Page 39 of Little Mate
He will leave in the morning a rich man.
The heartbeats behind the metal doors beat fast.
There are two guards standing outside each cell, too, waiting with their eyes straight ahead. Once we stop, we both place a hand on the handle and pull, exposing the people within.
The patriarch of the Rossi family.
The representative of the Mariano family.
One in chains, while the other sits on a chair with a small table in front of him. Their heads snap in our direction, and it’s Mariano who seems deathly afraid.
“Nicolo?” A palpable chill fills the space, while the hand gripping mine tightens and I feel this concentrated vibration at her palm. “You did this? You killed my mother?”
“Gabriella, I swear I didn’t.” Both his pale hands go up. “I’m here for information King Astor needed. That’s it.”
“Under what benefit?”
“My wife and sister—”
“Where are they?” my mate spits, her hard eye flicking to me. She’s like an angry kitten; I just want to lay us down on my bed and pet her. “Who has them and the child?”
“They’ve been sent to the Moore home. Should be there now, or arriving soon.” At my assurance to her, the stiffness—bouncing knee—in Nicolo calms and he lets out a rough exhale. “My word is law.”
“And what was the agreement?” Gabriella asks, yet her eyes are on the older Rossi. The pain in her expression cuts me, my chest—my dead heart—throbs and it’s an uncomfortable sensation.
I’ve never experienced this before.
The emotional hurt.
The sadness.
All foreign, and I don’t like them. How they affect her.
“I’d testify against those that rose up against your family.” Nicolo moves to stand, but the look in my eye makes him abandon the thought quickly. “Tomasso Mariano and his mother were approached by another king while his father was still alive. The monarch offered them a higher rank—control over all witches—if they pledged their loyalty and helped remove King Paolo.”
Mariano’s brother-in-law takes a breath, his anxiety is high. His fear a delicious scent in the room, it overpowers all others.
“Continue, but Nicolo…” Releasing my hand, Gabby walks to the doorway of his cell and stares. Her eyes are hard. “I want names. Who’s the king?”
“Don’t you fucking answer, you traitor,” Rossi snaps, fighting against his binds. The scent of blood soon permeates the air and my guards hiss, their muscles coiling to attack. “Stay quiet, or I’ll slit your throat myself.”
I’m in front of Rossi before the last word passes his lips, yet it’s not necessary for me to lift a hand. His face begins to turn red, neck straining while his lips mouth a useless prayer. He pleads with me of all beings.
Fucking waste of space.
“Talk. Don’t make me hurt you.” Her words, the dark edge in her tone, are an aphrodisiac to my senses. Because there’s evil in everyone, but it’s hers I want to experience.
Burn in it. Feast on it.
“King Larue.” That conniving son of a bitch.
“The faes are behind this mess? Are you sure?” A little calmer, she asks this while the older man still struggles to breathe. It’s as if his life force is being taken from him a second at a time. His eyeless form has grown pallid, seems to have become thinner. “Please be certain as once I act, there will be no going back.”
“I overheard Lilibeth and Tomasso in his office after coming home late one evening.” Nico swallows hard, shame dominating his features. “I’d taken my wife, sister, and niece out for a meal, but halfway there realized my wallet was atop my dresser. After rushing inside to get it, I walked in on the tail end of their conversation and tryst; she was on her knees praising him for the arrangements made with the king. They would take the crown, another woman would join with King Astor, and both would work together to eradicate the wolves after pledging loyalty to Larue.”
He’s already told me as much, and I’m not impressed by the idiocy presented as a plan. I’ve never been a man to be led by my cock, my partners in the past meant shit, and the one who could damage me isn’t the type.
My mate doesn’t care for power.