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I remembered the landline phone attached to the kitchen wall. Snatching it up, I dialed the number. “Cassandra, please be home,” I whispered, looking over my shoulder to check I was still alone. It rang and rang, but no one picked up. “Shit, she must be out partying.”
I redialed the number, and this time, it was finally picked up. “Hello.”
“Cassandra?”
“Nyla!” Cassandra gasped.
“Cassandra, I need your help.”
“Where are you? I’ve been calling you for days. I even stopped at your place, and your neighbors said there was some kind of trouble.”
“Cassandra, I—” The call ended abruptly.
“Did you think I wouldn’t have you monitored?” a familiar voice asked.
Fear gripped me as I turned to look at Vincenzo. Dropping the phone, I eased back, scanning the counter for something to use as protection.
Vincenzo stepped closer. He looked handsome, dressed casually in a plain T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. His thick muscles sent a shock wave to my throbbing core. Damn, this wasn’t the time to be attracted to the man who held my life in his hands.
“It’s not what you think.”
“Tell me what I think, Nyla.” His smirk indicated he knew a lie was coming.
"I called Cassandra.”
“Cassandra?”
“She’s my best friend. We talk every day, sometimes talking twice a day.”
Vincenzo popped his knuckles as he walked around the island. “The phone is tapped. I have cameras everywhere to keep an eye on my property.”
“What are you planning to do?”
He moved closer, trapping me in the back corner near the fridge.
“I checked my cameras and saw you moving around. I had to leave what I was doing to see what escape you were planning.”
I caught a waft of perfume from his clothing, and it suddenly dawned on me what—or rather who—he was “doing.” “Please don’t keep your girlfriend waiting on my account.”
The tension in his jaw and the hate in his eyes told me I was on borrowed time. “My personal life will remain unaffected by our marriage.”
“Is your girlfriend okay with you marrying a stranger?”
“If I had a girlfriend, it would be none of her concern.”
I thought of another way to get him to back down. Honesty. “Cono is lying to you.”
“Like uncle, like niece.” Vincenzo shrugged and reached behind me, opening the fridge and taking out a beer.
“He has a backup plan to take the money if I marry you.”
“How?”
“I heard a recording of him with Mark.”
Vincenzo placed the beer bottle on the counter. “Say that again.”
“He played it in his office. He and Mark were working together.”
