You had me believing...
**RUBY**
While Alex, Damien and company wait for the car they ordered, I say, “I’m going to hit the bathroom. *Do not* leave without me.”
I pretend not to notice Damien’s ears perk up, but I do, and just as I am counting on, Alex murmurs something to him before the pair of them *pretend* not to have heard me.
Mickey’s eyes twinkle. “You’re the only one who knows where we’re going. Why the fuck would we?”
*Ha! If you think I believe that Scavo, you’re even stupider than I thought.*
But, I smile instead, shoving Ana toward him as I slip away. “You should get to know your intended while you have the chance. Because I’m pretty sure once she finds out what you’ve done she may burn that contract on her own.”
Mickey’s eyes don’t so much as twitch at my comment, telling me he would like nothing better than for her to do exactly that.
Well, the joke’s on him, I’m not going to let that idiot start a war over my cousin. If he doesn’t marry Ana, he will cause more than just a rift in the business. He will have every mafia head hunting to end Romany - if they aren’t already. Because Ana Romano isn’t *just* Paul’s only heir, she is also her mother’s daughter and Don Carlo’s niece.
Don Carlo preceded his father, who forced his daughter to marry that sick fucker Paul, despite knowing the man erred on the darker side of perversion - having been accused of raping his own sisters once. So Ana’s mother was forced into the marriage as so many of them are. And now, Lydia Romano is a heartless bitch incapable of love.
Then again, Ana may be so grateful after learning of her father’s death, that she falls head over heels for Mickey whether he wants her to or not. Because from what I’ve heard… Paul didn’t discriminate and has probably touched his daughter as well.
And why did the bosses keep such a sick fuck around?
Because… his indiscretions made him easy to control and his disgusting nature only increased his value to them. They were inhouse obsessions. Not outbound like Mickey’s with my cousin.
The Dons love to have a puppet on the line and Mickey? He’s no puppet. They fear him and hate him, but they can’t outright kill him. Marrying him to Ana puts him in charge of a district and places him directly under their thumb. It’s a lot harder to turn a district than it is a territory. Too many players in the game. Too many minds to control. Even for Mickey.
Moving toward the side exit as stealthily as possible, I make sure to keep my steps casual up to the point where I reach the restrooms, then I book it - heading straight for the taxis on the more public side of the airport.
And… just as I suspected, Damien is right behind me when I do.
In fact, he slides right into the cab next to me as I toss out instructions to the cab driver and he skirts away from the curb.
“You’re not gonna say anything?” Damien slips out, side-eyeing me while my gaze is steady on the road beyond us.
“I hope you brought your wallet,” I snap, holding a hand out. “Give me your phone."
Damien tenses, then after a long drawn in breath he does what I ask, glaring behind us at the forgotten airport as we hit the highway up ahead. “Alex is going to be pissed.”
I have to laugh, tossing my head back in glee. “I couldn’t give a lesser fuck how pissed Alex is going to be. You are the only one I need with me right now. Let those two arrive when the timing is right.”
“You have a plan,” Damien says simply.
I shake my head. “No. Tiny does. And I just so happen to like his plan, so here we are.” I study him, allowing all of my disappointment to swallow my eyes. “I asked one thing of you. One thing. You couldn’t even give me that.”
Damien inhales a shuddering breath, his gaze narrowing as he stares out at the bare highway and the meager traffic up ahead. It is still early. Barely dawn and when Damien’s phone starts buzzing in my pocket with Alex on the line I toss it out the window without a second thought.
“What the fuck?!” Damien snarls.
I smile at him sweetly. “If you’d like, I can have the cab driver stop to retrieve it. But I can say for certain that we’ll wait.”
He glares at me. “He will eventually show up,” Damien spits. “You have to know that.”
I shrug, not divulging even a little of my thoughts to him as I sit there and stew on that fact. “I know. But not right away. He’ll only make a mess of things if he shows now.”
“Why is that exactly?” Damien asks.
“You know why,” I fire back. “Alex doesn’t sneak up on anything. He never has. He never will. He’ll ride in thinking he can blow everyone to kingdom come and that simply isn’t the case today. I won’t allow it. According to Tiny, there are innocent people involved and I’ll be damned if Alex destroys any more lives on my watch.”
“Holy shit,” Damien chuckles. “You’ve changed sides.”
I shake my head. “No. I’ve chosen one. My cousin’s. And that means - I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her. If Santos wants me to kill him *this* fucking bad - bad enough that he has the balls to steal my fucking cousin - I’m not going to disappoint that sorry fucker.”
“Really?” Damien coos. “Could have fooled me. Calling him Antonio and all that bullshit. You had me believing you were in love with him.”
I lose my smile. “He should never have involved her. It was a mistake.” Then I glare. “A mistake many of you seem to have made.”
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