath.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” I said. “I know how important this is.”

“I have total faith in you, but we do have a lot riding on this.” He pointed at me. “We’re going to get one shot. If we mess it up, we’re screwed.”

“We’re not going to mess it up.” At least, I hoped we didn’t. Because if we couldn’t get this cartel on our side, Gian would use that to his advantage. “We can’t.”

“With you at the helm, we can’t lose.”

I appreciated my brother’s confidence in me, but I needed more than his praise if we were going to pull this off.

“Check on the flight plan. Make sure our pilot is ready to go.” I finished my water. “I have a few things to do before we leave.”

“Where are you going?” Lissia came into the room wearing a pair of pink sweatpants and a tight, white T-shirt that left little to anyone’s imagination.

At least she wasn’t half-naked.

“Listening to my conversations could be dangerous for you,” I said. “I don’t think you want any more of my wrath, especially not today.”

Her ass couldn’t take another round with my palm. But we both knew that wouldn’t stop her from trying my patience.

“Hello, Milo.” She kissed my brother’s cheek. “I love your tie.”

Patience tried.

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