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She barks out a laugh, but before she’s even finished I’ve got her cheeks between my fingers, pressing hard to get her attention. She stares straight at me, as if seeing me for the very first time.
“You’ll come with me. We’ll talk, so we know exactly where we stand. Tell me, who was the asshole who attacked you?”
I release her cheeks so she can talk, but she only shakes her head.
I sigh. She’s gonna make this difficult on both of us then.
“Alright, doll. We’re gonna back this up. Let’s start with your name.”
She swallows hard. “Elaine.”
“Lies.” I shake my head. “You fucked up, sweetheart. Would’ve been fine with a one-night stand. Would’ve been great just enjoyin’ that sweet pussy of yours and going our separate ways.”
A glimmer of hurt flashes through her eyes before she can school it.
“But you stole from me, knowing full well who I am. So going our separate ways anonymously is no longer an option. You get me?”
“Thought you punished me for that.”
“And so I did.”
“But that wasn’t enough?” She tosses the words at me, putting venom in her tone as if to hurt me or defend herself. I’m not sure which.
“Wasn’t enough, of course not. I know you looked into me. I now know you’ve got an ulterior motive. So yeah, you were punished and you deserved that but now we’ve got more to address.”
Her lips thin as she looks away and nods. “Yeah.” She sighs. “Fine, then. Where are we going?”
“The Castle. We’ll talk more freely there.”
Her eyes go wide. She knows what The Castle is, then.
“I can’t go with you. I have a job, a career. Work to do.”
I use that as an in. “Of course. I understand. What’s your job?”
She clenches her jaw and doesn’t respond. Looks away.
“Right, then, off to The Castle we go,” I murmur.
This will all be such a waste of time. If she only knew how easily I’ll track down who she is when we get there. It’s easy. Fingerprint, facial recognition software. I’ll have it all in minutes.
She doesn’t respond for a while, and finally sighs. “How long will we be?”
“As long as it takes, so that’ll be up to you. Wouldn’t even have to go if you’d tell the truth now.”
“I’m not telling you anything,” she says, determined as ever. “Hey, your hand.”
At first I think she’s just distracting me, or trying to change the subject. But when she gestures for me to give her my hand, I look down and flex it. Radiating pain shoots out, and I have to stifle a groan.
“Fuck, that hurts.”
“Did you literally just realize your hand’s fucked up?”
I shrug. “I guess, yeah.”
“My God, Mario,” she sighs. She reaches for my hand and takes it gingerly in hers. My one hand easily dwarfs both of hers. I hate the sight of my blood on her fingers. It shouldn’t be there.
She sighs. “It’s probably broken. You may have to go to the hospital.”
I shake my head. “It’s fine, it’s not broken. And we have a doctor at The Castle.”
Her eyes widen slightly and she blinks at me. “Of course you do,” she finally mutters to herself. “Why does that not surprise me. What don’t you have at The Castle?”
I give her a knowing grin. “A way out, doll.”
CHAPTER TEN
Emma
Alright, so, this could be worse, right? It could definitely be worse.
Dammit.
I’ve dug a hole for myself so deep, I’m not sure there’s an easy way out. On the other hand, this could be… fortuitous.
I’m getting a personal escort into the Rossi family home. One could argue that I’ve jumped straight from the frying pan into the fire, or… well… one could argue that I’ve just gotten the best possible access into the heart of the Rossi family as humanly possible. Could I even get more undercover than this?
Well, yeah, I mean it’s only considered undercover if they don’t know my identity. And my gut tells me that it won’t be long until they know exactly who I am, and whether or not I survive is entirely up to me.
Great. Great. Or… seriously, great.
I hold his heavy, lacerated, seriously fucked up hand in both of mine, and my belly clenches as my mind spins.
“It looks so painful.”
He shrugs. “Seen worse. Done worse. Who was it?”
I ignore his question. “You should keep that as still as you can until you can get an X-ray and ice it. If it’s broken, you could make things worse if you move it around.”
“Who was it?”
I blow out a breath and lie. Again. “No idea.”
I put his hand in my lap and ignore the way I like the heft of it, the feel of his warmth, the intimacy.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
My stomach clenches at the lie, and my heartbeat quickens. If he’d killed him…
“You’re lying to me, and I think we’ve established that won’t end well for you.”
