Savage Mafia King (Vicious Heirs #3)

Chapter Sixteen—Isabella

I run my hand through my hair, checking my reflection in the mirror behind the bar.

I hardly look like myself. I'm glammed up to the nines, with dark lipstick, dark liner smudged around my eyes, and a tight, short dress that shows off way more of my legs and my cleavage than I would normally be comfortable with. I adjust the hem of the dress once more, trying to tug it down a little to cover myself, but there's no point.

"Another drink, ma'am?"

The bartender seems to sense my nerves, and I nod, pushing my empty glass of wine across the bar toward him to indicate that I'm ready for another drink. I know I should be careful about how much I'm drinking, but I need something to take the edge off right now, something to still the wash of nerves that are threatening to take control of me.

The bartender pushes the glass of wine toward me, and I take a long sip, shooting another look toward the door. The bar that I'm at is pretty small, exclusive, and doesn't allow many people in, so it's not like there have been dozens of patrons passing back and forth in all the time I've been here. There is one, in particular, I'm looking for, though—and that's James, Marcus's uncle.

I still can't believe I'm doing this. I remember what Marcus told me before I came out here, the way he tried to soothe my overthinking once we'd strung the majority of the plan together.

"He's stupid," he told me. "And arrogant. That's why he thought he could go against the family the way he did. That's his weakness, that he thinks everything will just fall into his lap. All you need to do is exploit it, and he'll believe that you're ready to fall at his feet and work for him instead."

I'm still not sure.

When I reached out to James, claiming that I wanted to meet with him to talk about the way everything had been going and discuss a potential alliance, I expected him to laugh in my face and tell me that I must have thought he was stupid. But he didn't. Instead, he chuckled down the line and told me to come meet him at a bar close to the hotel he was staying at.

Marcus wanted to come with me, but I shut that down at once. I'm not going to put him at risk. As far as I'm concerned, he's on house arrest as long as this hit is still out on him. I don't know exactly what I'm looking for tonight, but I'm hoping I can get to the bottom of who's out to get him—and, to be more specific, how we can stop him.

All at once, I hear the door open, and into the dark bar steps the man I've been waiting for. My heart seizes in my chest, and I quickly cover up my shock with what I hope passes for a seductive smile.

I rise to my feet as he reaches me, and he looks me up and down.

"Very nice," he murmurs as he leans down to kiss me on the cheek. "I can see why my nephew has been so... taken with you."

I shudder at the sound of those words coming out of his mouth. The heavy scent of his cheap aftershave clings to his skin, and I fight the urge to pull away. I have to act like I'm really interested in him, even if being this close to him makes my skin crawl.

"I had a feeling you were going to reach out to me after what happened at the warehouse fight the other night," he says as he waves down the bartender and orders a drink. "My nephew has his brutal side, and it's not something a pretty girl like you should be exposed to."

I bite back my annoyance. I know he's an asshole, but I have to pretend like everything he says is the most fascinating thing in the world. I tip my head to the side and arrange my face into the best version of horror I can.

"I was terrified," I confess. "And I knew I needed someone who really knew what they were doing, an older man who I could actually trust." I reach out and grip his arm tightly, making my point clear.

He grins. "And I'm happy to oblige," he murmurs, pressing his knee against mine.

Is it really this easy? He doesn't seem suspicious at all, though he should be.

"Thank you for meeting with me," I tell him as I reach for the wine, glad to have an excuse to break his gaze again. "I... I want to talk to you about everything that's been going on. And the possibility... of an alliance." I lower my voice and glance around, making out like I'm fearful we're going to be overheard.

"An alliance, huh?" he asks, leaning back and gesturing for me to continue. "I'm sure we could come to some kind of agreement..."

He rests a hand on my leg. I want to smack him off. The way he touches me, it's like he thinks he already has some kind of ownership over me. It's not like the way Marcus touches me, like he wants me, craves me, needs me. James lays hands on me like he knows he has me right where he wants me, and I loathe myself for not being able to tell him to fuck off.

"Good," I reply, leaning forward and moving slightly so that his hand falls from my leg. "Because the more I look into it... the more I can see that you were right to join with the Castellanos. Marcus, his family, they're weak."

"They have been since Valentina and Giovanni's parents died," he agrees. "Those kids, they don't know what they're doing with all that money, all that power. They need someone who can control it. That's why I came back to the city. And the Castellanos, they promised me an alliance if I could convince my niece and nephews to hand over their empire."

I shiver. The way he talks, it's like all of this should have been obvious. I can't believe someone would turn against their own family like that. Doesn't he see how bad this makes him look? How fucking twisted it is for him to work against the people he's supposed to call his kin? I can tell from the look in his eyes that he doesn't see it that way. He doesn't give a damn. He saw a chance to claim power and control, and he's come to take it, no matter what it costs.

He looks me up and down again as he takes another sip of his drink.

"I have to say, I was surprised when I saw a girl like you aligning herself with Marcus," he remarks. "But I guess you must have liked him."

I take a deep breath. As far as he's concerned, the relationship between Marcus and me is completely honest. I got into it because I wanted him, not because I planned to protect my brother. But now, I have to throw all of that away. I have to convince him that Marcus is nothing to me.

Even though he's the reason I'm doing all of this.

"I thought he was capable of more than he was," I explain, dropping my voice pointedly. "My brother needed protection, and I was sure Marcus could give it to me, with your family's reputation. But I can see now that I was wrong. He's nothing more than a boy, he doesn't know what it means to truly protect anyone other than himself. I need someone I can trust, someone I know will protect me, someone..." I put my hand on his knee. "Someone like you, James."

A grin spreads wider over his face. It doesn't reach his eyes. I feel sick to my stomach, lying like this, making as though I can stand him at all.

"You're a smart girl," he murmurs, his voice laced with condescension.

I grit my teeth. He has no idea what kind of woman I am, none at all, and it kills me to just sit here and play nice, like I'm some bimbo who has no idea how the world works. I force myself to remember why I'm doing this in the first place—to protect Marcus, to make certain nothing happens to him.

I cock my head to the side, widening my eyes slightly, playing at stupid. "So you think we could work together?" I ask him. "Whatever it takes, I'll do it. I just want to get out of this mess with Marcus. He can't take care of me, not like you."

"Oh, I'll take care of you, alright," he tells me, his eyes sliding lecherously down to my cleavage. "Don't you worry about that, baby girl."

I cross my legs. I want to throw the glass of wine in his face.

"You know there's a hit out on Marcus now," he begins, and I nod.

"I heard about that, yes. My brother told me."

"It's all over the city. The Castellanos are ready to snuff him out after what he did to one of their men. There are people stationed everywhere, ready to take him out as soon as he shows his face. But that said..." He grins again. "I want to be the one to do it. I want to show the Castellanos that there's nothing I won't do to secure what they want from me. I start with Marcus, and I finish up with Valentina and Giovanni. And then, I'm the one calling the shots. Everything falls to me."

I nod. "And what can I do to make that happen?"

"The two of you are... involved, aren't you?" he asks me, wrinkling his nose like the mere thought of me with another man is enough to make him sick.

I nod.

"So you can convince him to come to me," he continues. "You can get him to meet with me, alone. And I can take him out. Make my move."

His face contorts with a dark excitement as he speaks. As I watch him, I can't help but feel this sick, twisted dread at what I'm doing—though I know I have no intention of going through with this and letting him hurt Marcus. But the thought that he would believe for a second I was on his side is enough to make me ill.

I reach for my wine, gripping the stem a little tighter than I have to, and take a long sip. "Tell me where you want him," I reply, my voice as steady as I can make it. "I'll bring him to you."

"Good," he replies. "Then we can end this once and for all."

I stare at him and nod slowly.

"Yeah," I agree. "End it, once and for all."