Page 41 of Savage Don

“And grab a bag of toiletries from my bathroom?”

“If you want.”

“But how? My father will be there. He’ll know I’m missing. He’ll be mad. He’ll be looking for me.”

“That’s the idea,” I tease.

Reaching down to the floor, I pick up my discarded clothes and walk out of the bathroom, leaving my confused little kitten to stand, dumbstruck, under the hot water.

It’s time I put the rest of this plan into action. And that means walking directly into the belly of the beast.

9

Ray

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Slipping my gun beneath my belt, I peer out of the passenger window. “It’s all part of the plan,” I assure Maksim.

I’m still reveling in the post-fuck haze of that shower I shared with Francesca. Hell, we didn’t actually even fuck at all, but I’m still more satisfied than I’ve been in years, maybe even decades.

And there’s still so much more to come, so many more holes to explore, more innocence to corrupt. It makes me giddy… and maybe a little worried, too. Because all of a sudden, my frozen heart doesn’t feel so cold.

Fuck. I’ll just have to chalk that up to the heat of our shower. I can’t allow it to be anything else. Not while there’s still so much more to do—like watching Domenico squirm as I interrogate him about his ‘missing’ daughter.

“Do you really think you can go in there and pretend you don’t know exactly what’s going on?” Maksim continues.

Clearly, he doesn’t have much faith in my acting skills. He should know better. I’ve been pretending my whole life. Only now, it’s finally paying off.

I belong at the top.

“I’ll go with the flow,” I smirk. “And if Domenico suspects anything, I’ll challenge him to accuse me. The fucker is powerless here.”

“He is powerless, which is why he’ll need your help finding his daughter…” Maksim sighs. Our similarities end at the job description. How we go about our work could fill two wholly separate books.

He’s never been one for theatrics.

“Now you’re getting the idea,” I tease. “You’d better stay in the car. I can see the deception written all over your face.”

“Are you sure you’re not just looking in the rear-view mirror?”

“I haven’t started lying yet,” I remind him.

“Could have fooled me.”

He knows that there’s more to my plan than just uncovering a rat. Hell, it’s even bigger than tightening my stranglehold over the Italian mob. It’s as clear to him as it is to me.

For as cold and calculating as Maksim is, he can spot a needle in a haystack… and a beating heart in a maze of black tattoos.

My pulse is still racing from what I did with Francesca this morning. My cock continues to twitch beneath my pants. This is all about her. But I’ll need to shake her from my mind if I’m going to put on a convincing show.

“Are you sure you don’t want some reinforcements to come in with you?” Maksim asks.

Opening the passenger door of the armored Bentley we drove here in, I step out onto the street and stare up at the old Galli mansion.

“You guys stay out here. I’ll bring some heat with me, just in case. But Domenico wouldn’t dare lay a finger on me, especially if he really is the rat. The last thing he needs is more attention on him.”

“That means he won’t be happy to see you snooping around.”