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"Because phone calls were becoming difficult, and you weren’t answering any of my goddamned questions,” I shot back, deciding to get straight to the point. “How do you know it was Dante who pulled the trigger? How do you know the Guerras were even there? It could have been any of my father’s enemies.”
The long blink was the only thing I needed to see to know that Valentino hadn’t been expecting this question.
“Did you justassume?” I asked. “Even if that were the case, how would you know the details of the whole situation? How would you know it was an initiation for Dante? How the hell would you know that they didn’t contract out the job to one of their lackeys?”
I assumed he’d stick to his resolve, but Valentino did something I didn’t expect. He exploded from his chair and flew around the desk. I could have backed away. I could have done a number ofthings to prevent the attack, but I let him come. I let him show his power the way he always had in the past.
I let him grab me by the throat hard enough that all the oxygen left me. I could feel the shaking of his wrists as he put all his force into squeezing, but I didn’t even lift my arms to try to stop him.
I waited for his reply, even as I sputtered and tried to cough from the tight grip.
“Iraisedyou, and you think you have the right to question me?” he asked, bending into my face. This would bruise, I realized as I winced from the grip that shifted and tightened again. Valentino’s sole goal was to hurt me, and I knew that. “I know what happens to my men. I don’t let them get killed without digging into the sources behind the deaths. I don’t stop until I learn what happened, and the Guerras like to talk.”
Through his anger, though, I could see the way his eyes shifted as if trying to conceal the lie.
My vision began darkening around the edges, and I couldn’t help but lift my hand to hold his wrist, clawing it slightly. His smile widened, and I knew I’d given him what he wanted.
Nausea roiled my belly as I forced myself not to fight back. It would only make it worse, and I needed him to answer questions. I didn’t need him enraged beyond reason.
I sputtered, opening my mouth to try to get a breath, and he only continued grinning, his eyes dancing with a lightness that hadn’t been there before.
“Don’t forget who is in charge here. I give you orders, and you follow them. If not, you know what happens.”
I had to toe this line carefully. I couldn’t allow myself to go unconscious. I knew I could take Valentino in a fight, especially when he made people do all his dirty work for him. He’d overturned my training to far more experienced fighters in the last five years because there was nothing new he could offer me. Physically, he wouldn’t stand a chance. But if I fought now, it would jeopardize everything. I didn’t think he’d kill me. He wasn’t aware of my betrayal yet, and I was still an asset to him.
But if he didn’t let go…
If I didn’t fight, I could go unconscious and risk worse.
I balled my other fist as my vision lost all color, and my body went rigid. I went to raise it, but his hand loosened, pushing me backward. I collapsed to the floor, unaware of how cumbersome my legs had become. I slammed into the floor hard enough that my teeth clanked together as I gasped for much-needed air.
Valentino turned back toward his desk and strode around it, acting as if nothing had happened as he sat back in his seat and clicked his pen impatiently, waiting for me to regain my composure.
I stared over at him in disgust.
I hadn’t asked him anything unreasonable. I hadn’t even been disrespectful about my request for information. I’d simply asked how he got the information, and he hadn’t given me a single straightforward answer.
Valentino had lied about my father. I knew it without an ounce of hesitation.
“Is this how you treated my mother when she married you, as well?” I asked. “Did you strangle her when she disobeyed or questioned you? Did you hit her when you were angry?”
“In a business like this one, I can’t afford for my people to act out of line. Anything that was done to your mother was necessary.”
But I saw the immediate light in his eyes as he watched me writhe in pain. It did something to him that I didn’t want to admit. I’d seen the way that killing made him lighter and more joyous. When he tortured me for the sake of training, he seemed to loosen with each cracked bone and scream of agony.
Valentino got off on people’s pain, and I couldn’t allow myself to consider how much he’d caused to my mother.
I couldn’t think about what she’d allowed herself to go through for my sake. She’d only married Valentino for the protection he offered. It was something I hadn’t realized as a child, but looking back, all the signs of abuse and neglect were there. The bruises. The sadness behind her eyes. All of it.
“I’m not my mother,” I told him, shaking my head and massaging my tender throat. “I’m not going to listen to you blindly and put up with abuse. I don’t have to.”
“You’re going to run to the Guerras?” he asked with a laugh.
“At least I know Dante is ten times the man you are.”
His smile dissipated immediately, and he leaned forward. “You’re leaving for my enemy? After all I’ve done for you?”
“If you come around this desk again—if you ever try to touch me again—I will show you exactly what your training did to me.”
