“He’s in a meeting,” a voice Francesca didn’t recognise replied.
“Trust me, he will want to take this call.” He swung the screen to Francesca. “Wave for the camera, Miss Marino.”
The face staring at her was one she did vaguely recognise. He’d been at her uncle’s funeral. The face must have vaguely recognised her too, for suddenly the screen was showing the floor he was running over.
Her abductor put the screen back to his smiling face.
Soon, her cousin’s usually controlled voice filled the cabin. “What thefuck, Vicario?”
“Great to see you, Mattia. I do hope I’m not interrupting anything important? Your cousin wants to say hello.” He put the screen back to her. “Wave for your cousin, Miss Marino.”
Relief at seeing her cousin’s face washed through her, and she seized her chance with gusto. “Mattia, help me! This thug has abducted me!”
Her abductor put the screen back to his face. “Did you hear that? I have in my possession the youngest of your cousins. I compliment your bloodline – she’s a beautiful young woman. Believe me, I have no wish to harm her, so to stop anything untoward happening to her, I need you to do exactly as I say. In exactly one hour, you will receive delivery of a new proposal from me. I’m afraid this proposal is a little more generous in my favour than the proposal you turned down. None of it is negotiable. You have exactly one week to implement it – the clock has already started ticking.”
Through the roar of blood in her head, she could hear the heaviness of her cousin’s breaths. “Lay so much as a finger on her and I will fucking destroy you.”
Her abductor was entirely unperturbed by the threat. “I do not doubt it, but you know I am a man of my word. Agree to my proposal, and she will be returned without even a papercut.”
“I mean it,” her cousin snarled. “You touch her inanyway, and I will rip you to pieces.”
“Implement my proposals in full, and she will be returned to your family safe and sound. To ensure her safety, I will keep her right beside me for the full implementation process. One week, Mattia. Tick tock.”
He swiped the screen to end the call, then shifted his body so he was facing her. Smiling broadly, he extended a hand. “Let me introduce myself properly. Gino Vicario.”
Gino waited for a response from the young woman staring at him with a look that could only be described as incredulous.
He hadn’t been lying when he’d described her to Mattia as beautiful. He’d seen plenty of photos of Francesca Marino over the last couple of weeks – one of his men had said she was so oblivious to even the possibility of being followed that he’d wondered if he was actually following the right woman – but none of the pictures had done her justice. Other than a sweep of mascara around her light brown eyes, she wore not a scrap of makeup. With her heart-shaped face and perfectly plump heart-shaped lips, all framed with a tumble of long, glossy dark chestnut hair, she didn’t need it. The only imperfection he could see was a slight bump on the bridge of her nose, but it in no way detracted from her beauty.
“Gino Vicario?” she repeated, a faint line appearing on her smooth forehead as she looked intensely at him.
“Yes. Gino. Consider me your humble protector for the next week.”
She raised an eyebrow more natural than any female eyebrow he’d seen since his school days and loosened the hold of her arms around herself. “Mr Vicario, do you have a death wish?”
He laughed, partly at her question but mostly in satisfaction that the enactment of his plan had passed almost exactly as he’d envisaged. Thealmostcame from Francesca’s lack of tears. He’d imagined sobbing and pleading, so it was quite the relief not to have to deal with histrionics. “Do you play poker?”
The line on her forehead, low between her natural eyebrows, reappeared, and she shook her head.
“You know the basic rules of it?”
Another shake of her head.
He spread an arm out along the back of the seat. “Okay, then let me explain. In poker, each player is dealt a hand of cards, and each hand has a scale of value from low to high. Whoever has the highest value hand at the end of the round wins all the moneybet in that round. A player can fold at any time, which means they stop playing that hand and lose any money they’ve staked. A player can also raise the bet, meaning they increase the stakes. The other players have to either match the raise to continue playing or fold. With me so far?”
Eyes fixed on his in concentration, she nodded.
“Good. Now, to go all-in is considered an extremely risky move. It means that you are gambling every cent of your remaining money on the cards in your hand. That is what you are to me – you are my all-in move. I could lose everything on it, but I’m gambling on the win.”
The faint, vertical line made another appearance. “But you can’t win. Even if Mattia gives you what you want, the moment you set me free…” The vertical line deepened. “Were you telling the truth about that? Do you intend to set me free?”
“A man is nothing without his word.”
Did he imagine the faint rolling of her eyes at this?
“Okay, so you set me free as promised. Then what happens? Mattia kills you. That’s what happens.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?”
