Page 114 of Savage Enemy

Not control of her father’s men or even a seat at the table.

Happiness.

Was I really going to be the selfish asshole who took it away from her for the sake of my own gain? What kind of man did that make me? And what did it say about my word as a Vignali?

I squeezed my eyes shut for a split second.

Yeah, it made me the kind of man who loved his family. It said I was a man with priorities that outweighed business deals, that my wife and my son trumped everything.

Of course, giving Benedetta to the Commission would make me the villain in her story, and she would hate me for it.

Still, as smart as she was, she had to know that coming to me as she had was a gamble, that making a deal with the devil could always turn into a losing bet.

I grabbed the pen from Lordi and fumbled it before realizing I needed to use my left hand to sign on the dotted line.

Three times I scribbled something that came close enough to my usual signature. Then I shoved the shit back at Lordi.

The weight on my shoulders instantly grew heavier.

I would pay the price for this for the rest of my life.

Angelo Medico came forward, as did two others from the council. The men joined Edgardo Lordi in signing as witnesses.

The four horsemen of my personal apocalypse.

It was done.

I had sold my soul to get my girl back.

Imagining her soft lips as she smiled up at me, the smell of her perfume, my hands on her pretty ass as I plunged my cock deep inside her… all of it… all of her…

Yes, she was infinitely more valuable than my soul.

Anxious to get rolling, I made eye contact with Lordi.

“When do we take Chicago?”

CHAPTER 23

STEFANO

Edgardo Lordi patted my arm, not coincidentally bumping my right hand as he pulled away to pick up the signed documents and tuck them into his leather portfolio.

Pain shot all the way up to my shoulder.

“We’ll start making plans to invade Chicago right away,” he said. “It’ll take a few weeks to get everything in order.”

My heart raced, panic growing until it overtook the pain.

“What? I can’t wait that long.”

“Well, son, it takes time to strategize and set up a good plan. Rome wasn’t built in a day. I’m sure you understand, after all the scheming you’ve done over the years to build your impressive and might I add now more secure empire.”

“Your timeline doesn’t work. Valentina will be in Moscow by then—or dead.”

“If that’s the case, your heroic tale becomes a tragedy, and the effect will be even stronger. Of course, if you can’t wait, you can go in on your own. You won’t have the Commission behind you if you fail, and Chicago will have the right to kill you. If you succeed, well, that’s another story entirely, isn’t it?”

This motherfucker.

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