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“We make the plans, not you.” Despite his words rubbing me raw, his tone made my mind swim. Enzo rubbed a hand through his short beard as I gathered my faculties and grabbed a change of clothes from my bag. His gaze remained on me as I bent to pick up the bag, and I rolled my eyes so hard I thought they’d get stuck back there. “Did you really think we’d warmly welcome a rival family’s daughter? I mean, this is kinder than Silvio wanted, so be thankful for that.”
“Fuck you,” I snapped as I put on a fresh pair of jeans.
“I should punish you for that mouth in my house, you know. I could silence you so easily by putting my cock in that bratty mouth of yours.” His finger dragged along my mouth, the tip of his thumb tugging down my lower lip. “When I found out it was the Silvani girl, I knew I’d be dealing with theworstattitude.” He brushed his hand across the small of my back. Shivers vibrated my body.
Fuck this guy.
“Anyway, I’ve been given the delightful job of sitting with you and trying to extricate information about your family.” He dragged me to the bed and forced me to sit before gripping my face in his rough grasp. “I actually laughed at that request because I knew I'd have to do some real terrible things to get you to turn on your father.”
My lips trembled at his threat-laced words. I knew what he meant. Their family enjoyed hacking off body parts one by one until someone confessed what they needed to know. The most ludicrous thing about it was that people lost consciousness or died before they had a chance to confess. At that point, you were a goner one way or another. Might as well take the words with you. I didn’t pretend my family was that much better, but they were more creative, at least. And more effective.
A knock on the door dragged my attention away from Enzo. Before I could speak, he waved his hand.
“One of my men brought you some of the finest wine before bed, fit for a Silvani.”
He opened the door and grabbed the tray with two wine glasses and a dark green bottle of wine. He set it on the dresser and filled a glass. The crimson liquid sloshed along the sides. I finished getting dressed, tugging on the least attractive shirt I owned. Enzo handed me one of the glasses as he sipped the other.
“Drink up, Gia,” he said.
I licked my lips and looked him in the eyes, my chin raised in defiance. “I think I’d like to go home, Enzo,” I said as I sniffed the wine and took a sip.
He laughed. “Oh no, that won’t be possible. We’re in this now.Balls deep in it.”His last words were sultry, as if they carried another meaning. Of course they did.
I downed the rest of my wine because I fucking needed it. “I’m just going to tell you this right now. We’renotsleeping together, so you can stop trying to make hints. I hear them, and I’m not interested.” My lip curled at him.
His face twisted. “Don’t worry, I’m not trying to fuck you. I don’t sleep with dogs. Your family is a stain and an embarrassment to all of us. Sylvester is a rich old family man who made some lucky choices. You guys aren’t the crime bosses you think you are.”
His words cut deep, offending my greatest ancestors. “Fuck you! Your family isdisgustingand barbaric.” I emphasized the word. They were disgusting. Blood had splattered and spilled across their family crest until it became unreadable.
“We don’t have feds chasing our tail, unlike yours, so we barbarians must be doing something right.”
“This was a big fucking mistake!” I yelled as he turned to walk away.
“For you, maybe.” The door clicked shut behind him.
ChapterFive
Gia
Iwoke up to a bite of cold air that assaulted my skin, and it felt as if gritty grains of sand wiggled behind my eyelids. The dryness in my mouth rivaled that, like my tongue had been wiped with a cotton ball. My wrists burned against the rough rope that wound around them and attached me to a thick metal pole above my head. I was in some kind of basement, and that's about all I could glean from my surroundings. The walls were covered in plastic, as was the concrete beneath my feet.Fuck, I know what that means.I looked up at the ropes and tried to wiggle free, but it only burned and tugged at my skin the more I strained. The plastic barriers did nothing to deaden the shrill sound of my scream.
The upstairs door slammed, and footfalls thundered down wooden-plated steps. Enzo walked closer with a cold glaze to his eyes. He was the last person I wanted to see, but I’d hoped he would be the one to show up instead of his father or one of their goons.
“How'd I even get here?” I asked as I looked around the room. “Did you fucking drug me? I don’t remember anything after you brought me a drink before bed.”
“It was just a little family recipe.” He raised my chin with his hand. “To be honest, we were fine with never getting the answer to this. Water under the bridge, right? But with such an opportunity, how could we pass up the chance to ask why your family was at the docks that day?”
“What? That was seven fucking years ago! You’re lucky eighteen-year-old me didn’t have the same firearm skills I have now.” I rolled my eyes. “But you were ten years older than me, so there’s no excuse for why you missedme.”
Enzo’s gaze fell for only a moment before he stared at me once more. His jacket slid back, and he grabbed the gun from his hip. He rubbed the gun’s cold barrel against my cheek in a threatening gesture, not realizing how much having a firearm pointed my direction excited me. The rush of the risk of death. Someone else holding your life in the palm of their hand. That rush went straight to my pelvis and nestled there. But with Enzo’s palm holding the gun, I was angry as much as I was excited.
Fuck him.
“Seven years ago, we lost the largest shipment we’ve ever lost, allowing your family to succeed us. I’m going to ask nicely again. Why was your family on the dock that day?”
“I don’t know!” I shook my head.
“This is the part where I grab one of those manyexcruciatingtools over there against the wall,” he said as he gestured to the wall in front of me. The placement allowed his victims to watch as the weapon of destruction was chosen before their eyes, promising what sweet hell was to come. He rubbed his beard. “But I think showing your naked body to the man who killed your brother will hurt you much more than any hammer or loppers.”
