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I try to stay perfectly still but lift my head when Lorenzo presses the knife upward so I’ll look at him. He doesn’t press hard enough to break skin, but it’s enough to get me to move. When I meet his eyes, his expression has barely changed. He’s serious but not angry. Not visibly at least.
“Do you want to know what I usually do to people who cross me?”
The knife pokes me deeper, and I yelp, tears pricking my eyes. “No.”
“No?”
“No, I don’t. I’m sorry, I just…” He tilts his head and his eyebrows crease like he can’t quite figure me out.
Because he doesn’t know me. He didn’t know I was a vegan. He doesn’t know who my father is.
An idea sparks, and I lift my hands in the air. I slowly bring them to his wrist and try to ease the knife away, but he doesn’t budge. “My dad is Foster Norwood. Do you know who that is?”
Lorenzo lifts a brow but says nothing.
“He’s one of Las Vegas’s most successful real estate investors, and he has money. Lots of money.”
I wait for Lorenzo’s eyes to light up, but they don’t. They darken.
I’m pissing him off. Shit, how am I—
My head is yanked back by a fist Lorenzo makes in my hair, and I’m staring at the ceiling with the knife now sideways along my throat. Fear pours into my system, and tears fall from the corners of my eyes and slide into my ear.
I’m about to die.
Oh my God, I’m about to die.
“Is it true you run an animal shelter downtown? You’re an animal rights activist? Apparently, a vegan?”
“Yes,” I squeak out, wishing I could see him so I knew how angry he was. His calm voice gives away nothing.
“That leads me to believe you do, in fact, care a great deal about animals, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’d expect you of all people to understand my animals’ lives are worth more than a generous ransom from some rich girl’s daddy.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, wincing when the knife presses into my neck. My skin dampens with blood, and I gasp with panic, only making it worse. “You’re right! You’re right, that was a stupid thing to suggest. I’m so sorry.”
“I’ve already warned you about this once. You suggest one more alternative like this to what I have planned for you, and I’ll skip the gag and go straight to silencing you forever. Do you understand?”
“Yes. Yes, I understand.”
He pulls the knife away, and my head drops to stare at the hardwood. Tears fall freely to the floor, and my hands shake. I expect to hear Lorenzo’s silverware clinking on his plate with him going back to his meal, but there’s silence. I can feel him staring at me.
I have the inclination to ask what he’s going to do to me, but he’s already answered that, and I know at this point I’d only piss him off more. It’s obvious what this is, but I haven’t quite been able to accept it. Not until now.
He’s going to humiliate me. He’s going to treat me like an animal until he grows bored with this little game of his, and then… and then I don’t know. And I don’t want to think about it.
The elevator dings, and I look up to see a man revealed as the door opens. He has the same olive skin and dark hair as Lorenzo, but he’s younger and softer without a scar. He doesn’t have the crazy look in his eyes that Lorenzo has either, but there’s still a subtle resemblance. He has the same dark irises.
I bite my lip and try to make eye contact with him as he walks up to the table. Anger emits from him, and he doesn’t seem to notice I’m here. Or he just doesn’t care.
“Valentine retaliated,” the man says, running a hand through already disheveled hair.
I turn toward Lorenzo and widen my eyes when I see he’s still staring at me. He holds my gaze for a moment before turning to the other man.
“Is that so?” He speaks nonchalantly, as if the news doesn’t bother him like it obviously does the other man.
