Page 67 of Cage of Thorns and Blood

“I knew this was gonna be a disaster,” he says.

Renata is messing about, and I think it’s with something in her hand. I turn so she's facing Clifford. “What is she holding?”

“Phone,” he says.

“I'm going to call the police!” she shouts in my ear.

The sound pierces my ear, so I give her ass another harsh slap on the opposite cheek. “You make that call, and I'll tie you to the bed naked, and not let you up for a month. Except for toilet breaks,” I add.

“You wouldn't dare,” she says.

“I really don't think you should try him,” Clifford says. “He’s already spanked you in front of a room of shocked onlookers. Frankly, I don't think he’s in his right mind.”

He reaches up and plucks the phone out of her hands, pocketing it as he shrugs.

“Are you just going to sit and watch a woman being kidnapped this way, you absolute cowards?” Renata shouts to the people sitting there staring at us, open mouthed.

They know exactly who I am, and nobody wants to do or say anything.

“It's just a lover’s quarrel,” Clifford announces to the room, giving the entire place the finger.

As we exit through the double doors, the room erupts into noise and chatter.

“I figure we have about five minutes before the police arrive,” Clifford says.

Our security detail is waiting for us at the front door as I jog down the steps toward the car with Renata still struggling in my grasp.

One of the men opens the door, and I deposit her unceremoniously in the back of the car. Clifford jogs around to the other side and gets in beside her, and I clamber in next to her, making her scoot along so I can fit.

“I'm serious, Matteo.” She turns to me, her eyes flashing as she seethes. “If you don't let me go, I'm calling the police. My father will hear about this! You're going to have all of his and Nico’s men descending on your house if you don't let me go.”

“If I let you go, you're going to probably be chopped up into a lot of tiny pieces. But luckily for you, I quite like you whole. So you're going to come and stay with us for a while.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” She tosses her hair back and smooths her dress down as she gets comfortable in the seat.

I have to admire her when she turns to Clifford and points to the bar. “Pour me a glass of champagne,” she snaps.

For a moment I wonder whether Clifford will do as she says or simply ignore her. In the end, he grits his teeth and opens the lady a small bottle of champagne.

Staring at her, stuck between absolute rage and ascendent desire, I try my best to speak calmly. “I'm talking about the fact quite a few of our men have been hit tonight, and there's somebody out to get us. That means that anybody who's been seen with us is in the firing line.”

“I hadn't been seen with you until you carried me out of there like some sort of prize you'd won.” She rolls her eyes at me and purses her lips around the straw, sucking.

“That's not true, is it? We've been out, and anybody could have seen us. This is non-negotiable. Until I know there's no threat, you're staying with me. Your father won't need to hear about this from those idiots at the auction tonight, because I'll be ringing him as soon as we arrive at our place.” I don’t tell her a threat has been made against her. She doesn’t need that in her head.

“He'll kill you,” she says.

I laugh. “I find it touching that you seem to believe he holds you in such high regard. I don't think he'd waste one of his men on you, Renata. You don't seem to mean an awful lot to your family.” The words are disgusting, and I regret them as soon as they’re out. I keep seeing her arms entwined around that piece of shit’s neck up on the stage, and I’m losing control.

Her face pales. “You're an absolute bastard,” she says. With that, she turns away from me to look out the window on the opposite side of the car and drink her champagne.

Clifford is firing off texts on his phone, and I know he'll be gathering the troops. I won't be calling her father when I get in because he's not really the head of anything anymore. I do need to call her brother, though. Despite my outward nonchalance, there is a small possibility that Nico does decide to come for me and try to put me in the ground. I don’t need him and the Greeks after me.

Unless I can persuade him that the threat extends to him too. If there's a threat to our way of doing business from a completely separate organization, one that doesn't seem to follow the rules we Italians do, doesn't it make sense for us to come together?

I turn to Renata and tap her arm to get her attention. “Do you think your brother would be open to the idea of an alliance?”

She scoffs, “In your dreams. He thinks you are an absolute idiot. In fact, my family thinks your entire family are idiots.”

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