Chapter 2 - Blood and Ink
The brass handle spun wildly, threatening to tear out of its mounting as Nico slammed his weight against the door.
“Myra! Open this damn door right now!” Nico’s voice was pitched high with panic and furious embarrassment—not because he felt remorse for what he had done, but because his prize had slipped out of his grasp and his ego was bleeding onto the hallway carpet.
Inside the study, Leo didn’t blink. His dark eyes remained fixed on Myra, a strange, dark amusement flickering in their depths. For the first time in twenty years, someone was negotiating with a Casaro on their own terms, barefoot and wearing a dress designed to seduce another man.
“You have five seconds before he breaks the lock,” Leo said softly, gesturing toward a hidden side panel behind a bookcase. “That panic room leads to the service elevators. It exits out by the kitchen loading docks. Go home, Myra. Forget the bet. Forget my son.”
“And let him win?” Myra’s voice was venomous. She stepped around the desk, invading Leo’s personal space. She could smell the bourbon and wintergreen on him. She reached out, her fingertips lightly brushing the edge of the heavy mahogany surface. “He thinks I’m a naive little toy he can break and throw away. He thinks your empire shields him from consequences. But I heard what he said, Leo. And I know what you are.”
“And what am I, Myra?” Leo tilted his head, a faint, dangerous smile touching the corner of his mouth.
“You’re a man who hates losing control more than he hates his own son,” she breathed. “Nico used your money, your name, and your territory to run a disgusting little side game behind your back. Isn't that a violation of the family code? Or does blood make you blind?”
The heavy oak door groaned as Nico threw his shoulder against it for the second time. The reinforced hinges held, but dust sifted down from the ornate plaster ceiling.
Leo reached out with terrifying speed. His massive hand gripped Myra’s bare arm, pulling her flush against his chest before she could react. The warmth of his body radiated through the thin silk of her dress, stark and overwhelming.
“You are playing a very dangerous game with people who eat sharks for breakfast, little bird,” Leo murmured against her ear, his breath hot and sending a violent shiver down her spine. “If I help you destroy my son, there is no going back. You become part of this world. You bleed ink on mafia ledgers, and you never see the light of day again.”
“Then sign me up,” she whispered back, staring directly into his unblinking eyes. “Make me your partner, Leo. Let me ruin him legally, financially, and completely. I want his life dismantled piece by piece—starting with his share of the Casaro shipping ports.”
Leo stared at her for three long, agonizing seconds. Then, slowly, a cold, predatory grin spread across his face. He released her arm, turned to the secure terminal built into his desk, and typed a rapid sequence into the glowing biometric pad.
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A hidden wall panel slid open with a hiss, revealing not an escape tunnel, but a secure armory and a digital terminal displaying the real-time financial assets of the Casaro family empire.
“Welcome to the family, Myra,” Leo said darkly, just as the main office door splintered open and Nico burst into the room with a gun drawn.
