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“What do you mean?” My face is so close to his I could give him a good headbutt and knock him out right now.
“Typical, pigheaded American.” He scoffs. “You didn’t even test the goods.”
“What the fuck are you on about?” Kylie’s doe eyes pop up in my mind, pleading for me to not hurt the bastard.
“I know why you are here, I know what you think, but you have it all wrong.” A sly smile creeps over his face, like he’s won this fight.
“Then help me understand.” My fingers slide up from his chest to his throat, pinning him in place. “Let’s start with the guest passkey. Where did you get it?”
“Kat. She’s a friend of mine. She was pissed off at you for kicking her out. She texted me, complaining. I told her the way to pay you back, to get your attention, was to steal a guest passkey. That way she could come back to the club, to surprise you one night. She’s cunning. I wasn’t shocked when she actually pulled it off. I told her to let me borrow the key first, before she used it. That I’d find a way to get your attention with it.”
So that’s what Kat was doing at my place all morning. Sneaking around, looking for a key so she could get back into Fire. I keep a few at my place, ready to sell for members’ guests, but I rarely permit them.
I tighten my hold on his throat. “Alright. You’ve got my attention.”
“Kat’s slightly obsessed. Not sure why.” He eyes me like I’m nothing special. “But she is and so she brought me the key. I lied to her. I used the key to focus your attention on Kylie, not Kat. But I’ll figure something out to tell Kat. Though she’s going to be disappointed to find it’s out of my hands now. I’ll make it up to her. Buy her something. She’s easily distracted by shiny things.”
The mystery of the key behind us, I move on to my next question. “Why send the girl to my club with your filthy drugs?”
He could claw me with his hook, but he doesn’t. His voice is raw but fearless as he struggles to speak. “I—I did it for her. I did it for Kylie.”
What the hell is he talking about? First, telling me he used the key to get my attention onto Kylie, now saying he planned this whole thing for her? The Accardis only look out for themselves. But something in Antonio’s gaze makes me take enough of a pause to hear him out.
“Explain.” My hold loosens. I release his neck, shoving his chest as I draw away.
His green eyes glint. “Do you really think I’m foolish enough to think I can send drugs into your club without getting caught? It was powdered sugar. The Head of State was there to collect it as a favor to me, but I heard she didn’t get that far. I’m just glad she made it as far as she did so you’d notice her. It was all a ruse.”
Powdered fucking sugar. God, I look like an ass, not having someone check out the powder. He’s got me cornered. He knows my security detail. Hell, he probably even knows…
“You know I have a plant here, in your house, don’t you?” Every detail that was reported back to me about her afternoon with Antonio, Antonio planned. “Did you make sure he was in earshot when you gave Kylie your instructions?”
“I figured word would get back to you. And I knew if I sent her with something of ours, you’d catch her and… the girl… When she came to my doorstep yesterday morning, she was just so damn sweet. I liked her. I knew you would like her.” His gaze holds mine, accusing me, leveling me, baring my truth. “I knew you wouldn’t let her go.”
Antonio might be a shit, but he can read people. I’ve heard Emilia say that of him. And I see it now. The little fucker is right. I couldn’t let her go.
Could I?
“How did you know I’d get… attached?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I just had a feeling the moment I saw her. Then later, she did something for me.”
“What did she do?” I ask.
“She… polished my hook. No one can even look at the damn thing, much less touch it.” He looks away from me. “She… helped me. And I wanted to help her.”
“She…what?”I shake my head. Kylie Barone, polisher of hook-hands, who the hell are you?
“I told you.” He gives an unexpected half-grin. “She’s sweet. Good. Kind. She doesn’t belong here. My plan wasn’t foolproof, but I hoped that somehow, someway, you’d get involved, take her in, give her the protection she needs.”
“Why didn’t you just come to me, ask me to help her?” I ask.
“I knew she wouldn’t go willingly. She’s innocent. A virgin.” He says it simply, a statement, a fact. He says it… with respect. “You think she’d march off to a kink club looking for help? She’s a cleaner.”
Here I’ve judged him for what he did to his sister, but a prickle of shame dances along the back of my neck.Please. Don’t.I stole her first kiss not only on her lips but on her sweet pussy too. And I want to steal her innocence.
All night, all I could think about was how my fingers felt inside her, what it would feel like to be inside her. The desire burned through me, turned me into a pile of ash in my bed, leaving me unrested and in need of extra espresso this morning.
I feel like Antonio is looking through me, seeing all of this.
