Cool metal presses against my temple. Slowly, I raise my hands.
The guards strip me of my weapons. The men beside me remain still, barely breathing as Matteo uncurls himself from his chair. He walks next to Salvatore and begins to clap.
“Quite the show.” He raises an eyebrow at Caterina with a leer. “I can see what all the fuss is about.”
White hot blinding fury erupts in my chest at his words. But I’m trapped, trapped by the gun pushing against my head and the uniformed men that surround me.
But the men beside me are not.
Domenico Rossi lunges over the row of chairs and throws himself at Matteo, a heavy fist smashing into his face as he roars. A crunch sounds – another, as he pulls his hand back and hits him again.
Screaming. Cat isscreaming, screaming Rossi’s name as she leaps up from her seat, running for him. Guards swarm them, and I struggle against the men holding me with an enraged shout as Morelli leaps from his own chair and wades in.
My uncle watches me, not even glancing at the fight beside him. A smirk lingers on his lips.
He doesn’t care. Doesn’t give a fuck about was on that screen, not really.
He does not care about her, or me.
Only that I touched what belongs to him.
And now he’s going to destroy us for it.
The guards drag them apart and all I can do is fuckingwatch, my heart in my mouth, as Caterina leaps for one of the men kneeling on Domenico’s back, her fist slamming out into his face.
Luc wraps his arms around her waist. He hauls her back and away from Rossi as she throws an elbow into his face, twisting and fighting like a wildcat. He takes the hit without blinking, hissing in her ear as her feet scrabble for purchase against the ground.
And then he throws her towards Salvatore, his tone vicious. “Control yourwife.”
Not fast enough. Cat reels back toward him in shock, and the slap lands across his face with a sharp crack. His head whips to the side, hazel eyes gleaming as he looks back at her. “I hope that was worth it.”
Shespitsat him, devastation in her face as guards rush for her, holding her in place. “Why?”
He shrugs, his eyes bright. “Because I made a promise.”
And then he turns his back on her, slipping his hands into his pockets. “I assume we’re done here, Corvo? I wouldn’t mind a drink after the excitement of this evening.”
Matteo hauls himself to his feet. His face is battered, his teeth bloody as he spits with a furious look at Domenico, still pinned down on the ground. “More than one, I think. We still have some work to do on your fucking attitude, Rossi.”
He clasps hands with Salvatore as two guards drag Domenico upright. He’s barely conscious, his face a mask of blood after the beating they’ve just delivered. “Thanks for the excitement, Asante. You’ve helped me considerably.”
He glances at the two men with him, and I wonder what exactly he got out of this. Although Matteo Corvo is enough of a cunt to enjoy the drama regardless.
“Domenico.” Cat’s voice sounds like a whip, and he stirs. “Dom.”
Her face is filled with pain as she stares at him. Then at me. Her head moves between us, pale and terrified. Not for herself, though. For us.
Both of us here, and neither of us any fuckinghelp.
Luc strolls out without another glance at her. And her face – something crumbles, as if he’s stripped something vital from her with his coldness. She darts forward as the guards begin to drag Rossi out, but Salvatore snaps out his hand and grabs her by the hair, dragging her back with his grip fisted in her curls. “I don’t think so.”
When we’re alone except for the guards, he sighs. “After everything I’ve done to make you feel at home here, Caterina.”
He thrusts her toward two waiting guards.
There’s too many of them. We don’t have a fucking chance in hell, and as she looks at me, we both realize it.
Salvatore begins to pace, his hands behind his back. “A good thing I decided to add those cameras before I left, really. I was curious to see how you would act when you believed yourselves to be alone. And my suspicions proved right.”
