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“And we will,” Franz lied. “However, it seems like she’s not willing to cooperate, and that’s not whatyoupromisedus, Ryan.” Franz sounded like he was speaking to a small child. “You said that Mrs. Sartori would be more than willing to help us out, but I’m not getting that vibe from her.”
Ryan looked back at me. “Why can’tyou do it?” he asked, and he really was fucking stupid. “It would free you from a marriage that you don’t want, and…and…well, if it helps me out a little, then so be it.” He looked earnest enough to believe what he was saying. “C’mon, Kasen.”
“The Sartoris will torture and kill my family if I harm one hair on Nero Sartori’s head,” I bit out. “What don’t you get about that?” I let out a steady breath, trying my hardest not to lose it. “It can’t be done, Ryan. If it were that easy to kill Nero Sartori, someone would have done it by now.”
“Awe, but he’s never been married before now,” Franz pointed out. “As his wife, you are the only person that is close enough to him to fly under the radar.”
Staring Franz right in the eye, I said, “I amnotkilling Nero Sartori for anyone.”
“So, you’re willing to die for him?” Franz asked. “Is that what you’re telling me?”
Without hesitation, I answered, “Yes.”
Now, while most people would believe that I was being noble, I wasn’t. This wasn’t about Nero or my marriage to him, not really. This was about keeping my word and what my personal integrity meant to me. No matter what, I wasn’t about to betrayanymembers of my family, blood or otherwise. This was about how I’d been allowed to live out my dream and practice law because my father had given me his word, and if someone didn’t have their word, then what did they have? While a lot of people could rationalize betrayal, I wasn’t one of those people. Either you kept your word, or you didn’t; it was that black and white for me.
Before I could form another thought, pain and fire radiated throughout my body, and I dropped in my chair as blood began to ooze down my arm, the sound of gunfire barely an echo thanks to the silencer on the end of Franz’s gun; the one that I should have known that he had.
“Oh, my God!” Ryan cried out. “You shot her!”
“How about now,mein schatz? Do you still feel like dying for him?”
The pain in my arm feltexcruciating, but I also knew that it wasn’t life-threatening. Franz was messing with me, and I could only imagine what awaited me if I didn’t cooperate. However, I also knew that it was too late. There was no way that I was going to be able to explain a bullet wound with some fabricated lie, and Franz knew it. By shooting me, he had already kicked off a war, and Ryan was the only idiot that didn’t know that.
Letting out a shaky breath, I stood up, proud of myself that I wasn’t a hysterical mess. No tears,no theatrics, just pain. “Yes,” I answered again.
Franz glanced back at Ryan. “You said that it wasn’t a love match.”
“It’s…it’s not,” he stammered. “I swear, it’s not.”
When Franz looked back my way, I really thought that he was going to kill me, butwhen he cocked his head to the side, that slimy smile back, he said, “If you’re willing to die for Sartori, I wonder if he’s willing to do the same for you.”
I could feel my heart leap into my throat.
I also already knew the answer.
“He’s not,” I replied. “If you think that Nero Sartori is going to sacrifice himself for a woman that he’s only been married to for a couple of weeks, then you’re stupider than I gave you credit for.”
Ignoring the insult, Franz looked back over at Ryan. “Get her phone,then text Sartori to meet at the docks. They’re his ports, so he’ll know exactly where you’re talking about.”
“What do…what do I text…I don’t know-”
“Make it sound like the text is coming from his wife, you moron,” Franz snapped, finally losing his cool with Ryan.
With Franz’s gun aimed at me, I didn’t move as Ryan fished my purse out of my desk, thenpulled out my phone. I also didn’t resist when Ryan grabbed my hand to unlock my phone. They were underestimating Nero, and I was going to let them. There was no way that I would ever text Nero to meet me by the docks, and Nero would know that. Plus, even if there weren’t cameras in my office, there were cameras everywhere else, and it wouldn’t take Nero long to figure out what happened.
“Now what?” Ryan asked,sounding agitated and scared.
Franz grinned. “Well, now you’re going to meet Nero Sartori at the docks and tell him that we have his wife.”
Ryan’s eyes widened. “What? I can’t…oh, my God…what?”
“Relax, Buckner,” Franz chuckleddarkly. “You’ll be safe as long as we have his wife. Simply let him know that we’ll trade her for him, then all will be well.”
“He’s lying, Ryan,” I said, doing my best to save another life that might not be deserving.
“If I were you,mein schatz, I’d keep my mouth shut,” Franz said, his voice sounding clipped and like he was close to losing his temper.
Shaking my head, I said, “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’d rather bleed out here.”
