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He laughs as he stands up, gesturing for the men to pick me up off the ground. “We’ll see what she has to say when she arrives.” He picks up a poker from the fireplace and smashes it against my knee. “Take him to the basement.”

I’m dragged out of the office. Pain shooting from my leg where I know he busted my kneecap. His guards drag me across the hall that leads to the basement. There are only two things down there. The kill rooms and the meeting room for The Partners. And I sure as hell know which room I am being dragged to.

29

MIRABELLA

“Miss Renzetti, so glad you could make it.” An older man I know as Alistair Bancroft says to me as he holds open the front door of his massive house.

“I came here for one reason.”

“As I told you on the phone. Your daughter is perfectly safe.”

“Then bring her to me,” I snap at him. “I don’t know what game you’re playing but—”

He laughs at me, shutting me up. “Oh, Miss Renzetti, I don’t play games. Games are when you have a chance to win or lose. And I always win.” He pulls me into the house. “Now I may have something else you want.”

“What could you possibly have—”

“Tsk tsk,” he interrupts me as he directs the guards to search me for weapons. “No questions. That was part of the rules. Now follow me.”

A chill goes down my spine as I follow him down a set of stairs into a dark hallway. The smell of iron permeates the cold air and I know what he does down here.

After I left the estate in Genoa, Dante made a few calls and got me to the Bancroft Estate, as well as a call with Alistair. I don’t really know why he helped me when he could be killed for doing something against Giancarlo’s orders. But Giancarlo is on his deathbed, at least from the little information he told me. The bullet wound caused him to lose a lot of blood. He was stable but in a coma. And I sure as hell hope he doesn’t wake up so he doesn’t come after me.

I follow Alistair into a damp room. My eyes looking everywhere with each door we pass for my daughter. But like this one, the lights are off.

I can feel the presence of someone else in this room and I hope to hell this isn’t the end for me.

The lights suddenly turn on and I cover my eyes from the brightness of them. When they adjust I look around the room, Aria nowhere to be found, so I breathe a sigh of relief. But I turn around and find Kilian bound, gagged, and bleeding in a chair.

I rush toward him even though I can see the message in his eyes, the one telling me to step away.

“I told you I had something else you wanted, Mirabella.”

I turn toward Alistair, fire burning in my veins. “That is your son.”

“I’ve always had a very high respect for loyalty,” Alistair replies. “It really is the key to success. If one is loyal to another, it can help business grow even if the things you are tasked with aren’t morally right.” He circles around me where I stand next to Kilian. “Loyalty was the first lesson I taught all my children. Just like I am sure that was the first lesson your father and uncle taught you.”

I turn as he speaks, my heart pounding in my chest. I have no idea where he is going with this. All I want to do is kill him and get Kilian out of this room. Kilian’s fingers barely brush mine as I turn and look at Alistair as he walks behind him. I grip them knowing Alistair can’t see.

“It seems you are not loyal to your family like Kilian is not loyal to this one. I am curious how long the two of you have been secretly seeing each other. Has Kilian known this whole time who you were, since your family first started to try and take us down?”

“What are you talking about?” I cut in. “I know nothing about the dealings of my family. And as for your son, I only reconnected with him a few months ago.”

Alistair smiles at me, and I swear I can see the devil in his eyes. “Did you know Kilian knew who you were when he first met you in Dublin?”

“He had no idea who I was.”

Alistair shrugs as Kilian squeezes my fingers. “Oh he knew all about Mirabella Renzetti. In fact, I am sure he fucked you just to get the last laugh. Since he killed your parents.”

I drop my gaze down to Kilian. I can see pleading in his eyes, like he wants to tell me something but I drop his hand instead. “He didn’t kill them. It was you, Alistair.”

He laughs. “I don’t stoop so low to commit those crimes. But Kilian had orders and he followed through. I do hope your parents enjoyed that opera before they died.” I want to rip the smile off his face. “But Kilian knew all about them, knew about you and your brother. It was his job to research you. And yet two years later he found you in Dublin and seduced you, fucked you, got you pregnant. All like I asked him to.”

I step away from Kilian and closer to Alistair, not wanting to believe a word he is saying. But between him and my uncle, the lies might all be truths. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Loyalty. Kilian had it for years. He followed instructions. And now your child is just what I need, a weapon for control.”