Page 19 of Explode
Miles snorted. “First of all, don’t call him George. Especially when hisname is Georgio. In fact, don’t call him anything but Mr. Bianchi. Secondly, in our world being owed a debt is a huge deal. It means they can call in a favor any time they like, for anything they want.”
“Anything?”
“Anything. They want the president dead, they can call in that favor.They want to use every single one of our men to wage a battle against another city, they call in the favor. It’s not something to offer lightly, Riley, but at this rate, I don’t think you have much else to give.”
And it wasn’t like we were going to have much time to come up withanything else. Miles turned the car onto a gravel driveway, and immediately we were met with four men, armed with scary-looking guns pointed directly at us.
Miles wound down his window and explained who we were, everyman giving us evil eyes as they made us get out of the car to search it, and us. I can’t say I particularly appreciated the guard who blatantly copped a feel of my tits as he searched me for a weapon.
When they were happy we were unarmed and didn’t have a ton ofexplosives strapped to the car, they let us on our merry way.
“Tell me again why we agreed to come unarmed?” I said to Miles aswe pulled into a courtyard, only to be met with another ten men, all armed with what looked like machine guns. Despite Georgio’s word, I suddenly feared we may not be walking out of there alive.
“Because we asked for the meeting. He gets to dictate the terms.”
I swallowed nervously, my eyes roaming over the armed men whowere scarier looking than the Apollo guys.Standing in the middle of them was a suited middle-aged man with anangry scowl on his face.
When Jack told me Mr. Bianchi had agreed to the meeting, he gave me a folder with pictures of key members of the Bianchi household. The man standing in the middle of the armed men was Antonio Bianchi, Georgio’s brother, and second in command.
Withering under the glare of Antonio, I took a deep breath andstepped out, Miles following and taking his place by my side.
“Mrs. Wolfe,” Antonio said, his features hard and unwelcoming. “Mr.Wolfe,” he nodded to Miles. “Please, follow me.”
He turned and strolled away without any further pleasantries. I cast alook at Miles who shrugged before waving his hand, indicating we should follow.
Silently, we followed Antonio through the house. In fact, house wasn’tthe right word, it was a fucking palace. I always thought Kai’s penthouse was grand, but it was nothing compared to the Bianchi home.
White marble floors lined the house, the cream walls were adorned withelegant oil paintings, and glistening chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The entire place was lit up by the sun streaming through ginormous stained-glass windows, and every room we passed through felt airy because of the sheer size.
Antonio led us along a hallway until he reached an oak door. Hedidn’t knock, just tugged on the ornate gold handle and pulled the door open. Stepping aside to let me in, he met my eyes, nothing but hatred reflected in them.
Pushing down the nerves coursing through me, I stepped inside thehuge room. In the middle was a long oak table, long enough to seat twenty people. Tall windows surrounded the room, all dressed with royal red drapes. An oil painting of a man hung on the end wall, big enough that it took up the entire space. I didn’t know who he was, but evidently, he was someone important to have a painting of such grandeur.
My hands shook, and I balled them into a fist to stop the trembletrying to take over my body, damn glad Miles was with me for this. I seriously started regretting this stupid idea. I was unbelievably out of my depth.
“You must be Riley Wolfe,” a deep voice said which did nothing tosettle the fluttering of butterflies in my belly.
For an older man, Mr. Bianchi was a handsome guy. I knew from theinformation Jack gave me he was approaching sixty, but if I didn’t know that, I would have put him in his mid-forties. It was clear, even underneath his tailored suit, that he was an athletic man, his shoulders were broad, and his shirt was tight across his chest.
He held his hand out, and when I gripped it, he gave it a firm shake. “Mr. Bianchi, thank you for agreeing to meet us,” I said, giving himwhat I hoped was a friendly smile.
One he didn’t return.
“Yes, well. I never thought I’d see the day I’d meet with a Wolfe, but itwould seem we have a common enemy, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued by what offer you are going to bring to my table. After all, business is business. Please, let me introduce you to my family.”
Okay, so he wasn’t going to promptly throw me out on my ass. A littlepang of hope shot through me, but I shut it down not wanting to get ahead of myself.
“This is my son, and my heir, Raphael,” Georgio said, pointing to ayoung man who was sitting at the table, but upon being introduced, stood and offered his hand.
Thanks to the information Jack gave me, I knew Raphael wasthe only son of Georgio, and was a twin. His sister, Sofia, who was also in the room, was born twenty-two minutes after him. They were both my age, twenty-one, and their mother had been killed when they were seven, murdered by a rival who had suffered the most horrific death when Georgio tracked him down.
I won’t lie, Raphael was hot. Not Kai hot, but you know, hot enoughthat I felt my cheeks warm when our eyes met. He was the type of guy you would find on the cover of a magazine, olive skin, muscles for days, chiseled features. His hair was shaved right down to his scalp and his lips were pulled into a beautiful smile.
I took Raphael’s hand, and his hazel eyes heated as they met mine.
“Call me Rafe,” he said as we shook, his eyes roaming lustfully overmy curves.
I gave him a small smile, hating the feel of his eyes on me. There wasonly one man’s heated gaze I wanted on me, and that was never going to happen again.
