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"What are you talking about?" Natalie surges forward against her bonds, eyes burning with intensity now. "I never planted anything. And I tried to keep things professional between us, I did. But what happened was…" She trails off.
I stare into her eyes. I've always been able to read people. It's a gift, and a necessity in my world. But this woman has always been a mystery to me. Even now, I can't tell if it's truth or manipulation shining in her eyes.
So I harden my heart. Safer not to hope, to let any flicker of warmth or light in.
"Enough." My fingers curl into fists. "I don't know why I'm wasting time listening to your lies. I should just—"
"Kill me?" Natalie's chin lifts, a spark of defiance piercing her fear.
I arch an eyebrow. "You're very quick to suggest it."
"Why the hell else would you have me abducted—tied up here—" She makes an irritated noise. "I knew what I was getting into when I took on the role, Alessa. And I know what happens to rats in the Mob."
I do want to kill her. God, I do. I want to erase her from existence, so that I can deny I was ever such a fool.
I lean in so close our faces are inches apart. "You seem very certain about who I am." Her breath flutters against my lips. Being this near her is a mistake, but I need to regain the upper hand. Prove to her—to myself—that she hasn't left me powerless.
My nail traces a slow line down her cheek. Natalie shivers. "I could make you beg for death long before it comes. And part of me wants that, so badly. To shred your composure until you show the weak, cowering girl that lies underneath all that cunning and spite."
Natalie swallows involuntarily. But she keeps her eyes locked on mine.
With a noise of disgust, I step back, putting distance between us again. "But despite what you and your Fed friends think, I run alegitimatebusiness. The Ruby Realm provides a safe space for women, and my charity work doesrealgood in the world. Your stunt has put all of that at risk." My jaw tightens. "I have too much to lose to play your games any longer."
Reaching behind her, I take up a knife from the tray that Daddy so thoughtfully laid out for me—as set dressing, if nothing else, because he knows me much better than I know myself—and Natalie's eyes go wide with shock.
I take a few brisk steps behind her and slice through her binding in one smooth motion, hands first, then ankles. Natalie tumbles out of the chair, lurching forward as her arms come free. She rolls over and stares up at me in bewilderment, rubbing at her wrists.
I gesture toward the door with the knife. "There. You're free. Run back to your handlers, with my compliments." My lips twist in a mockery of a smile. "Tell tales on me again if you like. It won't have any effect. I'm not going to be taken down so easily, Natalie Miller. Not me."
Natalie hesitates, confusion creasing her brow. "Alessa...I don't understand. You're just letting me go?"
"You seem disappointed, sweetheart. Were you hoping for a more dramatic ending? I'm so sorry to disappoint you—but I've rather lost my taste for you."
Natalie flushes. "No, that's not—I just figured you'd want revenge. After everything..."
Everything. Images flash through my mind on fast forward: first sighting her across a crowded ballroom, the adrenaline rush of our verbal sparring. Then later, the intimacy of whispered conversations in the dark, her fingers tangled with mine, bodies intertwined, my name gasped out of her lips.
I shut it down fast. Can't afford vulnerability; it already cost me too much. But Natalie's right—letting her walk does go rather against tradition.
If she'd messed with anyone other than me, she'd be fish food by now.
"Revenge would be satisfying, I admit," I tell her slowly. "And if this was only about me, I'd take my time with it, savor every moment." Natalie pales. "But it's not just my life at stake. If I go down for this, the Ruby fails. My initiatives for trafficked women collapse. You don't realize—don't care—how many will suffer, women and girls who have no one else. I won't let that happen."
Natalie looks unsure. "Alessa, no matter how much good you've done, it doesn't justify—"
I cut her off with a harsh, brittle laugh. "There's that black-and-white mentality. The law is always right, and those who break it deserve punishment." I step closer, anger simmering now. "Surely you don't still believe that? After seeing what I do, the spaces I operate in. The kind of people your righteous FBI partners are in bed with."
"Of course there's corruption now and then, but—"
"No buts!" I jab a finger at her. "You're so certain your Bureau is in the right, thatI'mthe villain here. When the truth is the evidence used against me won't hold up at trial. Hell, it won't evengetto trial."
Lucia has already assured me of that, and she's very good at what she does. As long as I can keep Don Mancini on my side, Lucia Rossi will help me beat the rap.
Natalie gives me a wary look. "What do you mean? Youwererunning an illegal casino, Alessa."
I give a smug smile. "What casino?" The casino disappeared from the secret speakeasy room in the basement the same night I threw Natalie out of the Ruby. "The evidence your team arrested me on had nothing to do with a casino. They claim that not only was I laundering money, I was dealing drugs for the Mancini Family—but I wasn't. Iwasn't, Special Agent Miller. So how exactly did they find that sizeable brick of coke to use against the big, bad Mafia princess?"
I can see the uncertainty in Natalie's eyes. And I answer my own question.
