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“Tell me what you need.”
“Who am I to you?” she rasps.
“What? Do you still think I’m trafficking?—”
“No.” She finally meets my gaze with bloodshot eyes.
I want to return to Dominic and beat him until his skull shatters, releasing a spray of blood, eyeballs, and brains. Emberly is my prey. Mine. Nobody gets to hurt her but me.
“Tell me the truth.” Her voice trembles. “Why am I here?”
“Because you need my help,” I say.
Her face remains unchanged. Unconvinced.
“Because letting you go will put you in the clutches of that dirty cop.”
“All this for a one-night stand?”
I close my eyes and exhale. “You’re more to me than just a fling. You can trust me, Emberly. I will slice through every motherfucker’s hands before they even get close to touching you.”
When I open my eyes again, she’s staring at me as though what she hears is bullshit.
Because it is.
I won’t let her die… yet.
“Dominic acted like he knew about my mom,” she says.
A knot forms in my gut. I keep my features even. “Where is she?” I ask, already knowing the answer. “Does she need protection, too?”
“She’s dead.”
My brows draw together. I part my lips with what I hope looks like confusion. “I don’t understand. What’s the significance?”
“He said he knew about my dad.”
I stop breathing for the second it takes to realize he might have told Emberly about her inheritance. My mind spins for something to make me sound ignorant. “Maybe he read your birth certificate? What did he want?”
“Who is Sam?”
“Sam?” I ask, my brain unable to muster up a plausible lie.
“The last thing Dominic said as he choked me was that Sam sends his regards.”
My heart plummets into my stomach at the prospect of her discovering my plans. Samson Capello, her unknown older half-brother, and the last legitimate heir to my stolen assets, hasn’t just found out about Emberly’s existence. He knows I’m keeping her under guard.
That slimy bastard sent an assassin after Cesare. Now, he’s trying to have Emberly killed.
“Is Sam connected to that cop?” I ask.
Her face twists. “Don’t play ignorant. Stop lying!”
I grind my teeth, fill my lungs with air, and exhale my frustration in an outward sigh. “Can’t you see what’s happening?” I meet her watery gaze. “Dominic must be an undercover cop. He’s either trying to get me back to prison or working with your ex.”
Her face pales, and her pupils dilate until her irises become tiny rings of green. Even her breath becomes faster, shallower, and more erratic, as though she’s on the verge of panic.
“What?” she whispers, her eyes widening.
