“Lombardi,” Massimo growls, voice filled with rage. “You piece of shit. Where is Sienna? If you lay one fucking finger on her?—”
“Save the name-calling for later, Caruso,” I cut him off coldly. “Are you ready to meet my demands?”
“That’s fucking ridiculous,” he spits. “You expect me to just hand over?—”
“You will,” I cut in, leaning back in my chair, “you want your daughters back? Then give me better access to the ports. Stop blocking my ships and give me full access to the Brooklyn terminals and East River routes. You do that, and your daughters come home.”
There’s a heavy pause on the line. I can practically hear him grinding his teeth. “How do I even know they’re still alive?”
“I haven’t hurt them,” I reply flatly. “Yet. Meet my demands and I won’t have a reason to.”
“I need proof of life,” Massimo snaps. “Put Sienna on the phone.”
Marco and I exchange a quick look across the table. He raises a brow. I keep my face blank.
“I’ll allow you to speak to your daughters,” I say smoothly. “But you’d better start making preparations to meet my terms. All of them.”
Massimo starts to say something else, voice rising, but I reach forward and end the call without another word.
Marco stares at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Why the hell would you promise to let Massimo speak to his daughters? We only have one of them.”
I shrug, leaning back in my chair. “Shouldn’t be a problem. We’ll have Eleonora act as both herself and Sienna.”
Marco raises an eyebrow. “You really think she can pull that off?”
“If she managed to pretend to be her sister in a full wedding gown and veil, she can handle sounding like her on a phone call.”
Marco rubs his jaw. “I guess so…” He hesitates, then adds, “Massimo doesn’t seem to care that much about Eleonora. I guess it’s because she’s not the one tied to the Gallo alliance.”
I noticed that too. They’re both his daughters. Both should matter. Instead, the bastard only asked to speak to only Sienna. Like Eleonora is disposable.
I feel an unexpected pang in my chest. Anger on her behalf. The feeling confuses the hell out of me. Why do I care?
I stand abruptly. “I need a shower. Then I’ll have her speak to her father.”
Marco smirks. “You’re keeping her locked in your office until then?”
“Yeah,” I say, heading for the door. “She needs to learn a lesson.”
“Oh, this is interesting,” Marco mutters behind me, amusement clear in his voice.
I ignore him. “Send Daniel to me. The idiot was supposed to be watching her.”
“Yes, Boss.”
I walk past my office on the way to my bedroom. The pounding and cursing have stopped. She must have exhausted herself.
After a quick, scalding shower, I throw on a black Henley and slacks. The second I step out of my bedroom, Daniel is waiting in the hallway, head lowered, shoulders tense. He knows he fucked up.
“Boss,” he says quietly.
I stop in front of him. “Why weren’t you watching the Caruso girl like I told you to? What part of do not let her out of your sight didn’t you understand?”
“I’m sorry, boss. I was talking to one of the perimeter guards for two seconds and she slipped away. It won’t happen again.”
I stare at him coldly. “I gave you one simple job.”
