Page 46 of Sadistic

"You want to walk into my wedding. Surrounded by my people, on my territory."

"I want to see what all the fuss is about." He shrugs. "Call it professional curiosity. Or call it insurance. Hard to start a war at a wedding, no?"

He's asking me to let the wolf into the henhouse.

To put Revna in the same room as the man who's been hunting her family.

But he's also right—refusing makes me look weak, like I can't protect her even surrounded by my own people.

"One condition," I say.

"Which is?"

"You come alone. No guards, no weapons, no idle threats. You come as a guest, you act like one."

"And if I don't?"

"Then thirty percent becomes zero percent, and we see who really controls Florida."

The silence stretches.

Somewhere outside, a band plays, tourists laugh, life continues.

Two different worlds existing side by side, neither aware of the other.

"Deal," Reyes says finally, extending his hand.

I shake it, feeling like I just signed someone's death warrant.

Maybe mine. Maybe his. Definitely someone's.

The flight home is tense.

My father waits until we're airborne before exploding.

"You just invited him to your wedding. To stand in the same room as your bride, when his people killed two of theirs?! Have you lost your fucking mind?"

"I invited him where I can watch him."

"You painted a target on her back!"

"She was already a target." I pour myself a drink, needing the burn. "Now I know where the shot comes from."

"This isn't a game, Doran."

"No, it's chess. And I just turned his knight into my pawn."

"And if you're wrong?"

"Then you were right about eliminating problems." I down the whiskey. "But I'm not wrong."

"You're gambling with her life."

"I'm gambling with everyone's lives. That's what we do." I pour another. "The difference is, I'm playing for bigger stakes than just Florida."

My father goes quiet, studying me with those eyes that have seen too much. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Reyes is small-time. Regional at best. But his Cuban connections? That's international. That's Europe, Asia, SouthAmerica." I meet his eyes. "You built an empire in America. I'm thinking bigger."

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