"Boss," Vinny drags my attention from the various papers scattered over my desk. Business proposals, deals, and debts needing to be paid off. I was only in hiding for six months and returned right when I set Vinny to work in secret for Salvatori and yet, it's I'm behind and so much shit.

"I'm busy," I say keeping my eyes on an old agreement written in my father's handwriting.

"Aria knew about the Reyes bookshop."

That stops my search. My gaze drifts up to him as he closes the door behind him.

"The bookshop on my turf?"

Vinny nods. "She said she met them a while back, but the last time I checked, Reyes claimed he had no ties to the Salvatori or De Luca."

"Did you go in with her?" I ask.

"No, I wanted to give her some space." He walks over and takes a seat across from me.

My hand slides over my face. Blood rushes through my veins and anger rumbles in my chest. "Damn it, Vinny, you're job is to watch her, not let her roam around freely like a fucking chicken at a farm."

"At least I'm not the one who dipped my dick in her."

I'm suddenly up to my feet, leaning over the desk with my hand wrapped around Vinny's throat. He smirks, not bothered by my intimidation or the tightening grip on his neck.

"Pussy that good huh?"

"Talk about her pussy one more time and I'll make sure it'll be your last." I release my grip on him and sit back down. My fingers run through my hair. "And I didn't dip my dick into her. Her virginity is still intact for her precious betrothed."

"Any idea who it is?" Vinny asks rubbing his fingers along his neck.

"Not yet, but something tells me it's not right."

Vinny raises his eyebrow at me.

"My father mentioned something to me once about an arrangement with Salvatori right before everything went down. I don't know what it was and my father isn't one to misplace documents. So either he never actually had one..."

"Or De Luca got to it right before he stole everything," Vinny finishes my thoughts. "We can always ask Aria. I feel like she knows more than she lets on."

"Did anything seem out of the ordinary at Reyes'?"

Vinny shakes his head. "The little keeper closed the door and shut down while she chatted with Aria by the window."

Is that so? I glance down at the papers on the desk, pick one up with the name Reyes on top, and slide it over to Vinny. "Good thing he has a debt to pay."

"You want me to take care of this now?"

I shake my head. If we were to do that, his daughter might be weary. "Take your time with this one. I'll let you call the shots for it."

And since they didn't know my face, it'd be easy to send Vinny in without an issue. I usually let him handle debts in the city. It's better to let them think their ruler is someone else.

"What about Aria?"

A sigh leaves my lips. "I don't think it's that complicated. The Salvatori's are known for picking up people for information. The keeper could have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"And the betrothed?"

"I'll handle that too." At this point, Aria is my problem. No one else's. Her brother made it clear, she's a simple pawn in this game of chess. He thinks he's the player, but in reality, he's just another piece to someone else's game. Someone I intend to beat.

"You have to pay close attention, Sergio."

My father's words draw me back in time, back to when the hardest opponent I had was him.

"Every piece has a specific role, just as both players. A good player knows the ins and outs. He strategizes before he strikes. But the opponent who knows who he's up against has the upper hand."

I kept my gaze on my father as he made his next move, drawing out both the king and queen. My next move is just a space away from taking his king, but it's his queen that catches me off guard, stealing the game away.

"Never underestimate the power of a queen, Sergio."

"A queen is nothing without the King."

He laughed, taking my gaze off the board in front of him. My mom stands behind him. Her hands were on his shoulders, whispering words in his ear.

"No fair. You're cheating."

"The queen has the upper hand. No one suspects her to make a move."

"I still say it's not fair. I don't have a queen at my side."

"One day you will, Sergio. She'll reach under your thick skin and draw the softness out of you. And if your opponent is smart, he'll keep his eyes on her instead. But if you're lucky, he won't notice a damn thing."

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total ONC word count: 16,560

thank you so much for reading along! ❤︎