Page 15 of Ruined

My continued lethargy was frustrating, but slowly easing as I got stronger. I could spend longer in the gym now, working out. Soon, I'd be back to my full fitness.

Not soon enough, as far as I was concerned.

"Nothing I couldn't handle," Gianni said lightly. He laced my fingers in his and led me out of the kitchen.

"I'm not feeling reassured." I followed him into the library and let him close the door behind us. Was there a chance they figured out who I was? Had Daze told them, even after promising not to?

I decided that was unlikely. The vibe I was getting from him was different to that. He seemed apprehensive, but nothing to suggest he was processing a bombshell that big.

He waved for me to sit down and pulled over a footstool to perch in front of me. "Damon has some…ideas." He grimaced as if he'd tasted something nasty in the past and was now remembering how unpleasant it was.

"Judging by the look on your face, you don't like them," I said.

His expression relaxed slightly. "I like one of them." He explained the plan to drain Kurt's bank accounts. "Reuben thinks you should have the money."

"I suppose so," I said unenthusiastically.

I couldn't explain why I didn't really need it. Not without telling him why. It wouldn't hurt to have extra funds to put into finding the asshole, I supposed. Anything left over after that could go to charity. I didn't want Kurt's dirty money. I didn't have to fake that. I wanted nothing from him.

"What was Damon's other idea?" I asked.

I listened while Gianni told me quickly and briefly what Damon proposed.

My first instinct was to give in to a spike of panic. If they did what he suggested, Dane and Asher would know where I was and what happened to me. That couldn't happen, not yet.

"I told him this was a bad idea," Gianni said. "I'll tell them both to fuck off." He placed his hands to either side of him on the footstool and started to stand.

Without thinking, I grabbed his wrist, my hand snapping out so quickly I surprised myself.

"What if we put out word someone was found down in the basement?" I said slowly. "We don't have to say who. We don't even have to say I'm alive. Knowing he was keeping a woman chained up down there, in a cage, would be enough to make people think twice about supporting him. They may not turn on him, but they might get sloppy."

Gianni lowered himself back down. "Now I know who the brains of the outfit is. We should have thought of that. I was busy being pissed off at Damon."

"He doesn't like me, does he?" I asked. "He'd happily throw me to the wolves."

"Damon doesn't like much of anyone, including himself," Gianni said. "He has some shit in his past to overcome." He hesitated. "Speaking of the past…"

The subtle change in his tone immediately had me on edge.

"What about it?" I asked carefully.

"Damon can't find any sign of a financial debt between your father and Kurt," Gianni said. "You said you don't know what the debt involved, but I don't remember if you said whether or not you knew Kurt before all of that. Did you?"

I hesitated. This would have come up sooner or later, but was I ready to respond?

"Did you know him before he put you down in that cage?" Gianni asked, gentle but insistent.

I sat back and rubbed my forehead with my thumb and fingers. "Yes I did. My father hired him to teach me self defence." Other skills too, but that explanation would do for now. "I guess he paid him in cash, if there's no trail. Or they found a way to hide the transactions." That wasn't my area of expertise.

Gianni's wide lips dropped apart. "He taught you self defence?"

"And he used everything he taught me against me," I said. "He could anticipate what I'd do."

That only helped him in the moments I tried to fight back. Mostly, he used words, reminding me of what happened that night. Breaking me down, bit by bit, with my own guilt.

"Shit," Gianni breathed. "He really is a prick."

I glanced down at the hardwood floor under my bare feet.

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