Page 208 of Money Reigns

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The Amatos are fucking creepy.

“What do you want, Beaumont?” Santo finally asks, voice flat, dangerous in its calm.

“Be nice, Santo,” the blonde whispers.

Amato sighs. Actually sighs. His eyes soften when he looks at her.

I’m fucking losing it.

“Yes, Dea,” he murmurs before turning his attention back to me, eyes sharp again. “This is my wife, Vasilisa. Dea, this is War Beaumont. His brother is my largest competitor.”

She gasps, wide-eyed. “Oh,Wesleyis your brother? He’s very kind.”

As she speaks, Amato watches me like a shark scenting blood. I ignore her, leaning forward.

“I need you to let go of the Baker family.”

His wife’s head tilts.

Santo frowns. “Who?”

“The Baker family. They own Baker’s Inn and have been paying you off for generations. That stops today.”

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, Beaumont. We don’t own an inn.”

“The Bake—“

“Yes, we do,” his wife interrupts in Russian, looking up at him.

His head snaps toward her. “No, we don’t,” he responds, same language.

Little do they know, I’m fluent.

I lean forward, my voice cutting through. “Da, ty delayesh.”

Yes, you do.

Both of them go still.

Vasilisa beams, eyes lighting like I just passed some secret test. She turns back to English, her voice quick, apologetic. “When I was going through files, I found the account. I didn’t realize it was still running funds through. I hadn’t gotten to the financials part yet.”

And that’s when it happens. Santo Amato smiles at her.

Actually smiles.

It rattles me more than his gunmen, more than his calm. Because Amatos don’t smile. Not like that.

“Vasilisa,” he says softly, still looking at her. “Give us a moment alone. Maybe paint me something new for the walls.”

She nods, rising gracefully, smoothing her skirt. “Of course.” She glances at me once more, politely. “It was nice to meet you, Mr. Beaumont.”

Then she slips out, his eyes following her until the door clicks shut behind her.

The smile vanishes from his face like it was never there.

Now it’s just me and the monster.

He watches me.

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