“What are you talking about?”
“Aisling told you her story, didn’t she?”
“You know she did.”
“Then what would you do in my position?” Kian asks. “What would you do to the men who trafficked her and used and abused her as a sex slave for years?”
My head is reeling from the sudden subject change, but I go with it. “I… I’d stop them.”
“Yeah?” he asks. “How do you stop men like that?”
I sigh. “I’d have to kill them.”
“Precisely. Which is what I did. Problem is, some of them got away.”
I shake my head. “Kian, what does this have to do with—”
“Did Aisling also tell you there was a lot of Lombardi money tied into the trafficking ring?”
I tense, but I nod through the guilt. “But Drago had nothing to do with those deals or that money,” I say defensively. “He was a child himself when my father—”
“Your brother was aware of those deals when he got older. He tried to reinstate himself in the family business.”
I frown. “What are you saying…?”
“Lombardi money is still being used to fund the sex trafficking industry, Renata,” Kian tells me without remorse. “Your brother saw to that. He’s looking to invest in the rings; he’s looking to expand them. There’s a huge container port facility on Lombardi territory that he’s planning to use to move the women and girls as soon as he seals the deal with the Greeks.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head, clinging to denial. “No, that can’t be right. The trafficking died with my father.”
“You’re right—it did,” Kian tells me. “Until your brother brought it back to life.”
“No…”
“Aisling wanted nothing to do with you when I first asked her to take care of you,” he continues. “But I explained to her that you were as much a victim as she was.”
My eyes snap to his. “That’s an unfair comparison.”
“Is it?” he asks coldly. “You told me you were sold into marriage at eighteen for the purpose of consolidating the Lombardi empire.”
I shudder as his words hit home. Stating it so bluntly, so simply, makes it feel all the more horrifying and real.
“Isn’t he trying to do it again?” Kian goes on. “Isn’t he trying to sell you to Yannis Rokiades?”
This time, I really can’t breathe. I push past Kian and start pacing as my breathing becomes more and more labored. There’s a point at which denial becomes so strong that it turns poisonous.
When I finally stop pacing, I turn to Kian. Our eyes lock. I feel like I want to scream. Instead, I walk past him and out of the room.
“Where are you going?” he asks.
But I don’t answer. I retrace our path back to the cellar and rush down the stairs, conscious about all the men surrounding my monster of a brother. I burst into the dark cell and stand right in front of Drago. His head is lolling on his chest, he’s in obvious pain, but I feel nothing.
“I want a moment alone with my brother,” I order Kian’s men.
Predictably, none of them budge. That is, until I feel Kian a few feet away from me, standing at the threshold. He must nod or offer some silent signal, because a few seconds later, his men clear out and leave me alone with Drago.
When they’re gone, I stride over to my brother and standing in front of him. “Look at me,” I bark.
He raises his eyes to mine for a moment. His face is a mess of blood, snot, bruises, and tears. “You fucking whore,” he snarls. “What did you do? Spread your legs for the enemy? You think that he’ll spare your life? You think—”