Page 6 of Stained Honor

His shadow, Maxim, sits on the three-seater leather couch nearby, frowning down at the phone in his hand. The second I walk in, he lifts his head and studies me with a perfectly unreadable expression.

Logic tells me Maxim should hate me right now, but honestly, I can’t see anything different in his black eyes. He looks exactly the same as always. The same dangerous psychopath with violence written all over him, even when he’s laughing, which he definitely isn’t right now.

The second he notices me looking at him, he reaches for the remote and kills the music.

My attention shifts to Carlo. The silence makes him turn around to see what caused it, and the moment his eyes land on me, his jaw hardens.

I glance back at Maxim and ask politely, “Can you give us a few minutes alone?”

Maxim rises calmly from the couch. He’s halfway to the door when Carlo says with heavy sarcasm, “Thought you only took orders from me.”

Without stopping or even bothering to turn around, Maxim answers in that usual reckless tone of his, “Couple days from now when you’re balls deep in her again, you’ll cut mine off for disobeying your precious wife. I still happen to need my balls, boss.”

Carlo only smirks faintly and watches him leave.

The second the door closes behind Maxim, Carlo looks back at me with cold mockery in his eyes. His arms cross over his chest again while he asks, “What do you want?”

If this had been the first day I walked into this house, that harsh, disrespectful tone probably would’ve shattered me. But now I know better.

I woke the monster everyone fears.

And now it’s my job to drag the softer version of Carlo back out of whatever darkness he buried himself in.

My heart’s pounding hard enough to hurt, but I still answer as calmly as I can.

“Let’s talk.”

He walks over to the leather couch, sits down, rests his right ankle over his left knee, and says in a cold, distant voice, “Did that untrustworthy little brain of yours not consider the possibility that maybe I don’t wanna look at your face right now? Or hear your voice?”

The cruelty in his words finally makes my hands shake for real this time. I sit down beside him, leaving space between us while I swallow against the ache in my throat. My voice comes out weak, barely above a whisper.

“No, it didn’t cross my mind. But if you don’t wanna hear my voice or see my face, I’ll leave.”

He bites the corner of his lip and pins that infernal gaze on me. Fear twists through my stomach while I quietly ask, “Should I go?”

He exhales sharply through his nose, drags both hands over his face, and mutters a curse under his breath.

“Fuck.”

Then he shoves both hands into his dark hair, combing it back roughly with his fingers. Hair I suddenly ache to touch. Hair I wish I could slide my hands through just one more time.

When he doesn’t answer, I gather enough courage to keep talking.

“Antonia couldn’t stop talking about the little pony her dad wanted to buy her. She kept saying she knew her father would find them and win the game because her daddy’s the most powerful man on earth.”

Carlo keeps staring ahead, but I can tell he’s listening.

“I was outside when Tony arrived. Hiding behind the hedges a few yards away.”

His head snaps toward me so fast the hunger in his eyes glues my mouth shut instantly.

“I told you to stay inside the house.”

I nod quickly. “I know. But I couldn’t do it. I needed to see with my own eyes that Antonia would make it out of this okay.”

He lets out a mocking laugh. “So my word meant nothing to you, huh?”

I take a deep breath before answering carefully.