* * *
We drive through the bullet-ridden gates of my mansion a few minutes later. My men converge around the vehicle.
“Take him down to the basement and restrain him properly,” I tell them as we get out. Immediately, two of the boys drag Drago out of the trunk. They’re not exactly gentle with him. I can tell that’s upsetting Renata. I’m slightly annoyed by that. But a part of me also marvels at the woman’s ability to feel for a man who had done nothing but hurt her for the last twenty years.
Brother be damned. Some siblings just aren’t fucking worth the trouble.
That’s how I see it, anyway. But then again, I’m blessed in that department.
“You’re taking him to the basement?” Renata asks as my men drag Drago inside.
He’s kicking and struggling a little, but it doesn’t seem very heartfelt. I have a feeling he just doesn’t want to be seen as meek or passive. He wants to be seen as a fighter.
The ship might have already sailed on that one, though. Everyone under the sun knows Drago Lombardi is a goddamn coward.
I head inside, aware that Renata is tailing my every move. I wait until we’re at the door to the basement before stopping abruptly. She slams into my back and I turn around with a smirk on my face. “Where do you think you’re going?” I ask pleasantly.
“I’m going down there.”
“No, I don’t think you are.”
“He’s my brother,” she snaps.
“I understand the relationship,” I tell her patronizingly. “What I don’t understand is the loyalty.”
She tries to push past me, but I block her easily. I’m in her space. Or maybe she’s in mine. Whichever the case, the air between us feels rife with the kind of heat that could ignite fires.
I’m pretty sure she’s aware of it, too—if her dilated pupils and hard nipples are any indication. Maybe this is our sick and twisted version of foreplay.
I try and lob away the distracting thought. For a second there, I almost succeed.
“Just let me come down with you,” she says, determination coloring her tone.
I give a long-suffering sigh. “Ask nicely.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “You do like your control, don’t you?”
I wait patiently, saying nothing.
She hisses under her breath. “Fine. Master Kian, sir… please can I come down with you?”
I frown. “Not sure I heard you right. Did you say ‘come down with you’ or ‘go down on you’?”
Her eyes go wide and she tries to cover up her blush with a lot of pretend anger. “You fucking asshole—”
Laughing, I gesture for her to follow me downstairs.
* * *
By the time we arrive in the cell, my men have Drago secured to a chair. His hands and legs are restrained and he’s still wearing his gag.
I glance at Renata as the laughter dies on my lips. This is time for serious business.
“This is my interrogation,” I warn her. “And that means I do the talking. You want to be here? That’s your call. But I don’t want you interfering.”
She doesn’t really acknowledge my statement either way. Deciding that’s as close to agreement as I’m going to get from her, I leave her at the threshold and walk into the cell.
“So,” I say to the Italian, “which slime-covered rock have you been hiding under all this time?”