Chapter Five

~Carmine~

“Is she alive?”

The question sliced through the room, pulling me from the documents in front of me. I knew who it was without looking up. Santos, my most trusted man. Still, I ignored him, keeping my eyes on the papers.

I knew his game. He wanted to get under my skin, to push me and fortunately for him, being the closest man I trusted, he was the only one allowed to try to get a rise out of me without consequences.

And then he spoke again. “I think the better question would be, how long does she have to stay alive?”

That got my attention. I lifted my head slowly, eyes narrowing as they locked onto him. “Do you have anything actually important to say?”

Santos didn’t answer right away. Instead, he stepped closer until he was right next to the chair opposite me. His gaze was steady, probing, before he finally asked, “Why are you keeping the girl?”

His persistent questioning started to irritate me. I snapped. “Why are all your questions centered around her? Don’t you have anyth