Chapter Nine
1070 Words
Kane’s POV
Excitement thrumming faintly within him at the chance of getting rid of the marriage now and being done with it, Kane didn't know exactly what he was expecting.
Maybe for the woman to bite her lips and flutter her brows while coming up with the fakest smile known to her manipulative gender, or for her eyes to go wild with shock while she stuttered and asked to know 'what the hell he was talking about?'
Because that was most certainly not what happened. Instead, the devil incarnate stared at him, raked her eyes from his head down to his shoes, and asked, "How can both of you be cousins?"
It was through sheer force that he refrained from asking "What!"
Instead, he made himself lean closer to her until his lips were almost shadowing hers. Her eyes screwed further uncomfortably,
"What are you doing?" she asked, swallowing, her eyes flitting around as if she was looking for something.
He smiled toothily. "Far be it for me to sound persistent, but you didn't answer the question."
Her eyes flashed for less than a second and he smirked as he noticed it. Maybe it was meant to be. Two months was enough time to change his mind about the prospect of peace between the Moreni family and the Outfit; bloodshed sounded so much better.
She backed up a step, her back framing itself to the wall. He followed.
"Perhaps you've forgotten the question. Who are you?"
She stared him in the eyes, "My name is Anna Moreni and I have no idea what you're driving at. If this is your way of..."
"Anna," a somewhat loud voice called and he wanted to shout. He looked behind him to see the woman that had accompanied Roberto. She was coming closer with a wide smile.
He shifted a bit and she molded herself to Anna, taking her arms in hers. He just stared at them.
"You don't mind, right?" the woman asked cheerily, the disgust in her tone layered with sugar. "This is our favorite song and we have got to dance." she gestured to the hand she was gripping tighter and tighter.
He looked at his betrothed face, carefully blank, and gave his own smile. "Of course not."
He whirled around and headed back in the direction of his seat, not even taking a second to see what they were doing.
"Pretty face," Logan said beside him, his face turned intently in the direction of the dance floor.
"Hmm." he replied non-commitally, his eyes tracking Roberto Moreni as his son whispered something in his ear.
The old man smiled and turned fully to the dance floor, dismissing his heir.
Kane finally turned to look at Logan, not surprised to find his eyes already on him.
"Is the face enough, or do you need time to check out her other skills before she becomes the next Tina?"
He gritted his teeth silently and leaned forward slowly.
"The curiosity is killing you, isn't it? Makes me wonder how much is because Tina preferred my bed to yours." He tsked as he grabbed the hand held knife coming towards his unprotected side. "I'll let you know when I start hiring for the next position. Maybe we can make the competition better this time."
He grabbed the quickly approaching second hand without effort, watching with a sick type of pleasure as Logan's face became increasingly redder.
A glass dropped on the table and he buried his annoyance as Victor's tattooed hand caught his eyes. The capo grinned down at them.
"This is one of the best times to find out their weaknesses and instead my representatives are involved in a chicken fight.
Logan fought to free his hands and Kane allowed it. The enforcer stood up, glared at him and made his way to the dancing floor. Kane didn't remove his eyes from the danger in front of him.
"Well?" Victor asked, taking Logan's seat.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. She seems protective of her family and doesn't see me as much of a threat. If she's being sent as a distraction, she'll act soon."
"Good. Keep an eye on her. She's too comfortable. I don't like it."
He carefully said nothing as Victor stared at him a moment too long. Satisfied with whatever he saw, the capo finally took his leave, his empty glass filled again.
Kane hid the sigh. Two months out of loop, and he was forgetting some things. He sipped from his own glass and watched the dance floor. Victor, glass still in hand, was dancing with a woman that looked halfway to dying of fear, Logan had turned on the charm and had another woman nearly eating out of his palm, and Anna was nowhere to be found.
The rest of her family, save for the sons were dancing and socializing, but the bride herself wasn't present. If he was asked, he'd put his money on her being on her knees in the closest toilet.
Dropping the glass, he headed in the direction of the first daughter. She had just finished a dance and was standing at the edge of the room, worrying her nails and staring longingly at the door.
She startled when she saw him approach, her bottom lip quivering before she bit it.
"Let's dance," he commanded, taking her hands and leading her back to the dance floor. Her body was rigid with fear, her eyes cast down for the first several minutes. When he didn't make a move to say a word, she glanced at him.
He kept his face blank and she shuddered. When the song finished, he bowed to her and made his way to find another partner.
Victor caught his eyes and beckoned to a door at the back of the hall and he nodded. It was time for the negotiation. If only, he could find the bride one more time to convince himself that he was wrong.
There was no way he had any loyalty left for the Outfit again, but he wouldn't be the fool that found himself in the position to be manipulated by a woman again. If what he suspected about Tina was correct, then whether or not he knew what the girl was hiding, whoever was working underground could still use her.
He'd have just preferred to get to know her better before practically adopting a poisonous snake.
- Writer
