“Is Remington involved in my sister’s disappearance?” Chiara steps closer, eager for an answer. We all are.
“I don’t know!”
“Again, I don’t fucking believe you.”
The stupid woman screams so loud anyone would think we were torturing her.
“He doesn’t tell me anything!” Crocodile tears spill down her cheeks.
“Bullshit,” Chiara spits. “You know more than you’re telling.” Before anyone can stop her, she’s grabbed a knife from the counter and hacked a chunk of Vivian’s hair off. Cries turn to anguished wails, and the irritating woman’s tears are no longer fake.
“My hair!”
“Oh, be quiet! It’s far less than the shit you’ve done to me, bitch! Now start talking or you’ll lose more than your fucking hair.”
Angelo slants a glance at me, his eyebrows shooting up at how vicious our girl is when she’s angry. Luka doesn’t seem at all surprised. I’d say he’s more turned on than anything, given how he’s adjusting himself behind her.
“I can try other ways to jog your memory if that helps?” Angelo isn’t bluffing, and Vivian knows it.
“Okay, fine! The auction is where women are traded.” She glares at Lorenzo. “Your father’s done a deal with Tim, and by extension, Oswald. He’s invested in the business in return for a share of the profits.” We all stiffen.
“He’s tired of you not listening to his ideas, and he’s decided you need a push in the right direction. All the problems you’ve faced lately have been orchestrated by your father. He’s been working against you this whole time.” She sounds gleeful about that, which pisses me off.
“But that makes no sense,” Chiara blurts. “It’s his business, too!”
“Lorenzo believes you’re weak, and he wants control back.” Vivian shrugs. “He’s bored. Typical type A personality,” she adds.
“My father can go fuck himself,” Angelo snarls. “There’s no fucking way I’ll hand back control back to him so he can start trafficking women and kids.” God, the thought of taking the family business in that direction makes me deeply uncomfortable. Thank fuck Angelo is nothing like his father.
“Is Dad behind Fina’s disappearance?”
“Yes. He knew about her and the guard, and when he discovered Santini’s body, well, he decided she needed punishing.” She looks faintly amused. “Santini’s brother wasn’t happy to hear Domenico died in your father’s house, by the way. But don’t worry, Santini Junior now knows you’re responsible.”
Chiara grimaces before muttering under her breath, “god, is his brother a misogynistic prick, too? If so, on behalf of females everywhere, please whack him as well.”
I wasn’t even aware Santini had a brother, but if he’s anything like Domenico, he’s not a good guy.
“Like I give a fuck about the Santinis.” He wraps his fist around Vivian’s throat. “Final warning, tell me where my sister is.”
43
Kane
Chiara holds Luka’s hand as Angelo steps into the reception of Remington’s exclusive club. The hostess smiles and sashays over, ready to check our credentials.
“Welcome, Mr. Smith.” The woman’s wearing a slinky silk dress that highlights her slim frame to perfection, and her hair and makeup are on point. In another lifetime, I’d have hit her up. She’s stunning.
The hostess flashes a fake smile before shoving a tablet at Angelo.
“I need to see your QR code, sir.”
He shows her his phone, and she nods in affirmation after scanning it.
We have Milo to thank for the information we needed to access tonight’s event. It’s invitation only, with a substantial cover fee for attendees. We have the invitation snagged from Lorenzo’s office, thanks to Chiara, but it didn’t mention money.
Milo called as I was moving Vivian into a guest room in the basement. At some point, we need to deal with her, but not until we’ve found Fina. Milo had put several of the missingpieces together after I informed him of Tim’s link with Oswald Barrington, and also Lorenzo’s meddling in the business. We’re still not sure who’s responsible for the accounts anomalies, but that’s tomorrow’s problem.
Once Milo had more information, he dug deeper and found a site on the dark web, where patrons pay in Bitcoin to attend auctions at the club. Since the next event was tonight, we had to act fast.
