Page 22 of Explode
“Silence!” Georgio barked. She fell silent but continued to glare atMiles from across the table. “Hmm, interesting. Has Riley promoted you to 2IC?”
No. I hadn’t.
I still hadn’t really accepted thatIwas the boss. But Miles had beenby my side from day one, he had guided me through everything, and even if I hated the way he taught me some lessons, I couldn’t deny that he had taught me for my own good.
I turned to look at Miles again who met my eyes. A silentconversation passed between us in one look. He was telling me to listen to him, to trust that he knew what he was doing.
“He is my second in command, yes,” I said, facing back to Georgioand ignoring the daggers Sofia was throwing at both of us from across the table.
Georgio paused for a second and everyone fell quiet, the only soundscoming from Sofia, who was now sobbing quietly behind her hands.
“In which case, I will give you one month to deal with Thorne andBecker. I will give you my men to use as you see fit to bring this to an end. In return, Miles will marry Sofia, and the Bianchis and the Wolfes will reign together.”
Chapter 6
Riley
Mileswassilentaswe made our way through Forest Point, headingback to the house. After Sofia stormed out, he asked to have a private moment alone with Mr. Bianchi to discuss theintimatedetails of the marriage.
I argued and said that surely it was up to Sofia, but Miles gave me hislook that said,‘We’ll discuss this later,’before asking if Sofia was a virgin. At that point, I promptly left, more than prepared to give him the silent treatment for another few days.
Who the hell did he think he was discussing his sex life with his futurewife’s father? It was bad enough that the poor girl didn’t get a choice in who she was marrying, but for her father to say who she fucked? It was wrong on so many levels.
In fact, fuck the silent treatment, no way I was keeping quiet aboutthis.
“That was a real shitty move back there,” I said, turning to glare athim. He kept his gaze on the road ahead, his hand clenching around the steering wheel.
“We didn’t have a choice, it was the only way Bianchi would agree tothe deal, and as you said, you’re married to Kai.” He still refused to look my way, and even though his tone was calm, he was grinding his teeth, quietly simmering.
“Not the part about the marriage, the part where you kicked me out soyou could discuss whether you got to fuck her or not as part of the agreement,” I hissed angrily. “That was a douchebag move, Miles, only Sofia should get to decide who she wants to fuck, not her father.”
I folded my arms across my chest and turned away, unable to look athim any longer. Over the last six months, I had come to love Miles as if he were my brother, but there were times when he was a complete dickhead.
“Are you quite finished?” he said, pulling his eyes off the road to lookover at me. When I didn’t reply, he carried on. “Did it occur to you that Bianchi might have been expecting me to have that conversation with him? That maybe arranged marriages in the Cosa Nostra are tradition, and the kind of expectations that come with a marriage are discussed at great lengths between the interested parties. Do you not think if I had just walked out of there, Bianchi would have questioned whether I was being genuine or not? Look at me, Riley. Do I look like the kind of asshole that would force anyone into fucking me? Give me a break, I’m not a fucking rapist.”
I uncrossed my arms and looked back at Miles, meeting his angryeyes. Guilt filled me for my accusations. He was right, I hadn’t considered that he might have been playing along.
“Sorry,” I muttered, my cheeks heating with shame. I should haveknown better than to think Miles would force himself on anyone, he despised rapists as much as Kai had.
“Forget it,” he said softly, returning to look out the windscreen. Anawkward tension filled the air, making me feel even fucking worse.
“She’s a pretty girl,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.
“She’s a brat. She couldn’t even get my name right.”
“Yeah, well, I think she’s entitled to be a brat, she just had her free willtaken from her, something I can relate to.”
Miles’ jaw clenched, and I instantly felt guilty again. He’d agreed tomarry her to save our bacon, not for any other reason. His free will had been taken away as well.
“I feel sorry for her,” I said, making sure he could hear the humor inmy voice. “You know, having to marry you.Milo.”
Miles turned to face me and I gave him my best mischievous smile.After a beat, his face broke out into his own smile and he chuckled, and just like that, the tension evaporated.
At that moment, the phone Jack had gifted me a few days ago rang,scaring the absolute shit out of me. I wasn’t used to anyone calling me. I’d only ever had a cheap phone which I used to text Angel when we lived in East Bay.
Aside from Angel and my old boss, Diana, no one had my number, soI never got any calls. But Miles had insisted I had a phone, and so Jack had presented me with an all-singing-all-dancing encrypted phone. Half of the things it could do, I had no idea. So long as it could make a call and send a message when I needed it to, that was good enough for me.
“Hello.”
