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Raphael sat back, soh hi to sell,” he evaded

All he wanted to do alk away From this discussion and from that woman

Of all the people in his life, Giovanni was the one person who could see through his ruthlessness, who’d known Raphael before he’d become hard and cynical Who knew that Raphael didn’t like even a bit of weakness, any trace of vulnerability And being attracted to a woman in a way he didn’t understand was a weakness

But he couldn’t leave Not until he knehat Giovanni was up to

“Answer the question”

“I’ht” He made his voice harsh “And definitely not in a woman who flees if I so much as touch her hand”

Finally, he saw a flash of his godfather’s infaant twist that always ood Since he usually reserved that for his parasitic relatives or ry exes, Raphael didn’t much care

“Do not cheapen her”

“I’ her?” He took a deep breath, modulated his tone “Tell hter?”

“It means she already owns a piece of ht by her Itmy stock in VA”

Dio, he was going to give her the stock in VA?

The stock that Raphael wanted He could have bought Gio out ten times over in the last few years Could have established his exclusive ownership of the company

For reasons he refused to share, Gio had always denied Raphael’s request Even though Raphael was the only one with executive and operational powers at Vito Automobiles, Gio refused to leave the board In short, the old ames

“So now all that stock will rest in the hands of a woman who, by her own admission, was so desperate to be loved, to be wanted, that she fell for the sords of a lowlife? Who not only signed away the little money she had but actually racked up a credit card debt because she couldn’t bear to lose him?