His grin twists. “I want it fucking all, girl. First, I use you to get your share of Moretti Media, then we buy out dear Papa and his beloved Conti Media for a steal. See, your papa isn’t all that smart either, must run in the family. He traded you to me believing I would save his dying company.” A bitter laugh rumbles through him. He’s crazy, I’m sure of it, and not in an endearing way like Cruz, in a one wrong move and he will shoot me dead kind of way. “I have no intentions of saving the sinking ship when I can use their desperation to better my position in Moretti Media and knock that pretty little friend of yours off her high horse. Women have no place in running a corporation as large as Moretti Media, or fucking anything for that matter. Your late husband promised that position to me, before he went and got himself killed. We had a plan, one that didn’t include his fucking brothers showing up and ruining it. And now I’m here to claim what is mine.” His hand dusts down the side of my face. “You’re just collateral, unfortunately for you. She will be as well.” His rough finger strokes over my lips like he has some right to touch me when he doesn’t.
My glare turns to ice, my body clammy under his rough touch. I want to bite him till he bleeds. Inflict all sorts of terrible pain on him till he’s the one begging for a way out.
“I might decide to keep you. I do like the way you struggle.” His fingers clamp around my throat and he squeezes, delight lighting up his deadened eyes.
I try to scream but nothing comes out. The room spins, and my head fills with cotton, all my concentration focusing on breathing.
Just when I think I’m about to pass out again, he releases me, a cruel twisted smile stretching across his face. “Yeah, you’re going to be fun to toy with. So delicate and pretty under all the scars.” His hand runs over the scar in my hairline.
My stomach rolls, panic coursing through me. He thinks he can take all of it. My papa’s company, Moretti Media from Sloane. Either he’s delusional or he knows things I don’t and my friend is in big trouble. Abruptly he pulls back from me, leaving me sucking in deep breaths, trying not to pass out. I nod as if understanding, trying to get my body to stay with the program and not freak the hell out. Because I’m pretty sure there is only one way out of this hell. Lying through my teeth. “Okay. I’ll help you.”
The back of his hand flies across my cheek, stinging like a bitch. “You have no choice from your position.” His voice vibrates off the walls as he loses control.
Pain lunges through me, hot as it vibrates through my head. I fight the tears, not willing to cry in front of this asshole. Blood trickles over my lip, and I lick it off, the coppery taste filling me with the fuel I need to keep fighting. I will not leave this place with him. “You need me alive and compliant, don’t you? If I know my papa, he’s not going to give you what you want until you take me home and prove you have kept your end of the bargain. If that wasn’t true, I would already be dead, since you have that fake marriage certificate.”
He looks confused, and I can see who the fucking idiot is here. He’s spent his life throwing around his weight, and that’swhere he’s got all his power. My brother or Valentine would have been the smarts behind their fucked-up plans to dominate the media world. This man doesn’t have it in him. And with my brother in the hospital and Valentine dead, he’s at a standstill. No jet to get us home, that’s why he’s pacing this room like a caged rat. “What’s your point?” he growls.
“I know exactly how you get what you want. I’m the key to it. Well, me and Alex Moretti,” I mutter like it’s a throwaway comment, because I’m just a dumb girl, after all.
Hearing that name has his brow rising, and I want to high-five myself because I fucking knew it. His eyes narrow in on me. “What do you know about Alex Moretti?”
I shrug like it’s probably not a big deal. “I overheard stuff when I was with the Strykers.”
His fingers press into my shoulders as he stares me down, his nostrils flaring. “Don’t play with me, girl, what kind of stuff?”
“He has a lot of pull now that he’s in charge of Moretti Media in the States. You won’t get what you want unless he’s on board. And lucky for you, I got to know him in my time here.”
He shoves off me. “I fucking know Alex Moretti. I don’t need you to talk business with him,” he snips, unimpressed as he starts to pace in front of me again.
“Except we both know you do. Because even if you’re my husband, Valentine left that share in my name, and you need me at your side to do the negotiations. We both know that’s how it works. It will look a hell of a lot better for you if I appear to be compliant and all for you looking after my share for me, because I’m just a girl who needs help to understand these big business things.”
He moves to stare out the window, watching the jets take off. Please dear God let him take the bait. Alex knows the Strykers well, that’s why Jagger was in negotiations with him about my shares; he went to him for help. I don’t know him, but if I canget him down here, I know there is no way in hell he will let this thug take me.
“Probably best to sort that meeting out before we leave the country because we both know my papa will not let me leave Italy again anytime soon,” I add trying not to give him too much time to think on it. I need him panicking and desperate.
He runs a hand through his hair, holding his head as if he’s in pain. Then he picks up his phone. “Get Alex Moretti down here before our plane takes off. Tell him it’s urgent,” he demands into his phone then hangs up.
I close my eyes for a split second, sucking in a breath of relief. Not so dumb after all. Now I just need to keep praying that my plan works.
Out of nowhere he barrels toward me, his erratic behavior so jarring I flinch away. “You fuck this up for me I will kill you and find another way to get what I want.” His face is scary as hell as he leers down at me.
“I understand,” I whisper, fear prickling up the back of my neck because I know it’s true.
He unties my bindings and drags me up to standing by my wrists. Fresh pain surges through my body, the wounds around my wrists so deep his grip almost cripples me. Not only that, but my muscles ache terribly. He tugs me to the back of the room so fast I can’t quite get my feet to catch up. He slides open a door then shoves me into a small bathroom. “Fix yourself up. He will be here soon.”
He slams the door closed so aggressively I wince, not able to help it. With my heart hammering in my chest, I quickly scan the tiny room. A toilet, a small sink, and a window that I could potentially squeeze through. I glance through it. We must be on the second floor, and the drop looks doable but dangerous when I’m already injured. Or I could go back out there and shoot the motherfucker square in the head with the gun I just swiped fromhis side while he was dragging me in here. I have never been prouder of myself than I am in this moment as I stare down at the cold hard metal in front of me. I made a promise to myself when I escaped my parents’ property and boarded that plane to the States. I would never go back to being controlled again. I was living for me. I didn’t know what that meant that night. But I do now. I know exactly what I want, and there is no way I’m leaving without a fight. I have three men I’m completely in love with, and they are worth doing whatever it takes to make sure I can see them again.
A hot sweat breaks out over my skin because I don’t know exactly how to do it. It will only be a matter of time before someone comes for me, they have to, right? With Alex Moretti on his way to have a meeting with the man who clearly took me from the party last night. The boys are in with Alex, and if they’re looking for me, every person in their world will know about it, including Alex. Right? Damn, I wish I knew. I catch sight of my reflection and stare myself dead in the eyes. “You can do this, Daisy. Prove to them all what you’re made of. Or die trying.”
A bang sounds at the door, Leone’s meaty fists breaking me from my pep talk. “What’s taking you so long?” he demands, his voice panicked.
I check the safety is off on the gun and position my finger hovering over the trigger. There is no turning back. This might be the only choice I have.
With a full breath, I open the door. Leone’s eyes run down my body, the color draining from his face as he sees what I’m holding with confidence, aiming it straight at him. “Back the fuck off,” I say calmly, with so much power I almost shock myself.
“Bad idea, little girl.” He lunges at me.
Without another thought, I pull the trigger, the blast forcing me back as a sickening splatter of red washes over me, paintingmy dress and my hands. I take hold of the bathroom counter, trying to get my legs to work as Leone clutches his chest, his ragged breaths coming out of him like a feral animal.
