The man nodded. “Didn’t seem like it. That’s actually someone else’s MO. But Tenebrae is an important center for our business, and your lack of cooperation has led to a lot of heavy losses for a lot of very important people. However, thanks to the goodwill of your father and his work for us, my bosses are willing to offer you a deal.”
Dante raised an eyebrow. “Again, you couldn’t have taken an appointment for this? You had to drag me out of bed and tie me up for that?”
The man shrugged. “We didn’t know how well you’d cooperate. She-” he nodded towards a slightly terrified, slightly determined Amara, who paused in her silent struggle to loosen the knot on her hands “-was just insurance. She’s been that for a long time.”
Dante quickly brought his attention back, leaving Amara to work on her ropes. Her wrists were slender and her scars made the skin around it smooth. She had a fair chance of slipping her hand out.
“What do you mean?” Dante asked, keeping him engaged.
The guy just smiled.
Dante felt his mind reeling, and he filed the information for later. He didn’t directly look at Amara but he could see in his periphery that she was gaining some momentum in her struggle.
“Okay,” he told the guy, keeping him focused on himself. “So, what’s the deal your bosses wanna give me?”
The guy smiled and squat down in front of him again, his hand in a fist. “Work with us and live. Simple.”
“What kind of work?” Dante asked, already knowing the answer.
“Your father was pretty active in the business,” the man went on. “You don’t have to be. Just allow us storage and transport through the city and we have a deal.”
“Storage and transport of kids?” Dante asked, his gut tightening.
“Smart man,” the man nodded.
“And if I refuse?”
“Then I take that piece of prime pussy over there out to my men until you’re more… agreeable.”
Dante clenched his jaw but didn’t say a word, his hands fisting on the chair.
“Hey asshole,” the soft voice from behind made the guy turn. Dante saw Amara swing up the toolbox, her arms shaking with the weight as she smacked the man across the face with it.
The guy roared in pain, falling to the floor, clutching the bleeding gash on his head.
“You can’t afford this piece of prime pussy,” Amara heaved the metal toolbox again and brought it down hard on his skull, the sound of the loud crunch making Dante wince. The guy passed out, the wound on his head probably fatal. She stood there shaking, her chest heaving, hair wild around her face, rage flashing in her green eyes, cloaked in nothing but his shirt, looking like an avenging goddess. Fuck, he was such a goner.
“Amara,” he called out to her. “C’mon, baby. Others might be coming.”
She looked up at him with wide eyes, putting the toolbox to the side, her entire frame trembling from the adrenaline he could feel surging to the fore inside him. Hopping over the unconscious guy, she quickly came to him, her long, slender fingers shaking as she tried to undo the knot on his wrist.
“Give me those beautiful eyes,” he told her gently, knowing he needed to guide them out of it.
She stilled in her efforts, looking up at him.
“Good girl,” he praised her softly. “There’s a knife in my right sock. Raise up my pant leg and take it out.”
She leaned down, his shirt gaping open and even though it wasn’t the time to notice, he was a man. His eyes went there, took her in, satisfied that this was his woman. He felt her fingers doing the task nimbly before she straightened and started to cut at the rope under his wrist. He just needed one hand free before he wrecked these bastards.
This close, he could hear her loud breathing as she both panicked and tried to keep it down, and said the one thing he knew would distract her thoughts from the fear.
“I can’t wait to fuck you.”
Amara paused, looking up at him with bewildered eyes. “Are you serious?! This is not the time for dirty talk, Dante Maroni.”
He gave her a little grin deliberately, staying calm and unaffected because he knew it would relax her. And he needed her to relax.
Amara muttered something under her breath before venting. “Why do they make this look so easy in the movies? You’re tied to this freaking chair with these ropes that just won’t cut and I’m one second away from a panic attack.”