“Whoever Caruso hired was going to ransom us back to our father. Giuseppe tried to fight them. They hurt him, bad. Sent the video to my father. He wouldn’t pay the ransom. Sent a crew instead. Only in the time it took them to get to us, Giuseppe was killed and they were coming at me with a branding iron.” I lift my shirt at the waist, revealing the dark scar surrounded by burns on my stomach. “That’s all they managed to do to me before our crew got in and took them out. Too late for Giuseppe. They’d tortured him to death while I begged them not to, I tried to fight them. I couldn’t stop them. I was too weak. All on camera.”
I take a deep breath. It’s the most I’ve ever talked about this.
Am I talking to make her trust me like I planned? Or am I just talking because she’s making me share more than I planned?
“You can’t be weak in this life,” I continue. “Got to be strong or people will destroy you.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Leo. You couldn’t have stopped them. You were just a child.”
I don’t like how I feel when she says that so I change the subject quickly.
I tap my phone. “I spoke to your friend, by the way. Fleur, isn’t it?”
“What? When?”
“About ten minutes ago. She’s doing all right. She gave away your location. That’s how Paolo found out where you were. Told the cops who told him. Did you tell her you were coming here?”
“I did.”
“I see.” I fall silent, thinking hard.
“Can I speak to her?” Anna asks, interrupting my thoughts.
“Maybe, when I’m sure I can trust you.”
“What did you say to her?”
“Told her you’re married, asked her if my security detail had turned up at the dig to secure the site.”
“What did she say?”
“She was surprised to hear you got married without her there. Sounded offended that you didn’t invite her.”
She frowns at me across the desk. It’s a look that makes me want to spank her for judging me like that. “I hope you told her I didn’t have a choice in any of this.”
“But you did have a choice, didn’t you?”
“Marry you willingly or walk down the aisle naked isn’t a great choice, Leo.”
“You used to be quite the exhibitionist. What changed?”
“I did not. What are you talking about?”
“I remember you in those bikinis. Sticking your chest out on the beach, trying to get my attention. Showing me your ass that time when you went skinny dipping with Bea.”
“I was a kid, Leo. A stupid dumb kid.”
“If you say so. Only when I suggested it, I saw a flash of desire in your eyes. Seeing as we’re being open with each other, why don’t you admit the idea of being naked in public excites you.”
“It doesn’t.”
“You know you have a tell when you lie.”
“A what?”
“A tell. If you’re a decent card player, you notice the things other players do when they bluff. Some raise an eyebrow. Some can’t stop tapping their hands on the table. You blink twice, too slowly, like you’re trying to erase your own lie from your brain.”
“I do not do that.”