Judging by his clenched jaw and his averted eyes, that admission took a bite out of his pride.
“And so you got Lorenzo to do your dirty work?”I tilt my head.“Aren’tyouthe head honcho around here?”
“We’re in the middle of a potential coup, if you haven’t noticed,” he says dryly.“I have to choose my battles.”
“Hm.I keep forgetting you’re not just some dumb criminal.”
“How she flatters me,” he mutters under his breath, then exhales, long and tired.“Being feared is overrated.It’s not always fun feeling like the angel of death.You look in anyone’s direction and they flinch, duck their heads, like they’re about to breathe their last.”He tips his head back and stares at the sky.“Lo and Gio can do whatever the hell they want, no matter how vile, how vicious, and they’re still seen as ‘bros.’Me?I don’t even have time to do half the fucked up shit they do, creating messes for me to clean up.Most of my hours are spent making deals, managing fallout, maintaining connections, keeping the whole damn system from collapsing.I’m a businessman.Without me, no one gets fed.But somehow all the blame, judgment and fear get pushed to me.I’mthe big bad monster.”
“Because you’re the boss,” I say quietly.“You carry the weight of your people’s sins.That’s what being king is, no?”
“I know.I do.”He pauses.“It just gets...I don’t know—”
“Alienating?”
His head swings toward me, brows knitting.“Yeah.Exactly that.”
He shifts like he’s trying to face me, but his size makes it awkward in the tight space.“I think…” He hesitates, then lets it land.“I think that’s why I’m so drawn to you.You’re not afraid of me.”
“That’s also why you hate me andtried to kill me,” I remind him.
He laughs into the night air, and it’s so hypnotic, so unexpectedly warm, that I catch myself smiling.“You’ve danced with scarier devils than me, haven’t you, little liar?”
Sweeping my gaze back up at the sky, I plead the fifth.
After a short stretch of soothing silence, I say, “I hung out with the Uppers because it was the best and fastest way to get in on all the chatter and whispers.They’re loose-lipped around me because they don’t see me as a woman.But that’s all screwed now.”
“Am I supposed to give a shit?”he asks, unfazed.
“Considering I’m tasked with clearing the black cloud hanging over your empire?Yes.You should.”
“You’ll come to learn, Delilah, that even to my own detriment, I’m unapologetically selfish.”His chuckle is dismissive, careless.“I want what I want.”
And what hewantsis control…overme.There’s no reasoning with him in that case.
“Must be fun in that webby head of yours,” I mumble.
He laughs again, and the sound is like a soothing caress to my ears.After a moment, the weight of his gaze heavy against the side of my face, he asks, “Who knows you, Raya?”
That’s easy.“My dad.”
“Then I can’t wait to meet him.”
Ha.You really can.“Who knowsyou?”
He takes a beat to consider.“Lo.Gio.”
“Why do I get the feeling the real answer isno one?”I look at him then.“If Lorenzo really knew you, he would’ve known you were using him today.”
“Maybe he did…and let himself be used anyway.”He reaches up and brushes a lock of hair from my face with two fingers.“Like I’m doing with you.”
I lift a brow.“You think I’m using you?”
“I think you’re using all of us.”
“How?”I push.“For what?”
A slow, slanted, dangerous smile pulls at his lips as he arches a brow.“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?”
