“The first soldier to find me wins. Do whatever it takes. No weapons allowed.” When he blows out his candle, they all snuff theirs, too. “Let the hunt… begin.” His voice is swallowed by the shadows hiding him.
Giovanni’s been here all along—with these people? Creating some sort of secret Covenant thing rather than spending time with Leo—andme. My blood boils. If ever there’s an opportunity to prove he’s underestimated me, it’s now.
I tighten the cord threaded through my hood, so it closes in on my face and covers my nose and mouth.
“I’ll hunt you, Giovanni Souza,” I mutter, waiting for the others to disperse into the tunnels, and then I dart into the darkness after them. “If you want to play in the darkness, I’ll play too.”
9
GIOVANNI
Five days earlier
“Your Papá would lose his shit over a Souza putting his life before a woman.” Blanco chuckles, sits back in his seat, and observes me through his glasses.
He’d removed his designer blazer, sitting opposite me. The bastard’s impeccably spotless compared to my sullied state. I would enjoy watching his blood seep into the pale pink shirt he’s wearing. Yeah, that would me fucking smile. “You left quite a trail of bodies back there. Not that it surprised me.” He adds.
My wrists are bound with rope this time and I’m sitting in a chair again with the threat of a few semi-automatic rifles aimed in my direction. Only this time our surroundings and the assholes pointing weapons at me are different, replacements for the guys I had easily slaughtered.
First, I’d let Blanco’s guys capture me, purely to take their eyes away from India's escape. They led me into the rear of an unmarked van and drove off to another location.
Fuck knows where I am now. Carlos seems to like huge concrete buildings and hefty roller shutters—must be an ego thing.
“Elias would have used Teresa as his personal bulletproof vest.” Blanco smiles. “Whereas you made sure the girl got away. That was a risk—and confirms how important she is to you. However, it was very honorable of you.”
Jets of air shoot down my nostrils. “Don’t mock me, old man. Your bullshit means nothing to me.”
“I know.” He folds his arms and shrugs. “I’ve watched Elias’ boys grow into men and applauded your achievements from the sidelines. The only bad blood between us was fabricated in that man's head.”
“You’re boring me, Blanco,” I say in a monotone voice, my eyes drilling into his. “This fake godfather nonsense is worse than a bullet to the brain. Tell me what you want and stop wasting my fucking time.”
He unfolds his arms, leans forward, and props his elbows on his knees. “You're different. Elias had a lot of success, but you became his biggest asset. His enemies knew you’d appear out of nowhere if they betrayed him. They heard rumors of what you could do and how imaginative their deaths could be. You’re a legend, Giovanni, and I want to tap into your network and know-how.”
“Aren’t you past all of that now, Carlos? It’s a little too late to teach an old bastard new tricks.”
He laughs darkly. “Oh, you won’t be teaching me. You’re going to train a handpicked group to become the elite, best at stealth combat—and the rest, of course.”
I shake my head. My own lessons were learned through years of conditioning and fucked-up mind games. That’s not something I would choose to replicate, ever. My way of life is just that—mine.
“Why the fuck would I share my knowledge with you?”
Carlos teases the wiry hair on his chin in a moment of quiet contemplation. “I saw your heart tonight, Giovanni. Do you really think your sweet prom princess should give up her right to a teenage life? That she won’t want to travel? Visit family and friends. Go shopping or even finish her education.”
“So, you think threatening me will work?” I cock my brows, not giving away the heat of my temper. “Because if you are, and you try to take her away from me, or if anyone remotely associated with you steps in her path… I’ll slaughter every motherfucker in your family and hang their corpses from the branches of a tree outside my bedroom window. And every morning, I’ll see the Blanco family tree and feel satisfied that I wiped out your entire bloodline. Your threats mean nothing to me.”
Carlos continues to stare at me. He’s pretending to be unfazed by my threat, but we both know I’m fully capable of exacting revenge.
“Yet here we are—together. I’m not the one covered in blood, unarmed, and at the mercy of another man's patience.” He looks down to study his clipped nails and straighten the cuffs of his annoyingly pristine pink shirt. “While you’re still dressed in smart pants and a designer shirt, your princess’ big night with her gangster boyfriend appears to have gone to shit.”
My veins catch fire.
“I’m not her boyfriend.” I lie without my voice changing. “I’m her babysitter. That's all.”
I grind my back teeth when Carlos takes his cell phone out of his pocket and taps the screen. “Even with masks on, it looks like the babysitter was taking advantage of his ward.”
He rotates the phone and shows me an intimate photograph of us on the dance floor only a few hours ago. There’s no visual evidence that I’m finger fucking her at that moment, but there’s no denying how close we were or how the Souza ring, on my other hand, catches the strobing light.
“Isn’t she Reno Hardy’s teenage sister? May he rest in peace knowing you’re ruining her life. Unless you let another man borrow your family signet ring, then I assume that dark-haired man in the suit is you. Oh, wait.” He grins. “It was you… since we took you off the road right after you’d left the hotel. Men like you don’t get a happily ever after. There’s always someone waiting in the shadows to take them down.”
