Page 70 of Virtuous Lies

“Ah, there she is.” He steps closer. He grabs my jaw, squeezing it. “I’m so fucking mad at you.”

“I’m mad at you.”

His lips twist. “Why are you here, Bianca?”

“Looking for you.”

His eyes close over in irritation. “I told you I was working.”

“You lied.”

He squeezes my cheeks, my lips pushing forward. “Enzo thinks I can’t control you.” He kisses my lips.

“I can’t be controlled.”

“You made me look like a fucking fool, Bianca,” he grits through the clench of his jaw.

“You’remakingme a fool,” I retort.

He frowns.

“Who is Gabriella?”

His hands fall away from my face, curling into a fist. “No one.”

“You lie.”

He doesn’t respond.

“Are you fucking her?”

His head shakes with an exasperated sigh. “No.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I’m telling you the fucking truth.”

eighteen

“You’re still mad.”

He shifts in his seat.

My lip has stopped bleeding, but I dart my tongue out, running it across the small cut, tasting the dried blood. “Howmad?”

He ignores me.

“You and Enzo are close.” I try a different tactic.

“You should be grateful. You’d be worm food otherwise.” His jaw tics. “He’s the brother I never had.”

“Why didn’t he make you second-in-command?”

He clears his throat. “It would’ve been disrespectful to Leonardo.”

“Why not make you consigliere then?”

He sighs. “Roberto could not be trusted. As an enforcer, he would have too much freedom for pain. He would have been our undoing. As Lorenzo's advisor, we could watch him closely.”

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