Page 108 of Brutal Heir
My thoughts flicker back to my conversation with Matteo from a week ago. A hacker had gotten into Gemini’s personnel files. Could that have been La Spada too? But why?
“Sienna.” My voice sharpens like a blade. “Did. You. Give. It. To. Him?”
“I—I didn’t have passwords or access codes. But I gave him staff schedules. Deliveries. Who was where on what nights. I didn’t know what they were planning, I swear. I still don’t.”
I push back from the table and stand, pacing once. Twice. My gaze flickers to Jimmy before settling on Sienna again. My boots echo against the concrete floor like gunshots. I want to smash something. I want to find Jace and bleed the truth from him. But this girl… she’s not our enemy.
Not really.
She’s been working for me for years. My employees are like family which is why this betrayal stings so damned much.
I glance at Rory. Her expression is unreadable, but I catch the slight tremble in her hand. This is what I never wanted her to see. The cracks in the walls. The monster beneath the polished suit.
I face Sienna again. “You put everyone in this building at risk. Not just Amber.”
“I know,” she chokes out, wiping her face with trembling fingers. “I never thought anyone would get hurt… I never thought he’d kill her. I was stupid. I didn’t know how to get out.”
“And now?”
She lifts her chin, a sliver of defiance beneath the tears. “Now, I’ll do whatever it takes to fix it.”
I nod once. Then lean in, bracing my hands on the desk, looming over her. “You’re going to make it right. You’re going to tell me everything you’ve ever given him, everyone he’s ever met here, and every fucking word he’s ever said to you. You’re not quitting. You’re not leaving town. You’re going to work for me until I say otherwise.”
Her eyes widen. “What does that mean?”
“It means you’re mine now.” I drop the words like a verdict. “And if La Spada Nera comes sniffing around you in the next fewdays, you smile, you nod, and you feed them exactly what I want them to hear.”
Assuming any of the bastards survive my order.
I straighten and turn toward Rory who’s stepped forward now, eyes fixed on me like I’ve just pulled a trigger. But she doesn’t look afraid.
She looks like she understands.
“You okay with this?” I whisper.
Rory nods once. “Aye. But we need to protect the sister. If Jace knows she talked?—”
“I’ll handle Jace,” I snarl, heat rising in my chest as I glance at Jimmy for only an instant. “And Sienna?”
She lifts her head again, eyes bloodshot but steady.
“If you lie to me again, even once, you’ll wish Jace had gotten to you first.”
She nods again, a single tear falling down her cheek.
And just like that, we’ve got a mole inside a war we didn’t start but sure as hell plan to finish.
CHAPTER 42
BETRAYAL
Rory
A deadly silence pervades the penthouse as I sit at the kitchen island sipping my coffee. Despite the warmth of the cappuccino, a chill has set deep within my bones. Alessandro left early this morning to meet with his father at Gemini Tower, and Mrs. Jenkins is out buying groceries. I flip through the glossy pages of theNew York Postand come across the picture of Alessandro and me at the Velvet Vault.
That prickle of unease surges across my nape.
We’re all smiles for the camera despite the tension simmering beneath, Ale holding me possessively at his side. Memories of that night flood my mind. The kiss. The railing hovering over the dancefloor. Then just before things got really good, the two dark shadows on the VIP level…
