Page 42 of Bound in Debt

“You’re a bitch, Victoria Waldorf.” Despite the words, Liam doesn’t sound turned off at all by my display. His pupils are wide and he quickly licks across his swollen lip.

I bat my eyelashes at him. That bite is all he’s going to get from me. “It’s what you get for a shitty proposal, Liam.”

“You want a better one?”

Hell no.

I smile and saunter away toward the ladies’ room on the other side of the diner.

The moment I slip inside, a thick arm catches the door, stopping me before I can close and latch it.

“Nice performance, Victoria,” Professor Moretti says. His dark eyes flash in anger. “For a moment there, I almost thought you made the wrong choice.”

“I still haven’t chosen, Professor?—”

“Don’t,” he clips out through clenched teeth. A muscle in his jaw jumps. “If we’re doing this, it’s Dante. The only time you call me ‘Professor’ is in the classroom or in front of other students. I’m not going to have my wife call me?—”

“I’m not your wife,” I snarl back. “What did you need that was so important that you had to stalk me?—”

“Your answer,” he cuts in, invading more of my space. “Our time is running out. I have to meet with Angelo if I’m going to buy us some more of it.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“That’s my problem.”

Irritation races through my veins as I place a palm on his solid chest and shove him out of my personal space. “This works both ways. Your vague answers don’t sit well with me. It’s like talking to Liam.”

“What did I tell you about comparing me to that little prick?” he growls. “That’s your last warning, Victoria.”

Warmth spreads through my body at his declaration. I refuse to examine whether it’s fear, shame, or lust. Instead, I channel whatever…feeling…this is into annoyance.

“Then act better,” I counter. “Liam thinks I’m a stupid socialite with only half a brain in my head and that I’ll never figure this out. And you’re keeping me in the dark while expecting me to take a leap of faith. I told you not to underestimate me.”

Dante’s nostrils flare and his jaw ticks once before he leans over and hovers inches above my face. “This isn’t some one-act performance that’s going to make all our problems go away, princess. It’s going to take a lot of deception and lies to get us out of this mess.”

“Lying to who?”

“Everyone.”

It’s hard to hold his heated gaze and I feel my resolve slowly slipping. “Tell me how you’re going to buy more time and I’ll answer one of your questions.”

“It’s more of a task that I need you to do,” he tells me. “But I still need an answer to my initial question.”

I understand that he doesn’t trust me and I don’t trust him, but someone has to make the first concession or we’re never going to get this resolved. “You go first.”

“I made an arrangement with Angelo to take a position within the Lombardi organization and buy off some of the debt.”

“Wait.” I stare at him, trying to understand exactly what he’s saying. “You said he ran a mob.”

“He does.”

“You’re going to work for the mob?”

“One or two jobs, but?—”

“Are you absolutely insane right now? In what world would that be safe?”

“Safe isn’t a luxury we have, princess. This is the Italian mob, sweetheart. Angelo Lombardi isn’t some asshole who’s made a bar bet on the side and wants his twenty bucks back.”