Chapter 13
Thirteen
The little deer is keeping something from me. I can feel it, but I let it slide. For now. She still owes us more information about her father, but we’ve tabled that discussion for a new one. It didn’t go unnoticed by me or my brothers that the mere mention of Tomas Ivankov’s name caused her face to pale—a fleeting moment of horror passing over her face before she managed to hide it.
Not fast enough.
She tossed and turned in bed most of the night, murmuring to herself until the early morning hours. When sleep finally took her, it was restless. So, I am less than cheery this morning.
“You don’t have to be so grumpy,” Gia mutters when I bark at her to get out of bed.
“I might not be if someone hadn’t kept me up all night,” I growl. “Now go take a fucking shower.” A small pout graces her full lips, and she turns her back to me as she moves off the bed and toward the bathroom.
“Are you going to let me go now?” she asks, her gaze on the floor as she walks. This woman. Does she really think I am going to just release her? She is Faro Nardoni’s daughter, which means she is useful.
“Why would I do that?”
Turning, her brows knit together as she stares at me. “Why not? I’m no use to you. I told you, I don’t know where Elio is or even where he would go. As you proved last night, I don’t know anything about him. What use am I?”
I shrug, not meeting her eyes as I start to undress. “You may not know where your brother is, Gia,” I tell her. “But you are Faro Nardoni’s daughter. That itself is useful.”
“What does that matter?” she questions. “He was going to sell me to Salvatore for more favor. Let him or his men do as they pleased with me. I’m not worth anything to him.”
But she is. Gia Nardoni is the golden ticket to taking my uncle down.
“I’m sure I’ll come to some arrangement with him.” I toss the sentence out casually as I finish throwing on my clothes and turn to face her. “You for Elio’s location is a good start.”
I watch tears well in her eyes. “You would send me back to him?” she whispers, her fingers coming up to stroke her neck, clutching nonexistent pearls, eyes lowering to the floor.
It amuses me that she thinks I have some sort of morality meter. I’m not above using her to get what I want. Gia isn’t my guest; she is my captive. Leverage. A means to end.
“Look at me.” When she doesn’t lift her gaze to mine, I cross the room and tangle my fist in her hair, forcing her to meet my gaze. I’ve been too lenient with her since we arrived here. The shit going down with Kenzo over the last several weeks has kept me at a distance from her. She’s grown bold. “What did I tell you on the plane?” She doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t need to. I’ll remind her. “ Fai quello che dico o sarai punito. Behave or you will be punished.”
Her wide brown eyes flash angrily at me.
“I have been lenient with you, Gia,” I tell her. “But that ends now. You are my captive. Daughter to a man who betrayed my father. Blood of my enemy.” Bringing my other hand to squeeze her throat, I lean in to whisper in her ear. “You are nothing but a bartering token. A warm body in my bed. If you listen, I will reward you.” She winces when I squeeze tighter on her hair, a whimper leaving her delicate lips. “If you disobey me, the spanking I gave you on the plane will be child’s play. Is that understood?”
I let the words sink in. Gia closes her eyes, her small fingers holding onto the wrist of the hand wrapped around her neck. She doesn’t answer. I can see the resignation in her eyes, the anger, but I asked her a question.
“Is that understood, Gia?”
“Yes.” She nods her head the best she can, telling me she understands.
“Good.” I release her. “Now go shower. Breakfast will be ready soon.”
Picking up the things she dropped on the floor, she scurries to the bathroom without a backward glance, slamming the door shut behind her.
I’ll let that bit of defiance go.
Because there are bigger things at stake here. War is brewing on the horizon, and there is no stopping it. Sending Elio after me was a mistake they couldn’t afford to make because now, armed with the knowledge Kenzo’s mother has provided, I am ready to take back what is rightfully mine. Even if I don’t want it.
Maybe once upon a time, when my father was alive to pass it on to me, but now? I’ve built an empire with my brothers at my side, and it isn’t something I want to leave behind. If we are to take back my father’s legacy, I won’t be the one to sit on its throne.
Il traditore del sangue.
The name they have given me tears at my soul. To think that I would betray my father, stab him in the back—and to have my own mother spreading the lies. Gia could be lying, but I don’t see why she would. It doesn’t help her in any way to tell me that my own mother has been against me all this time. There is a sliver of hope inside of me that wants to believe she is doing it to keep herself and my sister safe, but with everything that has happened with Megumi—it is a small sliver indeed.
A knock sounds at the door. I take a moment to glance through the peephole to ensure it is the breakfast I requested and not Evaline attempting to drag Gia downstairs to eat. I take our food from Liza, the housemaid, thanking her, and arrange it on the small table near the balcony in the sitting room.
“Food is ready,” I tell Gia as she steps out of the bathroom in the clothes she wore yesterday. Fuck, I’m going to need to get her some new clothes. Dragging out my phone, I shoot a text to Kenzo to ask if his personal shopper can send over a suitcase of clothes for Gia. She’s going to need everything since I took her from the cabin with literally nothing but the clothes on her back. I know that Evaline had given her some of her clothes to wear, but it seems as if she’s run out.
She takes her seat, and I can hear her stomach growl when I pull back the lid on the tray, revealing a large spread of pancakes, sausage, and eggs. I’ve made sure to keep most of her meals light until I was sure she would be able to stomach a denser meal.
“I’m starving,” she says as she licks her lips, but she doesn’t reach for her food. Removing the cover from my own tray, I start to dig in. It takes me several quiet moments to realize that Gia is still sitting across from me, her hands in her lap as she stares longingly at her plate.
“I thought you said you were starving,” I point out. “If you don’t like food, too bad. I’m not having them make you something special princess.” Beggars can’t be choosers.
Gia reacts as if I’ve slapped her and something about that reaction churns my stomach. We haven’t had time to share a meal together since we’ve been at Kenzo’s. She ate a few times with Vanya before Evaline’s kidnapping but after that, with Evaline stuck in bed, she’s been eating alone or with the house staff.
“Do you want to eat, Gia?” I ask her.
“Of course I do,” she snaps.
“Then fucking eat,” I snap back, not liking her tone of voice.
“You haven’t given me permission to eat.”
What the fuck? Who the fuck told her she needs permission to eat? Has she been asking that of everyone this whole time?
“Why do you think you need to ask me permission to eat?” From the way she trembles, I can already tell I am not going to like the answer.
“You are the Don,” she tells me as if it is obvious. “The head of the house. No woman can eat in your presence without your permission.”
There are many ways I like to control the women I’m with, but deprivation of basic needs is not one of them. Sure, there might be times I make a woman beg for my cock. I love it when a woman pleads with me to let her come, but this—making a woman ask permission to eat—isn’t something that makes my dick hard.
“We don’t do that here, Gia,” I assure her, softening my voice so that she will hear the sincerity of my words. “There are a lot of things I will make you ask for, but to eat…that sure as shit isn’t one of them.”
I watch her take a deep breath in and let it out, her eyes narrowing on me as if she is contemplating whether I am telling her the truth. After several seconds, she picks up her fork and digs into her food, a soft sigh of bliss following every bite.
“Let’s go over some rules before I have to leave.” Still shoveling food in her mouth, she nods her head to tell me she is listening. Seeing as how she hasn’t had a full breakfast in a while, I let it slide. Next time, she will give me her full attention. “You will be expected to obey and submit or suffer the consequences. You are my captive until I tell you otherwise. When I ask you a question, you will answer honestly. I hate liars and if you lie to me, you will not like the consequences.”
Gia’s eyes narrow, but she keeps eating.
“You will speak to my brothers and me with respect,” I continue. “No back talking. If I have to tell you to do something more than once, you will be punished. Try to escape, you will be punished. Betray me, Gia, and I will bring you back to the brink of death, exactly where you were when I found you in that cabin. Is that understood?”
The muscles of her jaw clench, and her hand tightens on her fork. She’s probably imagining stabbing me with it right now. But like the good girl she is, she nods her head.
“Yes, sir.”
I smile at her using the proper response. “Good girl. ”
Standing, I stretch, then grab up the trays of food to bring down with me. “Some clothes will be delivered later this afternoon for you,” I tell her. “For now, you’ll stay up here until I come for you.”
“Yes, sir.” Her words are almost glum sounding, as if she doesn’t want to be left alone, but I ignore it. She is going to have to get used to it because once we go after Salvatore, she won’t have anyone to talk to when I am away.
Nodding my head, I make my way toward the door.
“Are you serious about meeting with Tomas Ivankov?” she blurts the question out as I open the door to the room. A tremor of fear flows like a river through her words.
Turning back at her, I nod my head. “He is a good friend and will have more insight into everything that has been going on.”
“Okay.” When she doesn’t say anything else, I move into the hallway and shut the door behind me. I am going to be having a few words with the head of the Boston Bratva. That is the second time she has reacted so viscerally at the mention of Tomas, and it doesn’t take a genius to guess that whatever caused that fear, he was involved.
But for now, I have another call to make.
One that is going to set this war in motion.