His threat does the trick. The woman doesn’t say another word.
Satisfied that she finally understands the severity of her situation, Angelo returns his attention to the documents.
I listen as Chiara explains what she knows, which isn’t much. “So I brought her back here to ask her some questions. If herasshole husband is involved, then maybe we can leverage her for answers?”
“There is no we, Chiara.” The mulish expression says she’s not about to back down, but Luka slides behind her, his hand on her lower back, and she huffs out a resigned sigh.
“Fine. If you want to go pull her fingernails off in your torture room, go for it.” The strangled gasp of shock says Vivian isn’t a fan of that idea.
“Fingernails? Really?” I snort. “That’s old school, kitten. We use other techniques these days, like electrodes and waterboarding.”
Luka pales, but Chiara doesn’t seem fazed at the thought of Angelo torturing her stepmother.
She shrugs and wanders over to the refrigerator for a drink. The dog immediately perks up from where she’s lying in a soft bed by the unlit hearth.
“No snacks, Coco. You’re getting porky.”
That’s mostly Luka’s fault. He’s a sucker for sad puppy-dog eyes.
“Grab me a bottle of water, yeah?” I ask. Chiara nods and brings a chilled bottle over. Before she can step away, my arm snakes around her waist. She squeaks in surprise when I slap her ass.
“That’s a taster for when I get you alone, kitten,” I murmur in her ear, ignoring Vivian’s scandalized gasp. “You’ve been a bad girl, and bad girls get punished.”
“I did what I had to,” she retorts. “We can’t afford to waste time, not with Fina…” Her mouth slams shut, making me wonder what she was about to say, but Angelo is questioning Vivian, so somewhat reluctantly, I tune back into his conversation.
“Your husband is Oswald Barrington’s brother? The same Barrington who’s taken over from Lucien Forsyth?”
It’s hard to tell who’s more shocked, Angelo or me. I always knew Tim Remington was a slippery fucker, but hearing he’s related to a prominent gangster across the pond is a surprise.
Vivian smirks for a second, happy to have got one over on Angelo.
“Did I stutter?” Damn, the woman has balls. I’ll give her that. Anyone else would be a little more respectful given who they were facing, but not her.
“Tim was livid when you publicly humiliated his precious daughter,” Vivian continues. “He wanted revenge.”
“Chiara’s kidnapping was because I dumped Paris?” Angelo is incredulous.
“Wow, that’s… insane,” Luka agrees. “Especially since she was fucking at least two other guys while dating Angelo.”
“We weren’t dating,” my friend snarls.
“How wouldyoudefine your relationship with the lovely Paris, darling?” Chiara’s curious smile belies her sarcastic tone. My girl doesn’t like it when Paris’s name comes up, which is hardly surprising. They didn’t exactly hit it off when they met.
“We didn’t have a relationship. I got drunk, and she was there. That’s it.”
“Maybe so, but Tim didn’t like how you treated the girl.” Vivian sneers. “At least his daughter isn’t whoring herself out while married.”
“Fuck you, bitch, as I pointed out earlier, Tim’s cock was tickling your tonsils while you were still married to my father.”
“Vulgar little slut,” Vivian mutters.
“ENOUGH!” Vivian jolts so hard she tumbles sideways, and because her wrists are zip-tied she can’t save herself. None of us moves a muscle when she hits the floor with a pained yelp. Since she’s unlikely to be leaving this house anytime soon, a few bruises won’t matter.
“Why is my father associating with Remington?” He looks down at Vivian. That’s what I’d like to know as well. Vivian tries to sit up but can’t. Nobody helps her, so eventually she gives up. In the grand scheme of things, lying on the kitchen floor is better than being dragged into the basement.
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t believe you.” Losing patience, Angelo grabs her blond hair and drags her upright. She shrieks like a banshee, even though he’s not really hurting her.
