Page 213 of Mine Again
Eyes locked, gaze hungry. The kind of hunger that strips a person bare and makes them feel it.
A storm coils between them, unfinished, charged, dangerous.
What the hell is that about?
Mia forces out a syrupy, sarcastic goodbye, then slips out. My gaze lingers on the door even after she’s gone. Something in the way she looked at him, like she wanted to claw his face off and kiss him senseless all at once.
I’m not sure what the two of them are or what’s been going on since Caterina and her daughters came to Chicago. I saw his interest in Mia through the feeds at Don De Marco’s memorial service, and it seems to have only grown.
Whatever this is, I know dangerous chemistry when I see it.
Aldo stands. “Don Marcos.”
Maximo turns to him before his eyes land on me.
Let the games begin.
Chapter Eighty
Luca
Maximo doesn’t offer a hand. He studies me, sharp and cold as ice.
“So, Luca Caruso turns out to be The Venom, and one of the most wanted men in the country.” His voice is low, almost bored. “I hear you want my help.”
I don’t respond. Not right away. I let the silence stretch. Let him wonder just how desperate I am. Maybe that’ll put me in some kind of negotiating position, though I doubt it. Maximo holds all the cards.
“Tell me why I should help you?” he asks. “Your family betrayed my cousins for decades. If they were still around, I’d put you on a plane to Sicily and deliver you back with a bow.”
“My father’s sins are not mine,” I say. “He destroyed my life with his stupidity. I haven’t had contact with him for years. His actions are his own. Mine are mine. I’ve never betrayed the De Marcos; my loyalty tola famigliahas never wavered.”
Aldo’s glance flickers. “He’s married to Isabella Accardi now,” he adds, and lets the name hang.
“See,” I say drily. “We’re practically family.” Or we will be if he keeps pursuing Mia.
Maximo’s mouth doesn’t change. His stare doesn’t break.
“Let’s assume for a second I was considering helping you. What exactly is it you want?”
“You’re aware my wife has been kidnapped by Carter Hale?” I ask, relishing calling Isa that.
Maximo gives a curt nod.
“I need men,” I say. “Hale’s residence is a fortress. I can blind his systems and call his routes, but I cannot pull Isa out alone. I want to make a deal with you.”
Maximo’s laugh is small and humorless.
“Hale’s palace eats men. I need mine for Chicago. My war comes first. I won’t risk my empire for just a woman.”
I clench my jaw. The words don’t surprise me, but they still land like a punch to the ribs.
Just a woman.
That’s what Isa is to him.
Not to me, though.
She’s the breath in my lungs, the pulse in my veins, the fire that keeps me alive.
