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“And don’t forget, Roland isn’t our only problem. Matteus may be dead, but whoever hired him will be looking for you, and I have to assume he’s not far behind Roland. You have to follow my orders for both our sakes, and I get the feeling you’re impetuous more often than not.”
“If you call trying to live my life impetuous, then yes,” she replied, thinking about her life in Las Vegas. “When my brother goes off and does whatever he wants no one bats an eye, but God forbid I decide to stay late at the club, or meet a friend for a drink. If I don’t let the whole fucking house know, all hell breaks loose. It drives me crazy. I’m an adult,” she exclaimed, shifting in his arms to look up at him, “yet both my parents insist I live on the compound—and you…”
“Go on,” Nick pressed, narrowing his eyes.
“You just spanked me like a disobedient child.”
He grinned.
“Why is that funny?”
“Because it’s accurate. That’s what you are, a disobedient child. In spite of your claim that you’re kept on a short leash, it’s obvious to me the opposite is true. You’re used to doing what you want, when you want.”
The hot blush crossing her face continued to burn, but as much as she wanted to push him away and leave the kitchen, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“This whole thing has gone horribly wrong,” she mumbled with a dark frown. “I still can’t believe Matt is dead.”
“Your kidnapping was already horribly wrong.”
“Yes, I know, but it’s become so much worse. Nick, do you mind if I listen to the recording?”
“Of Matt’s death?”
“Yeah, I want to hear what happened.”
“It’s unpleasant.”
“You’re talking to someone who grew up in the Albertini family. My father and brother went to great lengths to protect me from the ugly side of the business, but that’s like a diamond merchant trying to hide his jewels. Believe me, I’m used to unpleasant.”
His smile faded, and moving an arm tightly around her waist, he slid his free hand into her hair. “Beautiful Bianca,” he murmured, his brow crinkling. “Such a life you’ve led.”
She thought he was about to kiss her, but he stepped back, and appeared to be deep in thought.
“Nick, is there something else?”
“As I said earlier, the police will be called when Matt’s body is discovered. We don’t need our DNA found in that house.”
“Shit. I didn’t think about that.”
“I need to have the place sanitized, but I can’t do that as long as Roland or any of his men are in there. I have to go back upstairs. You can listen to the recording while I see what they’re up to. Hopefully they’ll be making plans to leave.”
“Nick,” she said as they started from the kitchen, “if we can eavesdrop on them, how do you know they can’t do the same to us?”
“You’d already be on your way back to your father, and God knows what shape I’d be in.”
“Oh, right,” she mumbled as they trotted up the stairs.
“I watched Roland the entire time he was here, and he didn’t have the chance to leave a bug behind.”
“But he might have equipment like yours.”
“It’s possible but highly unlikely. Getting your hands on a device like mine isn’t easy,” he said as they entered the bedroom. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I’m sure,” she replied solemnly.
As he lifted a pair of AirPods from a shelf and handed them to her, she sat on the floor and pushed them into her ears. Watching him settle into a chair in front of the sophisticated equipment, she started to have second thoughts, but when she suddenly heard Tony’s worried voice, she couldn’t pull herself away from the drama unfolding. Staring at the floor, her heart racing, she continued to listen.
* * *
