Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“What do you want with me?” she finally asks, addressing me.
“Why did you accompany your father’s body to Italy for burial? You knew the danger.”
“He wanted to be buried in Italian soil.”
“So why not send the body with guards? Watch from behind a video like your coward brother?”
She raises her glass to me in a mock toast and sips. “I think you just answered your own question. I’m not a coward. I’m not scared of either of you.”
“I think you are, Dandelion,” Bastian taunts.
“But let’s shelf that,” I say. “Are you scared of your brother?”
“Lucien?”
“Unless you have another we’re not aware of.”
She eyes me suspiciously. “No.”
“Were you afraid of your father?”
“No, of course not.”
“Now that he’s dead and conveniently days before your twenty-first birthday, you and your brother will share Russo Properties & Holdings, is that right?”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s a fifty-fifty split?”
She drinks. Nods once but looks uncertain.
“You sure about that?” Bastian asks.
“Either way, it’s none of your business.”
“Oh, we already made it our business. Your brother has a creative way of managing funding.”
She sets her jaw, and I wonder how much she knows about how exactly Lucien Russo finances his personal debt.
“What do you want with me? Why am I here and not in my prison?”
I get up and walk behind my desk. It’s an antique, and my brother’s matching one sits across the room facing mine. I unlock a drawer to take out a folder and hand it to her. She takes it but looks dubious.
“More reading?” she asks.
I lean against the back of the armchair. “Financial reports going back seven years for Russo Properties & Holdings. The real ones. Not the ones your family doctors. You owe money to some dangerous men.”
She sets her drink aside and opens it, glances through the sheets then closes it and sets it down.
“I don’t believe you. You could have made these up yourself. It wouldn’t be very hard, even for an idiot.”
Bastian chuckles.
“You have some balls considering you live at our pleasure,” I say.
“I live because you very clearly need me,” she says, standing. She walks over to me coming closer than I expect. I’m surprised by her boldness. She cocks her head to the side and touches the collar of my shirt, then tilts big blue eyes up to mine. “You missed a spot,” she says, then licks her thumb and rubs my collar to show me the smear of red. “Your type of work never ends, does it?”
“You should know. Your father dealt plenty with the mafia. His hands were never really clean.”
She turns away, but I grip her wrist and tug her back to me.
“But your brother, that’s where those relationships get interesting.”
She tries to free herself, but I don’t let her go. “What do you want? Why am I here?”
“Do you know how he intends to pay back the money he owes? Looks like he borrowed from the business but that, of course, left a hole.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Did Daddy know about your brother’s bad habits?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Bastian snorts impatiently, then stands. “That’s not really what we’re here to discuss, is it, brother?” he asks me but keeps his gaze on Vittoria. “Dandelion here has a different purpose to serve,” he says, letting his gaze move over her. “Tell us something, Dandelion. Have you ever been fucked by two men at once?”
She gasps, looking scandalized, and I can’t help my chuckle. But that expression changes to anger when she turns back to me and tugs to get free. When she can’t, she raises her free arm to slap me. I catch it, holding both wrists, and walk her back to the wall.
“Never do that unless you expect me to repay you in kind,” I warn.
“You would, wouldn’t you?”
“Don’t test me.”
“Let me go.”
“Answer my brother’s question.” I stretch her arms over her head and lean close. “Have you ever been fucked by two men at once?” I ask. Brushing my jaw over her cheek, I bring my mouth to her ear. “Given the look on your face, I’m going to guess no. So maybe what we should ask is if you’re turned on by the idea.”
“I would never… I… you…”
“What is the expression, the lady doth protest too much?” Bastian chimes in.
I bring my face to Vittoria’s and switch my grip so I hold both wrists in one hand. Her breasts lift as her breathing comes a little faster. She licks her lips. I wonder if she’s aware of it as her eyes search mine. The blue is darker, the pupils dilated. Her nipples press against the silk of the dress. “You’re very pretty when you’re turned on, Vittoria.”
“I am not turned on, Amadeo.”
“No?” I brush my knuckles over one hard nipple before cupping her breast.
She sucks in a breath and tries to free herself. I pinch that nipple, twisting it, and she cries out. I smile and lean my face to hers.