Read Online Revenge by Dana Delamar - Free Book Online Page B

well.”
    “I do.”
    “Is he….” Her voice failed her. “Is Carlo, is
my husband, are they….” She looked up at him, hoping he’d finish
her question. He didn’t. Shit. She was going to have to say
it. “Are they part of the ‘Ndrangheta?” Her voice had fallen to a
whisper.
    He held her eyes for a second. “Yes.”
    She froze, a chill hand sliding its fingers
down her spine. Her chest squeezed by bands of iron, she could
scarcely draw a breath. Vince was a mobster. What the hell am I
going to do ?
    “Are you all right?”
    She looked up at Enrico. She’d forgotten
about him for a moment. Jesus. He could be a mobster too!
Jumping to her feet, she backed away from her desk. She couldn’t
leave the room without walking past him. What if he tried to stop
her?
    Enrico gave her a puzzled look. “Kate, please
sit down. Please calm down. You are looking at me like I am
a Mafioso too.”
    “Aren’t you?”

    Enrico laughed, perhaps a bit too loudly, and
shook his head, trying not to betray his alarm. Dio mio , this woman. He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “No,
of course not.” When he saw she wasn’t laughing, he motioned for
her to sit down, and she slowly took her chair. He drew in a deep
breath. He hated lying to her, but what alternative was there?
    “I made a bad decision many years ago, and it
has haunted me ever since.” He shifted in his seat. “Shortly after
I married his daughter, Antonella, Carlo approached me about a
business deal. I said yes, even though I knew it was not entirely
legal.” He took another breath, noting her rapt attention. “I was
young and greedy. I did not think I needed to consult my father.”
He let a faint smile cross his face. “I was foolish.”
    When he paused and didn’t immediately
continue, Kate asked, “What was the deal?”
    “I would own a series of legitimate
businesses and allow Andretti to funnel some of his money through
them.”
    “Money laundering, you mean.”
    He nodded. “After a time, I realized I was
taking a substantial risk for only a small profit. So I tried to
back out. Of course, Carlo told me that was impossible.” He smiled
again, picturing what Carlo would have actually said in such a
case. “So I thought I would force his hand. I started to skim off
the top. When he caught me, I said that since he could not trust
me, he ought to drop me as a partner.”
    Kate looked at him, her mouth open. “Weren’t
you afraid he’d have you killed?”
    “I was nineteen. And naïve. I thought he
would never harm me because I was his son-in-law. He loved
Antonella more than anything. And she loved me. He would never
devastate her by killing me.”
    “So what happened?”
    “He obviously did not kill me.”
    “But?”
    Should he tell her what Carlo had done to his
family? No; it was too horrific. “He tried to have my father
killed. He was badly wounded; he almost did not survive.”
    Kate’s jaw dropped. “My God.”
    Enrico nodded, letting his bitterness toward
Carlo show. “So I gave up my foolish notions about getting him to
leave me alone.” He paused. “As you have probably heard, Antonella
died. Since then, I have been trying to extricate myself. Carlo, of
course, is not pleased with my efforts.”
    She stared at the papers on her desk. “Not
pleased,” she murmured, then she looked up at him. “That’s why
Vince hates you?”
    “Carlo wants my head. To set an example.” He
watched her, waiting for her to say more, wondering what he’d just
done. Dio . He was in it now. Even if she didn’t take up with
him, if she left her husband because of what he’d said…. Madonna . He was screwed either way.
    She stared at him, her pale skin even whiter,
the bruise on her cheek standing out even more. Her voice rose in
panic, and the sound made him want to comfort her. “I’m leaving
Vince, but how can I ever keep myself safe from him?”
    Enrico leaned forward, the words leaving his
mouth before he could stop them.