Page 44 of Deadly Vows

“You’ll have to enroll in summer classes to get your grades up before the semester starts. You won’t be able to contribute anything if your record keeps looking like this,” I say.

He slowly opens it, his eyes drifting over the page.

“You will need to work harder than you ever have if you want to be useful to me, Enzo. Proving yourself on this side is only half of it. You must also be useful in the real world,” I say, just as the car slows in front of the large building.

Enzo looks out the window at the tall office building, his eyes widening slightly before looking back at me.

“What are we doing here?” he asks.

I shift my attention to him briefly before opening the door.

“Showing you what true power is. And what happens when you are on the wrong side of it.”

Arianna Trovoli. Now Anderson. She was married off to William Anderson by her father to further increase ties in their little crime family. I have no doubt Elise’s father had something to do with the arrangement. Every marriage in their grubby family is a marriage of convenience because someone is bringing a little more into a smarmy group who claws their way to any level of power. But they don’t know what true power is.

That unattainable power that comes from a name alone.

“Mr. Anderson will see you now.” I stand from my seat in the front lobby, gesturing for Enzo to follow me as we make our way through the lax security of this building. William wasn’t raised among the thugs of the Trovolis. In his eyes, they are an excellent way to launder money and fill his pockets. What he doesn’t know is just how fucked he is by being associated with them.

His secretary opens the door to his office, allowing us to step through. William lifts his gaze upon our entrance, his smile immediately falling when he sees who it is entering.

I laugh as I sit, and Enzo remains standing behind me.

“Not expecting me so soon, huh? And with your salvation alive and well behind me?” I ask as I study him. He isn’t a threat in the least. I don’t think he’s even bothered learning any form of self-defense. Arianna has manipulated her husband to the point of his life being on the line without so much as a warning.

“To what do I owe this visit?” he asks, his gaze shifting behind me to Enzo.

“I’m curious if you know the mess you married into,” I say.

William is silent for a moment, making my anger flare, but I remain calm so he can answer me.

“Of course. I know what kind of world Ari is in. And I know the depravity you are involved with—”

“Do you?” I laugh. I raise a brow, angling my head as I study him. “Really?” I add.

“I know what you did to Eli,” he says in a careful tone, forcing me to laugh aloud.

“Yes, everyone knows what I did to Eli. It wasn’t a secret, unlike the life your wife has kept hidden from you,” I say.

I hold my hand out for Enzo, and he places the folder in my hands. I then place it on William’s desk.

“Go ahead,” I say.

I wait patiently as he slowly opens the folder, his eyes widening the more he reads. I enjoy the way the color drains from his face as the walls of comfort and safety he’s created for himself come tumbling down.

I lean back in my seat, pull out a cigarette, and light it as my excitement shifts to a high.

“W-where did you get this?” he asks with a trembling voice.

I scoff, leaning forward in my seat as I take another draw of my cigarette.

“What they failed to tell you when you married into that wretched family is that they are the bottom of the heap. Me, however? I am the top. Information like this is easy to come by when you’re Luca Pasquino,” I say.

I pull my cigarette from my lips as I lean over his desk, pushing the lit end into the picture of his wife’s face.

The folder contains everything Arianna has been involved with since her marriage to William. The reason behind their marriage is for the Trovolis to have easy access to the unlimited information William unknowingly provides. He has access to all kinds of significant figures and their funds, placing her in the perfect position for the Trovolis. The information he has access to from having contacts on the inside of every legal department makes him practically untouchable by the FBI. It is how they were able to assassinate my father, using William’s contacts. And if everything in that file is true, they also have government contacts.

Unfortunately, people at the top saw Eli Trovoli as a pest, not an ally, and were extremely reluctant when deciding to work with him. Some breathing a sigh of relief after his death.

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