Of course he’s watching me. I’ve been so fixated on surviving Koen, I’ve almost forgotten to worry about Giovanni.
Sliding the towel down my face, I scowl at him.Someone from the club, obviously.
“I’m just doing what you asked,” I say, like I’mactuallyin control of any of this.
He smiles, turning to casually inspect the studio while keeping up his conversation with me. “The Irish want in on my operation. I need to know I can trust them.” He stops, giving me the full weight of his stare. “Have you seen any reason I should doubt them?”
“No,” I say. The lie rolls easily off my tongue. Koen told me he wants to take down Giovanni’s network. Telling Gio might get me out of Koen’s hands faster than expected, but if there’s a chance that what Koen told me is true… I need more time. I still don’t know if I can trust him.
Gio frowns. That wasn’t the answer he was looking for.
“Did you hear anything else that might be useful for me, Bella? He’s had you for a couple of days now.”
I shake my head, keeping the distance between us, moving in parallel with him around the studio. He stops, and I do too.
“Really, Bella?” His eyes narrow and I catch a glimpse of the real man inside. “You haven’t heardanything?”
I shrug, playing dumb. “I don’t think so.”
Gio sighs, pulling out his phone. A second later, I hear mine vibrate in my bag.
“You might want to check that.” I look at him, and his face is a cold mask, waiting for me.
Slowly, I walk over to my bag, drawing out my phone and unlocking it before navigating to the last incoming text message.
There’s no text, only a photo, and I swear my heart stops upon opening it.
“I think you might find you know more than you realize,” Giovanni hedges. His words feel like a bucket of ice water over my head but I can’t pull my eyes away from the photo.
It’s a picture of Remi. She has a big smile plastered across her face. She’s running through a field I know all too well, sunlight reflecting off her blonde curls. She’s wearing the new Breakers jersey Lily’s parents got for her the day before yesterday. The one they sent me a photo of last night before I left with Koen.
“How did you get this?” I snarl, standing up and taking a few steps in his direction before thinking better of it. “You piece of shit.” I clutch my phone tighter to keep from chucking it at him. “You sold me to the mafia as collateral. I’m doing what you asked! You leave her out of it.”
He waives me off. “Ah Bella, always so dramatic. When you needed something, I was there for you, yes? Now I need something from you in return. I scratch your back, you scratch mine. Yeah?” I’m standing in the middle of the studio now and he circles me, his Italian loafers echoing across the empty space. “And I need information. And you—” he points at me, “—aren’t providing any.”
I stare at him
“He met with the Polish mafia last night. He and his brother.”
“Which one?” Gio asks, interested in this.
“Liam,” I say, glaring at him.
“Keep going.”
“They were discussing shipments, ports, dates… I don’t know—I blacked out last night. I don’t remember much.” I look up at him warily, not sure if he’ll believe me.
He assesses me as if trying to detect a lie. His eyes slowly flick up and down the length of me, slow enough to make me shift uneasily.
“Get closer to him.” His tone is hard. It’s an order.
“I don’t know if that’s possible,” I argue. “He doesn’t trust me.”
He comes closer and I straighten my body, tensing with his incoming proximity. The smell of his cologne is overpowering and bile rises up in my throat as nausea creeps back in.
“Figure it out, Bella. You’re a smart girl.”
I grip my phone tighter.
