65. Chapter Sixty-Five
Mialina
Ipress my ear to the door, listening to Luca brief Maximo on what happened.
“So, Luca Caruso turns out to be The Venom and one of the most wanted men in the world.” Maximo’s voice is low, almost bored. “Tell me why I should help you?”
I latch onto the fact that he asked why. Surely he wouldn’t have come all this way if he wasn’t at least considering it.
Luca doesn’t respond right away, leaving me to wonder what’s happening inside the room.
Then their voices drop, too muffled for me to make out the words. Dammit. I inch a little closer to the opening.
A faint creak comes from inside the office, followed by the sound of footsteps. Someone is moving around, but I can’t tell who.
“Let’s assume for a second I was considering helping you,” Maximo says. “What exactly is it you want?”
Some of the tension leaves my shoulders. He hasn’t said no. That’s something.
“I need men,” Luca says. “Hale’s residence is a fortress. I can blind his systems and call his routes, but I can’t pull Isa out alone. I want to make a deal with you.”
Hope flares.
Luca is going to offer Maximo something that will make risking his men worthwhile. But Maximo’s laugh is humorless, extinguishing that spark of hope almost as quickly as it formed.
“Hale’s palace eats men. I need mine for Chicago.” His voice turns colder. “I won’t risk my empire for just a woman.”
Just a woman?
Fury surges through me. I nearly shove the door open and tell him exactly who that woman is. Only the need to hear Luca’s answer keeps me rooted in place.
“I’m willing to be in your debt. One favor. No questions asked.”
Even I understand what that means.
If Luca is The Venom, he’s one of the most brilliant hackers in the world. A blank favor from someone like him is the kind of leverage men would kill for.
Surely Maximo will agree now.
But there’s only silence.
I frown. Why isn’t he saying anything?
“He’s an asset, Maximo. The best hacker in the world,” Aldo says, sounding more frustrated than I’ve ever heard him. Good. At least he’s on our side in this. “He can tilt a board you’re already winning, or you can keep the favor banked for when you really need it.”
Again, there’s no response.
My pulse begins to speed up. I press closer to the door, straining to catch even the murmur of a lowered voice.
Still, there’s nothing.
Maximo can’t truly be considering walking away and leaving Isa with Hale. Every hour he has her is another hour Isa is in danger. Maximo is wasting time as though her life is nothing more than a business proposition he can accept or reject at his leisure.
Luca has offered him something priceless. What more could he possibly want?
The silence stretches until it becomes unbearable.
I peek through the narrow opening. Neither man moves. Luca stands as still as carved stone, his eyes fixed on Maximo.
Across from him, Maximo leans back, completely at ease.
Dread crawls over me.
Dear God, he’s actually going to refuse.
No.
I refuse to stand here and do nothing while my sister stays trapped with some madman because Maximo Marco decides she isn’t worth it.
Before I can second-guess myself, I shove the door open.
Every head turns.
Luca’s eyes widen. So do Aldo’s. Maximo’s don’t.
He looks at me as though he’d been expecting me. I ignore the unsettling thought and lift my chin.
“Will you help my sister…” My voice catches for the briefest moment before I force the words out. “…for me?”
Maximo watches me. Under the weight of his gaze, my pulse pounds harder.
He waits another beat before finally speaking. When he does, his voice is completely even.
“I want something in return.”
For one second, I let myself pretend he could mean anything else.
But I know what’s coming.
He sees the instant I understand. Something shifts in his eyes, so slight I almost miss it.
I’m going to be sick.
Some desperate part of me searches his face for a sign that I’m wrong.
“What?” The word barely makes it out.
Maximo holds my gaze. The answer is right there in his eyes.
A brittle laugh escapes me, hollow with disbelief that this is really happening.
I tip my face toward the ceiling, hunting for some escape I haven’t considered yet.
Think, Mia. Think.
There has to be another way.
But Luca has already offered Maximo a favor worth more than most men could ever pay, and it wasn’t enough.
Nothing else will be because this is what Maximo wants.
Me.
He probably knew all along that I was listening and counted on me stepping in. He sat there in silence until I became desperate enough to offer the one thing I’ve been refusing him.
I’ve never despised him more.
But if I walk away, he won’t help. Luca will have to go after Isa alone, and he may never get her out.
I picture my sister trapped somewhere in this city, scared and waiting for us to rescue her, unaware that her life is being weighed against mine in this room.
I can’t abandon her.
But as soon as I agree, everything changes.
My freedom. My future. Every choice I thought would be mine to make.
I push away every thought of what comes after this.
I don’t look at Luca. If I see the guilt in his eyes, I might lose my nerve. And Isa doesn’t have time for me to hesitate.
Slowly, I face Maximo again and force my shoulders straight.
He may be taking the future I wanted, but I refuse to let him take my dignity with it.
He doesn’t blink. There’s nothing in his expression except the certainty of a man who thinks he’s won.
Every instinct I possess is screaming at me to run. Instead, I lift my chin and hold his gaze.
This is the moment that changes my life forever.
“Fine.”
I grit out the word.
“I will marry you.”
End of Book One