Page 307 of Legacy
I let out a bitter chuckle. “Your men are afraid of you.”
“Good. Enzo’s as good as dead for telling you things he shouldn’t have.”
“No.”
One brow lifts. Then the other.
“No?”
“Yes,no.Enzo lives. Everyone lives. You need to pack Sinner away when it comes to our own men.”
He blinks at me like I’ve grown a second head.
“You didn’t have a problem with my moniker.”
“I still don’t. But I run on justice, Angelo—not hearsay or kneejerk reactions. Those men saved me in Colombia. They got me out when I was under attack trying to smuggle those emeralds. And now I find out I can’t even thank them because you killed them for being tired of babysitting me?”
He frowns. Shakes his head.
“That’s not why they died. Vinny—”
“Called me a whore. Yeah. That’s fucking rude, but not a death sentence.”
“Wait. That’s what Enzo told you?”
“Yes. Called me a whore and you shot him.”
“No, Tesoro.” Angelo steps closer, brushing his knuckles over my cheek. “That may have been the story going around, but that’s not the truth.”
I freeze.
“They were planning to kill you.”
My breath stutters.
“Nico found out. Told me right before Vinny strutted in, demanding to be taken off the assignment. The plan was to ask me to pull him. And if I didn’t, they were going to do it—make it look like an accident.”
My stomach plummets.
“When it comes to you, Adriana,” he rasps, cupping my face in both hands, “I don’t wait. I don’t gamble. Ikill.”
I let out a shaky breath, heart pounding against my ribs.
“You need to explain that to your men,” I whisper. “They’re terrified of you. They treat me like I’m some client when all I want is to be part of the family.”
“You’re not a client,” he murmurs. “You’re my queen.Mia Regina.”
“I don’t want to be above anyone, Angelo. I want to beequal.”
He leans in, brushing his nose against mine. His eyes close.
My heart slows.
I want to argue. To tell him I’m not fragile. That I don’t want to be worshipped from a distance, but his hands are warm on my face, and for once, there’s no fire in his eyes.
Only love.
That endless, terrifying love that would level cities just for me.
