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The last thing I need to do is tip my hand, letting the men holding my sister and Mr. Black know that I’m doing anything other than searching for information on the Genovese Family. But it’s getting harder with each passing day.
“Help me?” he seethes, stepping closer to me into the light. “What were you doing in that room?”
Another mistake on his part. Mr. Black is deviating from his normal behavior, giving me a clear view of his face. The angles of his face are harsher than I originally thought, his ebony hair slicked back out of his face, and a tattoo covers his neck. His eyes are black as night, and they’re focused directly on me.
His hands clench tightly at his side, opening and closing as he fights to maintain control. His eyes zero in on the bare skin of my shoulder where my dress slipped down, exposing part of my bra. My skin heats as memories of Matteo’s hands caressing my skin filter through my mind, imagining how things could’ve progressed if I hadn’t high-tailed it out of there like my ass was lit on fire.
A loud bang from the other end of the hall brings me back to the present. All thoughts of what happened inside room twenty-three vanish as my focus returns to Mr. Black. The coiled tension in his body screams for me to run, to get as far away from him as possible, but I can’t. Instead, I plaster a fake smile on my face and hold my ground when every part of my body is telling me to put space between us. I’d never been afraid of him before today, thinking he was a small fry in the grand scheme of things, but right now, he is the most terrifying person in the entire building because I know absolutely nothing about him.
“I asked you a question, whore.”
His focused gaze causes my skin to prickle with awareness as a fist tightens around my heart. Dread pools in my stomach as he steps closer, stopping a few inches from my face. My muscles tighten involuntarily, ready to flee at the first sign of trouble, but I remain rooted in place.
“I’m doing my job, asshole. Something you should do, as well.” My chin raises in defiance, the exact opposite of how I’m feeling inside. Inside, I’m terrified.
“You’re just like your whore sister, you know that?” he shouts, his alcohol-laced breath wafting across my face. “She always earned her keep.”
Willa? A whore?I shake my head, unable to process the information Mr. Black gave me about my sister. There’s no way Willa was a whore, not in a million years. Yes, she always seems to find a way to get through the hard times, even by questionable means, at times, but she was adamant about saving her virginity for the man she was going to marry. She always said she had nothing to offer anyone besides her virginity. There’s no way she’d do anything to compromise her dreams like that, not unless someone forced her.
Could that be what happened?
The things he’s been saying about my sister could be true, but I doubt it. When Willa and I told stories about our future, each of her stories involved her falling in love with one man, having children, and riding off into the sunset. Could I see her working here? Maybe, but before a few weeks ago, I couldn’t see myself working here, either. It’s good money, and the place is safe, with security patrolling each floor on a roving rotation.
“What did you call my sister?” I seethe, anger quickly replacing fear.
This man knows nothing about my sister. Even if the bullshit he’s been spewing were true, it wouldn’t matter. Everything Willa does in life is for a reason. If Willa ever handed over her most precious gift, I can guarantee there was a damn good reason for it. I just hope it was given willingly and not by force.
“You can say whatever you want about me, but leave my sister out of this.”
His hand shot from his side, tightly gripping me around my neck and slamming my head against the wall. Blinding pain shoots through my head as I fight for air, his hand tightening around my neck. My vision darkens as he leans forward, biting down on my ear hard before whispering softly into it.
“It seems like we have some company coming, Celia.” Chuckling darkly, he runs his nose along my cheek. “I promise when you find your sister, she’ll be in pieces.”
He immediately releases his grip around my throat, dropping me into a heap on the floor. I make no move to brace for the fall, crumbling onto the floor in a heap. Terror grips my heart in an icy fist as my brain attempts to make sense of what he’s saying.
At that moment, I realized I’d put all my faith into a voice. A voice that wiped out my previous life entirely to ensure I’d do his bidding. There’s no doubt that they could also be faking holding my sister captive to get me to do whatever they want. But that leaves the bigger question: Why us?
My arms fly over my head, my body curls into a ball on the ground, attempting to hold myself together as my mind shatters.
“My sister. In pieces.” I sob, unable to picture life without Willa in it.
I couldn’t save my sister. All of this was for nothing. What am I going to do without her?
A hysterical scream bubbles out of my throat. My eyes clench shut as I scream repeatedly, wanting the entire building to feel my pain and anguish. Everything around me, every noise, disappears as I give in to the pain.
CHAPTEREIGHT
MATTEO
Iknew this meeting was going to end in disaster. When Lyra told us about the new girl poking around for information about us, I wanted to sit back and see what she was up to, but Sal and Ant had a different plan. They always do. But I’m not here to make my two best friends comfortable. I’m here to protect their asses.
The three of us grew up together, tormenting their mother every chance we got. My mother was a maid in the Genovese home, but they never treated me as anything less than family. We ate together, went to school together, and mourned the death of our parents together. To the outside world, I was the spare, expendable, but Sal and Ant would give their lives for me the same as I would for them. We have a bond stronger than a last name, a bond forged in blood.
“I told you that was a bad idea,” I grumble, leaning back onto the tufted leather couch in the corner of the room.
“Maybe, but it was fun.” Antonio snickers before heading toward their latest plaything and giving her a hard smack on the cheek.
She bolts upright, angry red marks covering her once-perfect skin. Her eyes widen in surprise as she looks around the room, confusion clear on her face.
