“Well, what do you suggest we do now that you’ve found your dog?”Dante stares coldly at Harper, waiting to hear her explanation.
“It’s a child!”Harper reiterates, gesturing to the kid behind bars.“Whatever he did, he’s a kid.You can’t just kidnap children for the hell of it.”
“Oh, believe me, I get no enjoyment from this,” Dante says, his voice calm, far too calm.
I step forward, shoving Bruno backward and off me.Seeing as how my father is in the room, he doesn’t rough handle me like I know he wants to.He’s cautious around Dante because, after all, I am my father’s son.
“I don’t believe you,” I say.“You’ve murdered men; I’ve seen it myself firsthand.”
Dante’s brow furrows.“I’ve murdered no one,” he says, glowering at me.“Son, what you’ve convinced yourself you’ve seen, it’s all—not true.”
Of course, he’d balk at the suggestion that I witnessed a crime, a murder, no less.I wouldn’t expect him to admit it, not to me, not to anyone.
“And what about this?How do you explain you kidnapping a child?”Harper asks.The girl doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut.
Dante steps closer and leans down, his face mere inches from Harper's.“The way I see it, you kidnapped him from me.I’m merely protecting the little rascal.Someone should look after the child.I wouldn’t want him to end up in harm’s way, would you, dear?”Dante asks.He stands properly and glances back over his shoulder at the boy.
Behind me, another set of soft footsteps make their way downstairs, and it’s Moreno.
Looks like a family reunion, except we’re missing a few soldiers my father commands.
“Sir, I’ll take care of this,” Moreno says, allowing my father to return to bed if he so chooses.
Moreno is his second in command.Dante trusts Moreno with his life and with the job.
Dante glances at Moreno and then at me.“The girl is a problem, one you both brought into my home, under my roof.”
Is he blaming his second for this?
“I couldn’t have known she was coming, sir.I had the other girls who had intended on attending Nova’s birthday party rescind their invitation—it was without my knowledge that this girl, your son’s girlfriend, would attend,” Moreno says.
He’s clearly covering his own ass and his family.
I shouldn’t be surprised.Throw me and Harper under the proverbial bus.
Just fucking great.
I glance at Bruno’s gun.I could attempt to wrestle it from his grip, but we’re outnumbered and surely outmatched.I could fight one, maybe two guys, but there are six men, all fully trained, mafia style.
“Yes,” Dante says, nodding slowly, stroking his jaw as he turns to face me.“This problem, it seems, is between my son and me.”
Harper’s head is turned, her gaze on me.I can see the cogs turning, her wondering what exactly all of this means and how the hell do we get out of this basement, alive.
“You’re absolutely right, Father.”It pains me to call Dante my father, but right now, I’ll do whatever it takes.If I need to put on a show, perform an act, I’ll give it my all.I just hope Harper has the same acting skills and will play along.Is there another way out of this disaster?
Dante exhales heavily through his nose.“Is that so?”He seems surprised, as shocked as I am, that I’m admitting he’s right.
The man basks in his glory, but I’ll only let him have this win for a brief moment.
“I shouldn’t have brought my girlfriend here uninvited,” I say.I take a moment, gathering my thoughts before continuing, hoping that what I spin will work to save her, to save both of us.“She had no idea what this place is, who you are, until one of your men, Caden, spelled it out for her, like an imbecile.”
Dante’s eyes tighten for a moment, and he turns toward Caden and the other men who work for him.“Is this true?”
Halsey is the first to nod.“Yes, sir.”He and Caden are of equal rank.Vito works for Caden, I can’t imagine he’d sell out his boss, and Bruno, well, he’s Bruno.He’d sell out his own sister if given the opportunity.As would Matteo, who also agrees with what just transpired.
Dante grabs Bruno’s gun and lifts the barrel.He pauses only slightly, removing the extra bullets before turning the pistol and handing it to Harper.“You kill him, and you can live.”
“Excuse me?”Harper’s eyes widen.
