Which is perhaps the most terrifying part of this entire operation.
I wander down to the dining hall that evening with a clear strategy in mind. Get Cas to agree. Leave her alone. Simple, effective. It’s how I would deal with anyone else.
But as the minutes tick by toward seven p.m. with a brutal disregard for my previous instructions, my confidence falters. Perhaps giving her a choice in all this is the wrong move.
My father wouldn’t have hesitated; he would have locked her in the bedroom as soon as she’d stepped into it.
I pour myself a large measure of whiskey as his voice scolds me for being too soft, for allowing myself to care what she thought of me. For the sake of the Guild, I needed to turn off my emotions and do what needed to be done.
“In my defense, I’m late because Donatella forced me to wear this stupid dress.”
I look up to find Cas standing awkwardly at the door. And my brain seems to short circuit.
It’s just a dress. The one she wears on stage is far shorter. But for some reason, the way the dark green fabric wraps around her body, flowing out at her shoulders and around her shins, makes my mouth water.
It hugs her every curve perfectly, and one pull at the string tied at her waist would have the whole thing unraveling. Unwrapping her.
I need to have a word with Donatella.
“Take a seat.” I gesture to the chair at the far end of the table. A precaution in case my lesser instincts get the better of me.
To my dismay, Cas takes one look at the chair and drags it to my side. “I’m not shouting at you across the table all night,” she insists stubbornly.
I distract myself by waving to the kitchen staff as her knee brushes against mine. Dinner arrives seconds later, giving me a perfect excuse to position myself as far away from her as possible.
It’s a simple carbonara, adorned in truffle and seventy-two-month-aged parmesan. But she barely considers the dish before attacking it with her fork.
I watch her, bemused. “I take it you slept well?”
She glowers back. “Out with it, then.”
“With what?”
“Whatever offer you’re about to make me. Spare me the rhetoric about not being able to refuse.”
I don’t let her see my amusement. “I would like you to stay here.”
“Aren’t I already your prisoner until I’ve paid off Claudio’s debt?”
“The deal was a farce.” I place the fake contract on the table between us. “You are free to leave whenever you want. I only ask that you stay as a favor to me.”
She gives me a bland look as she pulls the contract toward her. I watch as she notes Claudio’s signature at the bottom.
“You can tear it up if it makes you feel better,” I offer.
“What could you possibly have to gain from this?”
I have to bite my tongue from answering crudely. Instead, I take a gamble, one that I try not to think too hard about.
“I believe Lazzaro has been working with a senior member of my organization to…undermine me.”
“Like a rat?”
I smirk. “Exactly. I need Lazzaro to believe that I’m…distracted so that he contacts the rat again without fearing my attention.”
“You want Claudio to lead you to him.”
“I hope that in your absence, he finds himself bored and resentful enough to try to undermine me again.”
