Page 73 of His Beautiful Revenge
He put a hand on each arm of her chair and leaned in so his face was inches from hers. “You would think that,” he said softly. “Youwouldautomatically assume that we brought you here to kill you. Because that’s your go-to, isn’t it, Tara? Murder. You had Carmel killed because she found out about you fucking Hargity. You killed Hargity because he wouldn’t kill Norah. And you tried to have my beautiful girl killed out of sheer spite.”
He pinched Tara’s chin between his fingers. “We arenotlike you, Tara.”
She jerked her chin away from him. “Fuck you, Giacomo.”
He smiled a chilly, icy smile. “You wish, you little bitch. So here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to deliver you to the police. You’re going to admit everything and take your punishment. Or …”
He glanced around at Norah who nodded. “Or you can walk free from here.”
Tara blinked. “What?”
“You can go free.”
She started to laugh hysterically. “Fuck you people. Have the balls to take your revenge.”
Giacomo half-smiled. “Oh, we already are. Your name is poison now. Every contact you have will no longer take your call. Every contract is now null and void. No restaurant will take your booking, no fashion designer will hire you to walk in their shows, and no magazine wants you on their cover.Ever.”
Tara sneered at hum. “I don’t believe you. They still have to sell their product and who does that better than me?”
Giacomo looked over at Norah and winked. She beamed back at him and Tara laughed. “Her? She doesn’t have what it takes to do my job.”
Norah chuckled derisively. “Yes, the capacity to stand up straight and walk somehow eludes me.”
Giacomo gave a genuine laugh then before looking back at Tara. “Norah doesn’t have to whore herself out like you, but, funnily enough, theywereinterested in the story of the beautiful girl who survived, the gorgeous woman with a brain the size of Sicily and a heart of gold. Think about it, Tara …who would they rather have? The washed-up ice queen who treats people like crap? Or the warm-hearted heroine who escaped a madman and is about to marry the luckiest man in the world?”
Norah hopped off the desk and came to stand next to him, linking her fingers with his. Tara watched them, her eyes narrowed.
“So, Norah will be taking over all your commitments before retiring from ‘modeling’ to do, you know,actualwork.”
Norah chuckled, looking up at her love. “Sobitchy.”
Giacomo kissed her. “I know. I couldn’t resist.”
Tara spat at them. “God, you make me sick.”
Norah turned to her. “You know what, Tara? I would never trust a man who hurt a woman. Hit her. As much as both Giacomo and Orlando would love a freebie at kicking your ass right now, neither of them would stoop that low.Me, on the other hand …Igrew up in a trailer park.” And she slapped the other woman hard, once, across the face. “Well, now, that wasfuckingsatisfying.”
She grabbed the back of Tara’s head and forced her to look at her. “Don’t ever, ever mess with my man, my family, or me again. Do you understand me? Or I will happily, happily do time for ending you.”
Tara recoiled from the growl in Norah’s voice and felt a grudging admiration. “You know, my dad’s going to be pissed that his guy took the money and didn’t kill you.”
Norah burst out laughing. “Oh, you moron …your dad alreadyknows.His ’guy,’ as you call it, told him he wouldn’t do the job and never took his money. Giacomo went to see your father and …well, baby, do you want to tell Tara what her daddy-dear told you?”
Tara felt her heart begin to clench and tighten. Giacomo was obviously enjoying this.
“He said he didn’t have a problem with Norahliving; that he only hired the ‘guy’ as a last favor to his about-to-be-disowned daughter. Said it wasn’t worth his while to keep his promise. Your dad couldn’t give a crap about you, princess.”
Norah smiled. “And to my mind, that makes …preciselyzeropeople whodogive a crap about you. So what we’re offering is the best you’re going to get.”
Tara laughed then. “What the fuck are you offering? Prison or destitution?”
“Yup.”
“That’s it. But you get to live, is the point we’re making, I think.”
Orlando cleared his throat. “Unless, of course, you want to tell us who killed my wife and where to find him?”
Tara smirked. “And lose the only card I have left?”
