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I had to leave.
There was no one else around apart from me and her. I whipped my head around, searching for something…anything, and then my gaze snapped toward the door. I didn’t think about it. I just went off instinct and ran for it. My body screamed at me, pain taking over every sense in my body, but Ihadto escape. She wouldn’t stop me, not if she felt the same as I did. Maybe I should have asked her to come with me. We could have made our own plan and got out together. But all I was thinking about was myself in that moment.
I refused to be “trained.” I refused to be sold to the highest bidder. This was not my life.
I was on a mission to get on the other side of that door, not thinking too much into it all. I was so close. Ten feet. Five feet. Three feet.
Crack.
My body swayed, my head pounding instantly. It took me a second to realize that I’d been hit over the head, and when I turned and slumped against the wall, I saw her, the woman who had seemed so concerned when I first came in.
It was fake.Shewas fake.
“I don’t get to leave, which means you don’t either.” Her voice was monotone, the complete opposite to how it had been only a few minutes ago.
“Please,” I whispered, my lips going numb. “Please, I—”
I didn’t get to finish my sentence because her fist was flying at my face, and nothing in my body was working to defend myself. Her knuckles crashed into my eye and nose, blood bursting out immediately. A second later, everything went dark, and for the first time since I’d been taken, I was at peace, oblivious to what was going on around me.
CHAPTER 5
ROMEO
I waited on the sofa in Lorenzo’s office, hearing his voice on the other side of the door. He’d told me to brief him as soon as I could, but it had been two days since I’d last seen him and gone to the meeting place to see Gio Pozzi.
I’d been following Gio since then, trying to track where he went and when, but there was no pattern to it, at least, none that I could see so far. I needed more time to find out what else he was into, either that, or get in deep with him. If it was up to me, option two would be vetoed, but I had a feeling Lorenzo would want to do that one.
It was the only thing that made sense and yielded the best and fastest results. But dammit, the thought of going back into that building and seeing those women like that again infuriated me beyond belief. But I knew it was a means to an end.
Sighing, I ran my large palm over my face. I wasn’t used to doing things like this. I’d been trained my entire life to be the best at one thing, but now it felt like I was being thrown in the deep end with no end in sight.
Just as my thoughts were getting the better of me, the door opened and Lorenzo appeared with Dante behind him. “Fill us in,” Lorenzo demanded as he paced to the other side of the desk. I stood when I realized he had no intention of sitting down. I hated feeling like I was inferior, and sitting while two people were standing definitely made that a reality.
“He’s running what can only be described as a sex club,” I said, not waiting or overthinking what I was telling them. “There’s more to it though,” I tacked on the end.
“How so?” Dante asked. He stood next to Lorenzo like a sentinel, guarding the boss but also looking like he was suppressing all of his rage. We all knew that I was getting in with Gio for what he’d done to Navy and Dario. The fact that they’d taken Mr. Blue’s niece and he’d asked us to help was an afterthought.
Family always came first.
I shook my head, thinking back to two nights ago when I was sitting at the table with him, and then to when he was talking to me before The Enterprise meeting. “He’s too open.” It may have sounded like a weird thing to say, but it made sense. “He’s showing me these things and inviting me there, but what if it’s to conceal something else?” I cracked my neck to the side, hearing the bones crunch. “He’s trying to be a magician, showing us his hand, meanwhile he has a whole other thing going on behind his back.” The more I said, the more I realized the truth behind it. Men like Gio didn’t confide in anyone, so the fact that he’d done that with me had to mean something. There was more going on, I just knew it in my gut.
“You think he knows we sent you in?” Lorenzo asked, his expression not giving a single thing away.
Shrugging, I told him, “Fuck knows. But there’s only one way to find out.” I glanced down at the time on my Rolex. “It’s coming up to seven p.m. now, I could head back over there and see what else I can find.”
I wasn’t asking, I was telling, and they both knew that, but Lorenzo nodded as if I were vying for his permission. “Tell your captain, make sure he sends backup just in case.”
“Got it.” I yanked my cell out and shot off a quick message to Mateo who then replied telling me that he’d send Rafael and another soldier to be close by. “Done.”
The silence stretched as Lorenzo turned to Dante and spoke so low that only they could hear each other. I should have left. I should have walked out of there and gotten on with my job. But it was time to tell Lorenzo the truth, I just hoped it wouldn’t make a difference.
“There’s another thing,” I murmured, hating how I sounded so damn unsure of myself. I was never anything but confident.
Lorenzo turned his attention slowly to me, a brow raised in question.
“I didn’t tell you this because…well…I don’t know.” I scraped my hand down my face, taking in a breath to calm myself. “I went to school with Gio when we were kids.”
Dante stepped forward. “How? Isn’t he like five years older than you?”
