Page 134 of Empire of Seduction

I regained my breath, so I dug in my heels and twisted away to face Vito. “I want to know what’s going on.”

“Later, bella.”

He put a heavy dose of mafia don in those two words, trying to both intimidate me and control me.

I wasn’t having it.

I was a fiery ball of rage, a woman on a mission. A woman standing in the ashes of her life—literally—who had no more fucks left to give. Stepping into his face, I practically growled like an animal. “Not later. Right fucking now, Vito.”

He must’ve read the feral expression on my face correctly, because he nodded once. Over his shoulder, he exchanged words in Italian with a few of his men, then wrapped an arm around my shoulder. Maz, declaring he was going back to bed, broke off from our group, but Mikey and Paloma trailed Vito and me into the winery building.

Someone burned my vineyard. Who would do such a thing?

What is Vito hiding from me?

It was all I could think about as the two of us went into Mikey’s office. When Vito closed the door, I edged away from him and wrapped my arms around my waist. The photographs on the walls—the vineyards lush and green during the harvestseason—seemed to mock me. How would we ever recover from this?

I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths.

“Let’s hear it,” I blurted. “Why did Mikey get weird when the topic of the Red Raiders came up?”

Vito leaned against a cabinet, one hand in his pocket and the other rubbing his jaw. “I believe the Red Raiders were trying to kill me last night.”

twenty-three

. . .

Maggie

I blinked several times,stomach churning, trying to make sense of this. “Why would they want to kill you?”

“In retaliation.”

Retaliation? For what? My mind raced, then it hit me. “The strip club. You went there to find Red Raiders. And it involved Jimmy Tate.”

He remained silent as I put what I knew together.

“So, you killed Jimmy.”

“It’s better if you don’t force me to answer that.”

“Too bad,” I snapped. “I want to know. You killed Jimmy.”

Vito’s chin dipped once.

“Just Jimmy, or were there others?”

“And others.”

Vito had murdered Jimmy Tate. Andothers. Then lied to me about it.

My muscles locked and my knees actually buckled. Bending slightly, I gripped the edge of the desk. “You told me you didn’tknow anything about Jimmy’s disappearance. You lied to my face.”

“Bella,” he said with a sigh.

“No, do not start with that bullshit. You lied when I asked you about it!”

“I told you, there are things about my business that you can never know. It’s to protect you in case the authorities ever come after me.”

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