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"Mr. Vitali!"
She gasped his name, awestruck.
Angelo looked down at Gemma under dark brows. She felt herself quiver all the way to her core. Being in the presence of a man like Angelo was like being in the presence of a massive wolf, or a massive lion, or any other kind of massive predatory beast. She'd seen pictures. She knew he was handsome. She wasn't prepared for the in-person charisma which flowed from him and animated those handsome features in a way that threatened to turn her into a pile of mush.
"And what have you come as, little one?"
His greeting caught her off guard. It was threatening and yet somehow kind. It was as though he'd seen through her long ago and didn't particularly mind. Strange. Very strange.
"I... I'm here to fix the television?" She stammered her previously prepared lie.
Angelo stepped aside and gestured to the interior of his cavernous home. "By all means, come in."
This wasn't what was supposed to happen. He was supposed to be confused, and then she was supposed to talk him into it, and…
He gripped her by the lapel of her overalls and pulled her into the house. She squealed as she felt the power of the man go right through her like an electrical current. He was a force of nature, and so bloody strong there was no way she was fighting free.
“Let me go!”
He was not going to let her go, and there was nothing she could do to make him. In the blink of an eye, she had lost her advantage and sacrificed her freedom, and for what? So she could be tortured by the world’s most evil man?
Just as she was being abducted, Gemma heard the sound of a car pulling to a sliding halt on gravel. Electric vehicles were so quiet you could sneak up on a master criminal yanking a would-be spy into his house, right up until you tried to stop in a hurry and sent gravel spitting everywhere.
"Unhand my girl!"
Willow came sweeping out of the car like an incredible force of nature, Mary Poppins with a concealed weapon.
"Your girl? This is my electrician," Angelo smirked.
"We both know she's a spy," Willow said impatiently. "Unhand her!"
"I don't think I will. I think if you want her, you're going to have to come and get her."
Whipping a weapon from one of the elegant folds in her dress, Willow pointed a pistol directly at him, her hand steady, her gaze clear. "I will shoot you, Mr. Vitali."
"No, you won't."
The voice came from behind Willow, as did the hand which smoothly snatched the gun from her grip and transferred it, so it was now back behind her head.
Bobby Vitali had sneaked up on her just as she had sneaked up on Angelo. Through it all, Gemma was held by Angelo, thoroughly captive in every way.
"Won't you ladies come inside?" Angelo spoke as if it were the most elevated of invitations, even as Lady Willow Spencer was marched inside his home at gunpoint.
Actually Terrifying
Gemma stared at Angelo, her blue eyes so wide you could almost see the whites all the way around. She had every reason to be afraid. They had crossed perhaps the most dangerous man on the planet - certainly the most dangerous man either of them knew.
Their gambit seemed to have failed. They were captives in the lair of the monster they had sought to slay. All notions of justice, fairness, and a world where karma existed were lost in Angelo's dark gaze.
She had been left more or less free while Willow had been tied up. Apparently, Willow was the greater threat. She had resisted her bonds a great deal and called Bobby everything under the sun, from rotten beast to beastly rotter. Bobby had not been bothered by any of it.
Suddenly, after all the chaos, there was silence.
Until Gemma spoke.
"My gosh. You're actually terrifying. Did you know that?"
She paused long enough for Angelo to answer what seemed like an earnestly posed question.
"I did know that." Angelo's voice was a deep gravelly purr accented with Sicilian heat.
"Like, wow! I mean, really. Wow. You're…" she snapped her fingers. "You're like the pope… of crime! If he was evil… and sexy."
Angelo opened his mouth, then closed it again. It might have been the first time in history that he was lost for words, but Gemma's enthusiastic horror was quite the force to be reckoned with.
"People are never going to believe us," Gemma prattled. "They're going to think you were just mean, or cruel, or hurt us in the usual bad guy way. But you're not going to do that, are you? You're going to be terribly inventive, aren't you!"
Angelo looked over her head and made eye contact with the very well-bound Lady Willow Spencer. "Is she ever quiet?"
Willow half-closed her eyes and shook her head while letting out a long-suffering sigh. "Rarely." She paused and took stock, composing herself for her next sentence. "You should know, if you intend to keep us captive, a platoon of special forces will descend upon this house within the hour, freeing us and no doubt shooting you. I did not come here without backup."
