Page 3

I watched Larissa gravitate to the couch, dropping her head into her hands. Her blonde hair cascaded down her face, twined through her dainty fingers, and for a second, she looked like a fallen angel.

In that moment, I felt myself weaken at the sight of this delicate woman struggling to make sense of her situation. Had she been anyone else, I might have been more inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt.

But she was an Ajello , and every Ajello I’d known was a snake. She was a beautiful woman, one who had this siren around her calling to be protected and safeguarded, but as they said, never judge a book by its cover, and I knew there was more to her than she let on.

After all, she’d been following me with that dog, Dom.

“Let's try this again,” I said, walking closer until I stood over her. “What did your brother send you to find out?”

She dropped her hands and looked at me wide-eyed with a trembling lower lip. “Please…” she said in a choked voice, shaking her head as though she had no answers.

It might have convinced a lesser man. But I was certain this was a part of her game, that she underestimated just how shrewd I could be.

She played well, I’d given her that.

“Larissa…” I sang her voice in warning, a technique I used on men in the torture chamber, to tell them I was here and I held the cards.

Her aquamarine eyes fluttered and she let out a choked breath, wrangling her hands on her lap in nervousness. “Please, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know anything, and unless if you want me to lie—”

“Drop it,” I said, in a cold voice. She froze and watched as I began to pace in front of her, my eyes always fixed on hers. “Today wasn’t a coincidence, was it? You were following me.”

“I…I wasn’t following you!” she shrieked like a desperate woman tired of speaking her truth. Or at least, that’s what it sounded like. An act, I reminded myself. “I was only out doing some chores. That’s all.”

“Chores?”

“I was buying groceries and picking up some dry-cleaning,” she said in a calmer voice now.

There was a silence, and I watched her shoulders fall in relief, as though that explanation was good enough.

“Really?” I said, in an icy tone. “Where were the groceries? Where were the clothes? When I took you, you were empty-handed.”

Her mouth hung open in shock so genuine that I had to wonder if she had ever taken acting classes. She jumped off the couch and walked over to me with her hands outstretched as though pleading. “I was on my way to the grocery store, I swear. My bodyguard Dom was picking up the dry cleaning while I got a coffee.”

I frowned, remembering the coffee she’d dropped when I’d grabbed her. She made a good argument, I’d give her that, but at the same time, it could have been a concocted story.

She took advantage of my silence and confused thoughts. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not like that. My brothers, they…” her voice quivered. “They never involve me in their business. Dom was only there to protect me while I was out. Whatever it is you think they did, I would know nothing of it.”

Then she looked up at me, a defiant look coming over her face. She stood taller, and through the curtain of innocent on her face, I saw mild rage. “Besides, I know my brothers. They never cross a line, so I don’t know what it is you’re so angry about. Maybe before holding on to this anger, you need to cross-check your facts. I’m telling you, you’ve got the wrong person.”

I cocked an eyebrow in her direction, surprised at how despite her precarious situation, her loyalty shone through.

“Larissa,” I said, clicking my tongue as I slowly circled her standing frame. “On one hand, you tell me your brothers don’t involve you in the family business. On the other, you claim they’re incapable of having crossed me. Which is it? You know enough about the business to consider them innocent, or you don’t know, and your trust in your brothers is just an illusion.”

I watched her chest heave as I stood before her again, and her lashes dazzled with wetness, from tears she was trying to hold back. She hurtled out choked words. “They’re my brothers. I know them in my bones. I know they’re good. There’s nothing more I can say,” and then, the silent tears fell down her cheeks.

I watched her face and felt a small clamp in my heart, twisting the truth enough to make me question myself. Then I remembered my conversation with the twins. My spies had told me that the Ajellos were holding secret dinners without us and involving the smaller families to return to ‘traditions’. They were essentially stating that we had betrayed our Italian heritage by colluding with the Russians.

All the evidence I had pointed to the Ajellos. It pointed to her. The way I saw it, the Ajellos were the loudest to speak against us. We were attacked, and I had a car following me from the warehouse after the attack. Somehow, an Ajello and their most trusted man were at the same place where I held a meeting with my spies.

There were too many moving pieces at the right place, at the right time, for it all to have been a coincidence. No matter how truly petrified and innocent Larissa looked, I couldn’t completely buy her act.

I had to remind myself to remember that families like ours were trained to maintain innocence when caught by an enemy. Chances were, Larissa knew just how to throw wool over my eyes, and she’d chosen to train in the whole innocent act.

I had to remind myself to not get caught up in her trap.

“Gastone wouldn't send his precious sister into the wolf's den without a purpose.” I stepped toward her, towering over her. The movement made her flinch. Good. I wanted her to be afraid. “Did he think I wouldn't notice? Has he kept you from the world to spy when needed? Who else are you spying on? Are you following the Vadims? The Ustinovs?”

She averted her gaze and whispered into nothingness, her gaze fixed on a spot in the floor. “I don’t know who they are,” she insisted in a flat tone, as though she was slowly giving up on explaining even. “And I wasn't sent by anyone. I told you, I was there for chores.”

My laugh was dry, humorless. “A coincidence, then?

She furrowed her brows and looked up at me like a desperate, feral cat. When she spoke, her voice came out in nearly a scream, filled with frustration. “I don’t know what you want me to say! Yes, it was a coincidence. But you don’t want to believe that, do you? So go ahead, do what you want and get this over with.”

A tear trickled down her cheek, and she wiped it away with the back of her hand, staring up at me defiantly.

God, she was good. I watched her face, studying the stubborn set of her jaw. Either she was the most accomplished liar I'd ever encountered, or she was telling a partial truth. Neither possibility changed my plans.

She must know something. She was the only sister to Gastone, Carlo, and Dino. She was a valuable tool, a trove of information waiting to be discovered. I knew what I had to do.

I would need to keep her around indefinitely. Day by day, second by second, I had to push her until she grew tired and broke. She was the key to uncovering her family’s plans, and there was no way I could let her go before I had all the answers, or at least some satisfactory ones.

I watched her nervously flicker her gaze to me and avert it again. I watched as she hunched into herself, her arms wrapped tight against her stomach. I watched every heave of her chest, every sign of her distress.

And I felt bad, I did. But not enough. “Your answers are of no use to me,” I said, coldly, as the detachment set into me.

Her breath caught. “What does that mean? What are you going to do?”

I didn't answer. Instead, I grabbed her arm, my decision having been made.

“You had your chance to talk,” I said. “Now we do this the hard way and will keep doing it the hard way until you give me what I want.”

I yanked her toward me. She gasped, immediately struggling against my grip.

“Let go of me!” She twisted, her free hand coming up to claw at my face.

I caught her wrist before her nails could make contact, squeezing just hard enough to make her wince. “Don't make this worse for yourself,” I warned.

“You're insane,” she hissed, her earlier composure fracturing. “My brothers will kill you for this!”

“They can try.” I began dragging her across the living room, toward the hallway that led deeper into the mansion. “Many have tried before them, and frankly, they’re the ones dead.”

She fought me every step of the way. She was kicking and pulling. She even attempted to bite my arm at one point. I growled and jumped back to save my skin, but kept my grip on her tight.

God, she fought like a wildcat. Her hair whipped across both our faces, and her voice echoed threats she would never fulfill. She lashed and thrashed with all her might to get free, but I was stronger.

“Please,” she begged me when she lost her strength to fight me as I forced her down the corridor. “Whatever you think I know, I don't. I swear on my mother's grave.”

“Don't,” I growled. “Don't bring your dead into this. It won't help you.”

We passed through the kitchen, where two of my men stood guard and watched me drag a woman through the house without giving out a reaction. One opened the heavy door that led to the basement stairs without being asked.

Larissa's struggles intensified when she saw the darkness beyond. “No,” she gasped. “No, please, not down there.”

There was something in her voice, a vulnerability that shone through. She seemed truly petrified, and for a moment, I weakened and let my mind consider alternatives. But then I thought of my family. I needed the best fighting chance to protect them, and if she feared the basement, perhaps she’d break faster.

I pushed my doubts away. “Last chance to tell me what your family is planning.”

“I told you, I don't know!” Her voice broke on the last word, tears finally spilling onto her cheeks.

I hardened my heart against the sight. “Then you leave me no choice.”

The stairs were steep, forcing me to half-carry her down them to keep us both from falling. At the bottom, I flipped a switch that illuminated the converted space from basement to prison. There were metal bars to hold her in a cell, which contained a cot, a sink, and a small enclosed toilet.

Larissa went rigid when she saw it. “You can't keep me here,” she whispered, her voice hollow with disbelief. “People will look for me.”

“Let them look.” I propelled her toward the cell, fishing the key from my pocket. “By the time anyone traces you to me—if they ever do—you could be here for years.”

I unlocked the door and shoved her in. She grabbed the bars, trying to hold the door open, but I was stronger and pulled it shut. Her feet slid against the floor as she clung to the door with every dying hope.

At last, I managed to shut the cell door, and it locked automatically. She stumbled, steadied herself against the wall, and then whirled to face me, her hands wrapping around the bars.

“You won't get away with this!” she said with pure fury. “My brothers will tear this city apart looking for me and when they do, you’ll realize what a mistake you made, you hear me?”

“Good,” I said quietly. “Let them come. Perhaps I could then use you as leverage. There’s no way I’m letting you go without knowing their plans. I don’t care who delivers them to me.”

“There is no plan!” She rattled the bars fruitlessly, her knuckles white with exertion.

I shrugged.

Her eyes glazed over with rage. “I’m going to make your life hell!” she shrieked.

Despite the situation, I couldn’t prevent my lips from turning upward. I simply motioned at the space around us, as though to remind her of where she was.

She huffed and crossed her arms. “You underestimate me.”

I quirked an eyebrow. She didn’t have a shred of fear in her, did she? Even now, she fought.

“I…I’ll break out of this cell. And when I do, I’ll…”

“-You’ll what?” I cut her off, curious to see where she was going with this.

She simmered down, watching me with narrowed eyes. I turned away and moved toward the stairs. Behind me, I heard her scream expletives in my direction—in English and Italian.

God, she had a dirty mouth if she wanted. And I didn’t bother holding back a smile as I walked away. She was… entertaining.

“You can't just leave me here!” she cried as I reached the top of the stairs. “I'm innocent! Is this how you treat—”

I paused, looking back at her over my shoulder. “Everyone knows something, Larissa. Even if they don't realize it.” I studied her for a moment longer. “I'll return in the morning. Perhaps a night alone with your thoughts will improve your memory.”

Her face crumpled then, the last of her composure fracturing. “Please,” she whispered. “I'm begging you. Don't do this.”

For a heartbeat, I wavered. But I wasn’t a fool. She had been trained for this, I reminded myself.

“Goodnight, Ms. Ajello.” I turned and stepped out of the basement, closing the door behind me to muffle her final desperate plea.

In the kitchen, one of my men waited for me. “Boss?”

“Dmitri, keep an eye on her and do not let her out for even a moment, no matter what she says. Pass her food, water, and a blanket. She needs nothing else. No one speaks to her, but me,” I told him.

He nodded once. “Security?”

“Double it. If someone knows we took her, there could be trouble,” I checked my watch—nearly ten at night. “Where's Pavel?”

“I can have him with you in your office.”

I nodded, needing to speak to my right-hand man.

Ten minutes later, Pavel knocked and entered my office. “Boss?”

“Pavel,” I swung my chair in his direction. “The car I drove today, I need it burned.”

“Burned?”

“I took a girl today.”

“Who?” His eyes widened.

I didn’t reply, and he remembered himself, realizing it wasn’t for him to ask for details I didn’t offer.

“Crush and burn the car. If we were caught on CCTV, I don’t want it traced back to us. That car will never hit the road again. Can never be seen again. You understand?”

“Yes, Boss,” he said. “We’ll cover all tracks. You will need a new vehicle, I assume?”

I nodded. “Make it a different model, a different color.”

“Certainly, Boss,” he nodded, and walked out.