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I’ll run again the second I have a chance, and this time? I won’t be caught. Not by my father’s men, not by his rivals, not by anyone. I’ll run, and I’ll keep running until no one can ever find me again.
Victor’s calculating eyes run over me. I stand tall, not allowing him to intimidate me. I have something he wants, and he has to cooperate with me to get it.
“How about this? Tell me who it is, and I’ll upgrade your accommodations here. A shower, clean clothes, and I’ll even tell my men to keep their hands and dicks to themselves.”
I want that, but it isn’t enough. I can’t risk them returning me to Daddy.
Once he gets me back, he’s going to have me guarded around the clock, and now that I’ve run once, he knows I’ll do it again in a heartbeat. I don’t know what the security situation is like here, but I know I have a better chance of escaping. They don’t know me. They don’t know what I’m capable of.
They think I’m some innocent, but I’m far from it.
“That’s a generous offer, but I think you can sweeten the deal a little more,” I say. There’s no harm in trying.
He cracks the smallest of smiles. He almost looks handsome now, for a cold bastard. “What is it you want, Ms. Bellini?”
I want to be free of all these assholes, but that’s not on the table. I have to buy time, lure them into complacency until I can make my move. So I take a gamble, rolling the dice and hoping like mad this doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass. “I want to stay here,” I say, steel and conviction in my voice. “In upgraded accommodations worthy of me, of course, without your men trying to take advantage of me.”
I’ve surprised him, I can tell. For a few moments he stays silent, staring at me. It starts to unnerve me, but I’m sure that’s on purpose too. I don’t care how long he wants to play this game, though, as long as he believes me.
“Why would you want to stay here?” he finally asks.
“Do you really think I want to be married off to the highest bidder?” I counter. “And doyoureally want to hand him even more power and money by returning me? As long as I’m here, he can’t move forward with the deal. Think about it.”
He inclines his head at me in acknowledgement. “Fair enough. But can’t your father simply use your sister instead?”
“If he wants to look weak, sure,” I tell him, shrugging. I have his attention, and I need to keep it. I need to make sure he thinks this through, and I can string him along while I work on an escape plan. “His oldest daughter is kidnapped, and he can’t get her back, so he has to try again with her younger sister?” I scoff. “He’d be a laughingstock.”
There’s a spark of something in his eyes now. Oh, he definitely hates my father as much as I do. “I like how you think, Ms. Bellini. All right. I’ll play along. Now tell me: who is your betrothed?”
This is it. This is the real gamble. He can take the information and use it with me or against me. I brace myself then tell him, “Emilio Pavone.”
5
Victor
Emilio Pavone. That was the last name I expected her to say. Pavone is a big power player, but historically he hasn’t been involved in Benton City. Having his resources added to Bellini’s would make taking back control of the city next to impossible.
An entire deal, resting on one beautiful woman?
If Lucia is telling the truth, then Bellini’s an idiot. So is Pavone, for that matter, but maybe Pavone doesn’t have much to lose if the deal doesn’t go through. Lucia is stunningly beautiful, even as dirty as she is from Santino and Angelo’s crude games, but she’s hardly worth this kind of alliance.
I’ll need to verify what she’s telling me, and I need her to stay cooperative. “You’ve just won yourself a suite fit for a queen,” I tell her. “Follow me.”
I open the door and usher her out. Angelo is leaning against the wall, playing on his phone.
“Angelo, take Ms. Bellini to the guest suite on the second floor,” I order.
It takes Angelo a few seconds to put away his phone and move. He’s testing the boundaries, hoping I’ll snap at him or give him an excuse to lash out. But I see through his childish tantrums and ignore them.
“The guest suite? You want to fuck her on the nice bed?” He winks at Lucia. “Maybe I should warm her up for you. Get her cunt nice and sloppy.”
Lucia flinches and steps closer to me. I don’t think she realized she did that. Right now, I must seem the lesser of two evils to her. I’m not the one who was pawing her the entire time. It’s crass, but I can’t deny I felt a thrill of excitement when we had her tied down and legs spread wide.
Regardless of how enticing I find her, I refuse to let baser instincts get in the way of my goals.
“Keep it in your pants. Ms. Bellini has won herself a few privileges. For now.” I gently push Lucia toward Angelo. “Go on.”
There’s a brief moment where it seems like she’ll balk, but she finds her courage and, head held high, walks over to his side.
