For some reason, his words didn’t hurt her like they usually did. Yes, she was a woman. And she had never realized just how strong a woman could be until she met Nico again. In the last few weeks, she had learned how to embrace what it meant to be a woman, and she had found a man who accepted her and loved her for who she was.
“I don’t want your respect,” she spat out. “And especially not if you measure a man’s worth by his ability to take a life.” Her hands balled into fists so tight her nails dug into her palms. “Character makes a man, not the circumstances of his birth or the power he holds or his ability to shoot a gun. It’s about the choices you make and how you treat people around you; it’s about the mercy you show when you’ve been wronged and the things you do when no one is around to see. You have no character. There is nothing about you I respect or admire. I don’t care what you think of me anymore, because I think nothing of you.”
She moved to leave, and one of the guards grabbed her arms. Before she could stop him, he snapped a pair of handcuffs around her wrists.
“What is this? What are you doing?” She tried to run but the guard grabbed her and forced her back down into the chair.
“You’ll stay here until I get word that our little problem has been solved,” her father said. Then you’ll get ready for your wedding tomorrow. Tony and I didn’t see any reason to waste time.” He gestured to the guards. “Tie her to the chair. One of you comes with me. The other stays outside the door and guards her.” He looked over at Mia and smiled. “I can honestly say nothing will please me more than giving you the fuck away at your wedding.”
*
“We’ve got a location on Dante.” Luca burst into Nico’s casino office, uncharacteristically breathless, with Vito on his heels.
“I told everyone to stand down.” Nico had stopped the hunt after spending the night with Mia, resolved to find a way to fulfill the family honor without spilling her brother’s blood.
“We did. But Frankie got a tip and he called Vito to check it out. Dante’s here. In the high stakes gaming room. Frankie’s on his way.”
Nico leaned back in his chair. Out of habit, he reached for his pen, but he had put it away last night as a statement to himself that he was letting his father go and moving on with a life that was more than a quest for revenge. “Is he fucking crazy? Why would he take such a risk when he knows there’s a contract on him? I thought he’d hit the mattresses.”
“He’s got a gambling problem,” Vito said, smoothing down his silvery suit jacket and crisp gray tie. “All the casino managers in the city know about him. There aren’t many bookies who will deal with him because when he runs up the debts too high Don Cordano sends out one of his enforcers to clear them off, if you know what I mean.”
“That’s bad business.”
Luca shrugged. “He’s only got one son. What’s he gonna do?”
Nico’s father only had one son, and he’d expected him to fill his shoes by following the family traditions, as his father had followed before him. But now Nico had found the other half of his soul, the missing piece of his life. He was forging his own path—maybe even his own faction of the Toscani family—and he had resolved to find another way to make Dante pay for his crime.
Still, the man who had killed his father was sitting downstairs in his casino and it was too great a temptation to ignore.
“It’s got to be a trap.” Nico twisted his lips to the side. “Is he alone?”
“Yes, sir,” Vito said. “I checked the security cameras after Frankie called. He came in alone and went straight to the high-stakes room where’s he’s been playing blackjack for the last hour. The other players at the table are regulars. I know them well.”
“What about the facial-recognition database? Did it pick up any known Cordano associates?”
Vito shook his head. “No, sir. Nothing. We comped him the usual drinks, and he’s almost made his way through a bottle of bourbon. He wasn’t interested in food or the girls we sent over. Is it possible he doesn’t know you own the casino?”
“Possible, but unlikely.” Nico clicked to the live security feed on his computer and zoomed in on the high-stakes room. His eye-in-the-sky was so high-tech, he could watch the movements of the dealers’ hands. The dealers were often the biggest cheaters in the casino, lured by the easy access to money and the distraction of the crowds.
He recognized Dante right away, studied his bloodshot eyes, the stubble on his chin. He looked like a man on self-destruct. If he really wanted to die, he had come to the right place.
Nico checked the weapon in his holster and pulled on his jacket. “Let’s go.”
“Maybe we should wait for Frankie.” Luca checked his phone. “He texted to say he’s on his way. Should be only twenty minutes.”
“Dante might be gone in twenty minutes.” Nico still hadn’t decided what he was going to do when he met Dante face to face, this time knowing he had killed Nico’s father. “Vito, call downstairs and make sure we have extra security in the high-stakes room. Get them to clear everyone out except the players at Dante’s table.”