ARIA

Jaime gave me twenty-four hours to prove that Nicco isn't the one blackmailing them. Or else our sex tape will go public. I think I've contained the situation.

For now.

***

"It can't be him."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because all Nicco does every day in the office is scroll through TikToks and complain about how much he hates being forced to work at Jackson & James."

"I've heard rumors of him being a useless shithead, but I wasn't sure if it was an act."

"It's definitely not an act."

Over the next ten minutes, I manage to convince Jaime that Nicco wasn't the one blackmailing Manning and his men. I argue that Nicco simply doesn't have an interest in anything other than pursuing his own selfish pleasures, and, even if the guy wanted to blackmail someone, he possesses neither the drive nor brain power to plan something so elaborate.

When Jaime questions whether or not Nicco was as incompetent as I made him appear, I lie and claim that I'd pretty much been doing 90% of Nicco's job for him since day one. Then, I use Jaime's hatred for his cousin to my advantage. I bring up every fucking thing Elonzo had ever done to piss him off. I also remind him—Elonzo possesses every motive to blackmail Manning's men now that he's out of prison.

For now, Jaime seems to believe me.

Because he hasn't released the tape.

I'm beginning to suspect, however, that Nicco had something to do with the blackmail. The timing of his dinner with Bertie and this incident is too coincidental to be overlooked.

***

I'm meeting Nicco's sister for the first time today, but my mind is restless. I haven't been able to concentrate on anything except what must be done to take down Jaime. I hope Nicco hasn't noticed how stressed I've been these past few days. I still haven't told him about my meeting with Manning. Or the fact that I'm now in regular contact with Jaime.

Because the timing's never right.

Because shit keeps escalating.

Because Jaime still scares the hell out of me.

I feel like a coward who's full of excuses. But the chessboard won't stop shifting, and, as my strategy adapts to it, I realize, once again, that the less Nicco knows, the more I can protect him. Manning has too many people working under him on the Gravinski account. He's untouchable at Jackson & James as far as I'm concerned. If I try to rat him out, his entire army will come for my throat to protect their livelihoods and reputations.

I've also confirmed that Appa is working with Manning. I looked through his old laptop the other day, and I found some emails and documents on it proving that he's guilty as fuck. Now I can't go to the authorities without risking his neck, too. Not that I trust the police, anyway. Last time, I tried to get them to take care of Jaime. They failed to do their job. Jaime somehow wormed his way out of a ten-year prison sentence.

These are all the reasons why, this second time around, I've decided to take matters into my own hands. Money is the sole reason why Jaime has the power and connections to get away with murder. Therefore, I need to diminish his scope of influence. I'm not afraid to break a few more laws if it means I can make Jaime's millions disappear into thin air.

Once the incoming assets from Donovan Baxter's new clients merge with the cash sitting in the Gravinski account, Manning plans to invest Jaime's dirty cartel money in clean stocks and real estate.

It's Money Laundering 101.

Little do they know, I'm going to find a way to bankrupt his ass. The measly millions in the Gravinski account won't be enough to put a dent in Jaime's wallet. I want to convince him to pour in more of his family's money. The tens of millions of dollars that keep their empire running. But his portfolio can't remain at Jackson & James. I want to lure Jaime as far away from Nicco as possible. Down the line, I'll have to convince him to move his millions to another bank. One that the Vitales don't own.

Until then, I have to maintain a certain level of Jaime's trust. As long as I don't trip and stumble in front of him, he'll continue to use me because I'm smart, I'm competent, and a history as long and twisted as ours can't be easily replaced by recruiting some untried newcomer. Yet, despite everything I have to offer, the paranoid fucker won't let some Junior Financial Analyst manage a multimillion portfolio within a matter of weeks. His confidence in me needs to be built up. I'll need to get promoted to a manager at another elite bank.

This is where shit gets tricky.

Currently, Jaime has given Manning control of the Gravinski account. I must wrench it from him. I might not be able to circumvent Manning and his team on my own, but maybe I can use Jaime to undermine him. Just like I sowed discord between Jaime and Elonzo, Manning needs to fall from his pedestal so that Jaime will lean on me more. Only by severing Jaime's trust in Manning will I be able to gain control over the Gravinski account.

After these pieces are in play, I'll need to help Jaime make a bit of profit. To show him that I know what I'm doing with his money. Patience will be required to carry out this long con. This shit could take years.

But I don't have much of a choice.

Now that Jaime's out of prison, I know he'll never let me go.

Appa's also under his thumb.

I've been digging into the databases at Jackson & James and chatting up colleagues who might have some insight into what kind of investments should be avoided in the months to come: Companies that are about to go under. Startups teetering on the brink of failure. Real estate projects gone awry. That's where I want to send Jaime's drug money. It's basically insider trading. Except I have no interest in making profits or avoiding losses. Just the opposite, actually.

If all goes well, the market will wipe out a good portion of Jaime's fortune for me. I'll buy high and find a way to sell his precious investments next time the market crashes hard. Plus ten points if I can find a way to pin this on Manning.

My plans are risky as hell, of course. This is why I've flip-flopped once more and decided to keep my mouth shut around Nicco. If I slip up and get nabbed by Jaime or the authorities, I want Nicco to be able to deny his involvement and escape legal prosecution along with Jaime's wrath. Even if I succeed, I have yet to come up with a foolproof exit strategy. Jaime may very well kill me if he ever finds out that I'm planning to sabotage him in such an irretrievable way.

Let's hope that I don't join Maya anytime soon.

I know Nicco won't be happy with me. I'll only be able to share bits and pieces of my plan with him. Just enough information to get him off my back. Going forward, this will be a dreadfully fine line to walk. I can't lose Jaime's trust. Even though my heart belongs to Nicco.

From the corner of my eye, I notice someone sauntering toward us. As my gaze follows her movements, I'm momentarily distracted from the chaos that has become my mind. I gasp softly when one of the most gorgeous human beings I've ever laid eyes on stops in front of our table.

She is on the petite side, standing an inch or two shorter than me, yet carries herself with all the confidence of a queen. The words tiny but regal come to mind. Shiny, perfectly-curled dark brown hair floats down her back. Her face appears flawlessly symmetrical. Angelic and lovely. Everything about the girl is eye-catching, but it is her eyes that prove to be most striking. They are two-toned. Her right eye is green. Like Nicco's eyes. But her left eye is blue-gray.

Her presence captures my entire focus. It's the first time in days that I've been able to stop thinking about Manning or Jaime, and the hell I'll need to raise to burn them alive.

***

It's now 8:15 am.

Caffeine puddles over Nicco's desk and laptop. He doesn't know that I intentionally spilled the cappuccino, but the moment his laptop is out of commission, I quickly send it off to tech support.

Before the replacement laptop arrives, I log into Nicco's account through my laptop—not the new laptop that tech support just sent me but the old one that I supposedly "lost"—and use his credentials to sign off on three out of six of the contracts for Donovan Baxter's new clients. It'll probably take about two weeks for the documents to be processed and reviewed by various departments before Nicco receives any notifications about them.

This delay should buy me some time with Nicco, and this progress should appease Jaime for a few days.

The signed documents are time-stamped at 8:25 am. Nicco's new laptop won't be delivered until 9:00 am. Or later. This thirty-five-minute grace period in between should give Nicco a plausible alibi when I set up Manning to take the fall.

Next time I meet with Manning, I'm going to plant my "missing" laptop on his person and make it look like he swiped it to hack Nicco's account. I intend to turn Manning into the scapegoat for forging Nicco's signatures on those contracts I just signed. I know I'm not playing fair. But I don't care.

I'm playing to win.

***

"Ah. You must be Aria," she remarks politely. "Pleased to meet you. I am Vivi. Nicco's sister."

Smiling, I offer to shake her hand. "I've been looking forward to meeting you, Vivi."

Her eagle eyes lock onto my ring in no time at all. "What a stunning diamond. I love how it matches your eyes. My brother did well."

"Thank you," I murmur. "Nicco truly outdid himself with this ring. I love it."

"Congratulations on your engagement," Vivi supplies warmly, "I am so happy for you two."

"That's very kind of you to say."

Then, Vivi turns her attention away from me and my ring, and, just as Nicco had predicted, spends the next twenty minutes grilling him about everything he's been doing at Jackson & James. To my shock, Vivi proves to be very knowledgeable about investment banking and well-versed in what we actually do in Nicco's department. She came prepared, and this girl clearly does not half-ass anything.

As their conversation drags on, the vexed crease between Nicco's brow keeps growing deeper, but he handles most of Vivi's questions surprisingly well. I only have to pull out my laptop a few times to clarify what Nicco is talking about by sharing numbers from a couple of the reports and spreadsheets.

"I must admit," Vivi drawls toward the end of her interrogation, "I was not expecting you to be so on top of everything, Nicco. Mamma and Papà will be happy."

Nicco rolls his eyes. "I doubt it. Those two are impossible to satisfy."

Vivi glances over at me. "Anyway. I am bored of talking to my brother. Per favore. Tell me more about yourself, Aria."

"What would you like to know?"

"Everything," she answers with a leer that seems to pierce through my soul.