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“How the fuck did this happen?” Lorenzo was yelling at his men, having a tantrum like a petulant child behind the sofa she was sitting on. “I told you to kidnap Olivia Buccini, the wife! Not his sister!”
“She said she was Olivia. She had the accent to match!” One of his men, who had carried Elenora in, spoke quickly. His hands frantically gestured at the insanely hot captive who was smirking at me with Satan’s smile.
“Actually,” she started, her voice mimicking a very plausible British accent. “I never said I was Olivia. You made that assumption yourself. Stronzo!”
The soldier dived forward from behind the sofa to lash out because of that sassy mouth. I stood up aggressively, causing him to halt in his rampage. My glare alone told him to back the fuck off and he retreated, frowning. I sat back down and looked at Elenora. I caught the fleeting look of surprise at my intervention before she hid it again behind that feisty glare.
So she pretended to be Olivia and got herself kidnapped. Why the hell would she do that? This woman just became even more of an enigma to me.
Isabelle huffed deeply, swaying on one hip. “So, what now? Is Giovanni even going to care as much now that we have his sister instead of his wife?”
“He will care,” Lorenzo walked back around to face Elenora. “He is a family man. Wife. Sister. It doesn’t matter. He will still take notice.”
Elenora scoffed. My dick hardened. Cazzo, this woman had a pair of balls on her. She was in a room full of enemies and she hadn’t once shown any indication of fear.
“Giovanni will take great pleasure in finding me and cutting your balls off before feeding your corpse to the sharks, Leone. Don’t you worry about that.”
Lorenzo’s jaw tensed and I saw the anger fester under his skin. Too emotional. So easily manipulated. I chuckled into my glass again, which caused Elenora’s head to snap to me. Ooo, it’s my turn now. Come on, Princess. Show me what you’ve got.
“I don’t know why you’re laughing. You’ve just outed yourself as a backstabbing coward.”
My smile dropped and was replaced by a cold, unforgiving expression. My lips tightened and my nostrils flared as I sent her an icy glare. There it was. The first flicker of fear in her eyes.
“Enlighten me, Princess.”
She gulped, but held her chin higher, hardening her gaze to meet mine. “Your family signed a treaty with mine for peace between the North and South. You broke it by coming to the North, stealing the deal with Veril and now kidnapping me. And the whole time you are hiding behind…” she looked over at Lorenzo with disgust. “...Him. That makes you a backstabbing coward in my eyes.”
Her words affected me far more than any shit-talk I had heard in years. Not only because they were hers and I could see that she meant every word, but because deep down I knew they were true. I had voiced this two years ago when my papi first decided to break the treaty and marry Isabelle to Lorenzo. If we were going to break the oath, let’s fucking break it. Not this sneaking around bullshit. But he called it the ‘waiting game’.
“You have some fucking nerve,” Isabelle jumped to my defence, stepping forward, but Lorenzo grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
“She is just a Buccini whore. Don’t stoop to her level, my love,” Lorenzo chuckled and Isabelle smirked. My jaw clenched at his words. I shouldn’t care, but I didn’t like it. I didn’t like anyone talking about her, good or bad. I had never been able to handle it, not since I was sixteen. For some reason, Elenora Buccini had manipulated my mind to believe she was mine to protect, when she had only ever been mine to destroy.
I expected a sharp comment from that sassy mouth, but she stayed silent, slinking further down in her chair.
“Where is Finn?” she suddenly asked, her eyes wide in panic. “My bodyguard. Where is he?”
I turned my head to regard Lorenzo as he nodded to his men. The doors opened and they dragged in a man, his hands also tied behind his back. Dried blood covered his shirt, one of his legs and most of his face. They shoved him to the floor on his knees, his face scrunching with the pain from his leg and I took a sip of my drink again to hide my interest.
“You said you would leave him alone!” Elenora cried, sitting up straight on the sofa and looking over at her bodyguard with genuine concern.
“And you tricked us to save your sister-in-law,” Lorenzo stated, moving towards Finn and grabbing his hair roughly. The man winced as Lorenzo ripped his head back to look down at his face. “For that, I should kill him. Send his head back to your brother as our first message. If he doesn’t do what we say, yours will be next.”
Elenora’s eyes widened in alarm and she visibly gulped. My heart constricted. I stood up abruptly, taking dominant strides across the room.
“Leone, a word,” I demanded deeply.
I paused at the door where Fabi was standing and whispered. “Don’t leave the room. Make sure no one touches a hair on either of their heads. Got it?”
He nodded in understanding and I marched down the corridor until I found Lorenzo’s office. Flinging the door open so it hit the wall with force, I stomped inside and advanced on him as soon as his body walked through the doorway. Grabbing his throat in one hand, I smashed his body back against the grey wall, shattering a framed photograph as it fell to the floor.
“What the fuck do you think you are playing at, Leone? Sending your men out unprepared to kidnap Giovanni's wife? Did you just wake up this morning thinking, 'Oh I know what I'll do, I'll be a first-class idiot?' And because of your recklessness, they kidnapped Elenora Buccini? For what? What is your grand plan here?”
“You said it yourself,” he wheezed and I shoved him before letting go, expecting him to explain himself, fast. “The war has started. I am just ensuring we have the best defence.”
“Defence? You think keeping her captive is a form of defence? Giovanni will be tearing down every business and home you own, as well as everyone you love to find her,” I growled.
“No, he won’t,” Lorenzo started to shake his head and I honestly, for a moment, believed he had lost his mind. “He won’t do anything that would cause Elenora harm. Hit him where it hurts. His family. He will do anything for them. If we prove that she is safe as long as he cooperates, we will have him in the palm of our hands.”
