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Bruno. Bruno Bernardi. It had to be.
I stepped along the footpath, lifting my gaze as one of the island’s armed guards crossed my path.
“Ma’am.” He gave a nod and kept on moving.
I hurried, glancing over my shoulder before turning back. Building six, it wasn’t far from ours, set back further on the island and away from the dock where we'd disembarked. Lights spilled around the dark curtains on the top floor. I hurried toward the building, stepping up to the door and the guard who waited inside.
“Ma’am,” he acknowledged me.
“I’m here to see Bruno?”
A nod and he strode toward the elevator, swiped his wristband across the sensor, and motioned me inside as the doors opened. I stepped in, nerves fluttering in my belly. I had no idea what to do now. No idea who to ask or what to ask for. Not for murder…but to disappear?Maybe.
The thought rolled around in my head as the elevator rose.
The closer I came, the more the butterflies trapped in my belly churned.
When the doors opened, a sharp bark of laughter tore free.
There was a guard standing beside the elevator. His cold, careful eyes swept over me. Okay, so that wasn’t expected. I looked down and kept on walking. It was an apartment, but not one like ours. Bedrooms branched off on the left and the whole right side was set out in one sprawling room, with what looked like to be more bedrooms further along. It was bigger than ours, at least double the size.
Double the size, with an exclusive feel.
Black leather sofas sat on the left and against the glass wall looking out into the night.
There were guys there, drinking and talking, with soft, dim lights caressing the women draped over their laps.
One of them lifted his gaze and looked at me, his hand gripping a blonde’s thigh.
I kept walking, past the kitchen and into what was the game room. The moment I saw the card table, my stomach clenched and a cold wash of fear gripped me. My steps hesitated and my pulse raced. I was going to be sick.Jesus, I was going to be...
“Hey there, would you like a glass of champagne?”
I jerked my gaze to a waiter and smiled, fighting the urge to scream. “Sure,” I answered, and grabbed a glass from the tray.
Heads turned when I stepped closer, cards were splayed out on the table. The chips were ten-thousand dollars and bigger. Women were here, some I recognized, most I didn’t. I was guessing they were shipped in from the mainland specifically for the party. There was another card table to the right, past the kitchen. I strode between them, catching sight of perky bare breasts of one woman with her hand buried in an open zipper, and another on her knees in the corner, naked with her legs spread.
A surge of heat washed over me.
Dark deeds and darker corners.
The place reeked of seduction and sex.
And power, we mustn’t forget the power.
“Keep walking.”
The low growl at my ear made me flinch. A chill washed through me as I started to turn, until a cruel grip on the back of my neck stopped me. “You want to do as you’re told, Katerina.”
Katerina.
My knees trembled as my name was used as a weapon.
All of a sudden, I was a kid again.
A kid helpless to fight.
A kid with no control.
