“Will one hundred thousand cover it?” While I don’t have that kind of cash just lying around, I can easily wire them the funds in cryptocurrency. I’m sure they won’t object.
“Let me talk to the boss.”
“You do that.” I fold my arms across my chest and wait for Rafael to return.
Gino steps out from the shadows.
How long has he been hidden in the darkness of the room? I hadn’t seen him. Had he been watching me with his daughter?
His nostrils flare as he steps closer. He’s a few inches shorter but stockier.
Gino’s also old enough to be my father. His face is pockmarked, his eyes a deep-set brown, and his hair thick but obviously dyed. His bushy eyebrows are salt and pepper, while his hair is as dark as the room. He blends in with the shadows.
He gestures me closer and lowers his voice.
This conversation is between just the two of us. His men can’t hear us, and neither can Nicole.
“Do you know who she is?” Gino asks. He turns his head to squint in the direction of his daughter. “She is my blood.”
“I offered your man one hundred thousand for her. Why bring her here if you don’t intend to sell her off?” I ask.
His jaw is tight and crooked as he grinds his teeth.
Did I say something to piss him off?
I know why she’s here. It’s to teach her a lesson. He’s pissed. This is his way of controlling her.
It is sick and fucked up.
I may be a monster, but I’m not an animal. Not like him.
Gino clears his throat. He doesn’t even so much as glance at his daughter. “For double, you can have her, but you should know that she’s betrothed. Her husband-to-be will come looking for her. The only way to sever that alliance is if you intend to marry her.”
I swallow the lump in my throat.
Marriage?
Gino has to be fucking with me.
“You want me to marry your daughter?”
There has to be a catch.
Is Gino trying to get information about my family and my men? Would he use Nicole to gather intelligence?
I have no intention of marrying, ever. Relationships are a distraction and a weakness.
Sex involved no strings or complications, nothing that would detract from my responsibilities to the family and the business.
And while I had wanted to ruin Nicole and destroy Gino, marrying her seemed a far more complicated issue than a solution.
“Consider this a token of my gratitude that you remain out of this business. And let it be known that I never want to see you or your men at my party, ever again,” Gino snarls.
It still doesn’t add up. I can’t believe it is really about the money, not with his daughter.
“One other thing,” Gino says. He gestures me to lean closer.
I’m hesitant, but I don’t think he’ll kill me now, especially when he had his opportunity earlier when I showed up at the event.
“My daughter is never to know that I was behind her abduction and this club. If you tell her, I’ll kill both of you myself. Now, do we have a deal?”
I can live with the notion that she’ll think I’m behind her kidnapping and that I’m the monster. At least she’ll be safe. I’m saving one girl tonight.