I hate him for it, the abduction, the humiliation, the way his men treat the other girls and me. Some of them children.
“I’ll never fuck you again,” I say, my words drip with venom.
He cocks a sly grin. “Never is a long time, Kitten.”
I hate the nickname that he’s given me. It’s sweet and playful.
Dante isn’t either of those things.
He’s watching me but distracted.
Every so often, he glimpses past me at the men, but his hands are on my hips, firm.
I glance in the direction that he keeps focusing his attention on, but I don’t see anyone. It’s dark, and there are shadows everywhere. Silhouettes of men as they roam around the large, dimly lit room.
Is he looking for someone?
“You’re a monster. Abducting women and children to parade them around and sell them for a few minutes of fun. It’s repulsive.”
He opens his mouth but shuts it.
“Cat got your tongue?” Disbelief overpowers him. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
I’ve rendered him speechless.
“I could ruin you and your father. Demolish the entire empire that he’s created,” Dante says.
I try to suppress a shiver that courses through my body involuntarily at his words. “Go ahead and try,” I say, bold and daring him to make his move.
Papa wouldn’t let that anything happen to me, right?
In the darkness, there are several sets of eyes observing us. We are being watched. Is it Papa or Dante’s men?
“Why me?” I ask.
Dante refuses to answer my question.
His fingers glide from my hips to the hem of the gown and graze my bottom.
I inhale sharply at his touch. These men expect something.
Dante is no different.
Dozens of questions are reeling through my head, but all I’ve earned is his silence.
Is this all because of his truck that I stole?
His fingers graze my neck, and he tugs my head to the side, allowing him better access.
The tips of his fingers scratch my throat. He’s gentle, not anything like I’d imagine Dante Ricci, the don of the Ricci family to be. I’m waiting for him to choke me, hurt me, kill me.
Something is wrong.
He’s wrong. Off.
I stare into his black eyes like two stones of coal, and I feel drawn in, taken heart, body, and soul.
What is it about him?