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I laugh in response. “Yeah, I told Victor this place is tacky as hell.” I point down the hall. “That’s where Victor’s got his bedroom. You probably don’t want to go that direction. Or maybe you do.”
“Will he murder me just for stepping into his lair?” Lucia raises a delicate eyebrow at me, but she also starts walking toward the staircase.
I keep pace next to her, crowding her and delighting in how she tenses up. “Nah, he’s not going to murder you yet. Just make sure you stay useful to him. You should have seen what he did to… Well, never mind. You’d probably be traumatized if I told you.”
She rolls her eyes. “You act like I haven’t been in the life since birth,” she points out to me—like she really thinks she’s seen the worst of what we can do to people. Like she really thinks she knows just how bad it can be.
Who knows, maybe her daddy dearest murders his enemies in front of his family. He certainly doesn’t have qualms about killing men and women in front of their loved ones. I clench my fists, and I feel the rage building up inside me.
We should just slit Lucia’s throat and send her back to Bellini in pieces. Then he’ll feel just a fraction of what I’ve felt every day for the past seven years.
I have to remind myself that there’s a plan, that I can’t waste it by being reckless, to calm down.
“Sure, Princess. I’ll let you know the next time we’ve got a beat-down scheduled. I’ll get you front row seats.”
We descend to the first floor entrance way. There’s a guard stationed by the door, and three more just outside. I catch Lucia eyeing the door.
“Don’t even think about it,” I say, grabbing her arm. “The place has cameras, alarms, and guards. Any escape attempts won’t get you very far. That next beat-down could be yours, if you’re stupid enough to try to run.”
“How considerate of you,” she retorts, but her eyes avert from the guard station. It’s exciting to know she’s really listening to my words.
Is she afraid? I stare at her, trying to figure it out. She hasn’t shown much fear so far, but I want to see it. I want to see fear and tears, and if Victor hadn’t expressly forbidden me from fucking with her—from fuckingher—we might’ve seen just how afraid she can be. She might think she’s a badass, but she hasn’t come acrossmeyet.
I corral her to the back of the mansion. “Let’s grab food. Maybe if you’re very, very good, I’ll let you see the rec room.”
The kitchen is that ultra-modern sleek, all black and white and gray without a single shred of personality. One of the younger recruits, Freddie, is already in there, grabbing lunch from the prepared sandwiches on the central island. Victor pays a cook to keep a steady supply of snacks flowing for everybody.
“Oh! Angelo, sir!” Freddie stands to attention, but he still has a sandwich in his hands that he fumbles with awkwardly.
“Hi, Freddie.” I gesture at Lucia. “This is Lucia. She’s a… special guest.”
Lucia sneers at that. “So very special,” she agrees, her tone dripping with venom.
I’m about to snark back at her when my phone buzzes. I pull it out of my back pocket to take a look: a text from Saint, asking me to help him find… something. I roll my eyes, but knowing Saint, I won’t have peace until I actually help him out.
“Freddie, I need to take care of something. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. Keep Lucia entertained here, in the kitchen.” I wink at her. “Remember what might happen if you try to escape.”
Freddie nods eagerly while Lucia scoffs loudly. Maybe I’m overdoing it, but she isn’t cowed enough for me to trust her.
I head out to the hall and into one of the side rooms. After closing the door, I call Saint. “What? I’m busy.”
“You are? Aren’t you watching Lucia?”
“Yeah. Like I said, busy. What are you looking for?”
“I can’t find my copy of the new Call of Fury game. Do you know where it is?”
For a second I’m speechless. “Really? That’s why you texted me? I thought it was urgent!”
“Well, it’s urgent because I want to play it now…”
“Tell you what. Give me a nice, long blowjob, and maybe I’ll help you find it.”
As expected, Saint hangs up on me. Fucker’s happy to let me blow him but gets squeamish when it’s the other way around. Well, fuck him too. I put my phone away and head back to the kitchen, irritated over the interruption.
I hear Lucia and Freddie talking, and I pause just outside the kitchen to eavesdrop a bit. Maybe she’ll be more forthcoming with him than she was with any of us.
But it isn’t a friendly chat I hear.
