Rafe gritted his teeth and nodded. "Understood." His business model relied on acting like fucking Switzerland. Piss off one mafia family and it all fell apart.
"We need to help the girls," Verity whispered just loud enough for me to hear.
I sighed. Now was not the time to get involved in a rescue operation. Rafe might not want to piss me off, but we would be in trouble if he called in reinforcements.
"Not now, Verity. We need to go." Ash nodded in agreement and tugged Verity away. She struggled briefly, then slumped in defeat. Unlike me, she didn't understand the bigger picture. Rescuing the girls caught here wouldn't solve the wider problem. To do that, I needed to know who was behind the trafficking network.
Marku played a key role, and possibly Verity's father, but until Milo dug up more information, there wasn't much I could do.
"I hate you," she muttered under her breath as we left the club via the service door.
"Most people do," I replied, not giving a flying fuck if she hated me. It was better if she hated me because the alternative was not an option.
Not in my world.
39
Verity
My body needed sleep, but my brain refused to switch off. A constant carousel of nightmarish thoughts intruded. The dead-eyed girls on the stage at the club. The realization the man with the accent knew my sister and father.
His talk of Thea and a wedding triggered something in my memories, but each time I tried to recall anything from when we left my father's estate, my headache worsened. My lack of memories told me I'd blocked out much of that period, but even I knew that squashing painful trauma rather than dealing with it was a recipe for lifelong issues. Perhaps it was why I'd unraveled in my teens.
The room Ash had dumped me in was way more luxurious than my shared hostel accommodation. An enormous bed, plenty big enough to sleep at least three adults, faced sliding glass doors that opened onto a small balcony. There was a seating area with a comfortable sofa and a desk. When I'd tried to open the doors for some fresh air, I found them locked.
It had come as a surprise when Declan didn’t take me straight to the airport and shove me on the Kelly jet, like before. Instead,Ash drove us to this luxurious hotel high above Catania. When I inquired why, Ash said something about an incoming storm grounding the jet for the next few hours.
Judging by the increasingly ferocious wind buffeting the glass doors, he wasn’t lying. Still, it meant being cooped up in this room for a night, which didn't fill me with joy. Staying at the hostel meant I never had to be alone. People came and went at all hours of the day or night, which offered comfort in a way, even if the noise irritated me.
I hated being alone for long spells. It reminded me too much of my childhood. The long, lonely months and years when Papa kept me away from the rest of the world, and Mrs. Gia and Thea were the only people I spoke to.
I tugged the thick complimentary robe tighter around my body. A soak in the tub might help me relax. It wasn't like I could leave my room and explore the hotel. Ash made a point of telling me the door would remain locked, and he'd be on guard outside until Declan returned from wherever he'd disappeared to.
After inspecting the range of designer toiletries on offer, I chose some relaxing lavender bath salts and tipped the lot into the tub as steam filled the bathroom. When the tub was full, I stripped off my robe and climbed in.
The steaming water reached my chin as I lay back. It felt good to wash away the grime and horror of this night, only each time I closed my eyes, all I could see were the faces of those girls. Their dead eyes and limp bodies. The way the men treated them like animals, not people.
I feared the pictures in my head would take a long time to fade. Maybe they never would.
Outside, the wind howled like a banshee, but in here, I was safe. At least I thought so until I heard the suite door open and realized I'd forgotten to lock the bathroom door.
Before I could scramble out of the tub and grab the robe, Declan entered the bathroom. His hair stuck up in unruly spikes, like he'd spent the last hour raking it with his fingers, and at some point, he'd discarded his suit jacket.
Water sloshed over the side of the tub, puddling on the tiled floor, as I sank back below the surface, arms covering my breasts. My face flushed red, like always, but I refused to show the bastard his presence bothered me.
"I thought you'd be asleep," he said, keeping his eyes fixed on my face rather than my barely concealed body. Thunder rumbled outside, heralding the storm's arrival.
"I can't sleep." Besides, dawn was less than an hour away. What was the point of going to bed?
"We're not going anywhere for at least 12 hours, so go to bed." His brusque tone cut through the numb shell holding my emotions in check.
"I'd sleep better back at the hostel, where my stuff is." From the way he scoffed derisively, he didn't believe me.
"It's a shit hole."
"I sleep easier surrounded by noise and people."
His expression softened a fraction. "Turn the TV on if it helps. I don't need to sleep."
