Page 41 of Taboo Flames

“Do you think I’m stupid? They’ll throw me back to jail if I say a word,” she snaps. “I’m not going back to that hell hole.”

“I’ll put a bullet through you and every member of your family,” I threaten.

Panic flashes in her eyes momentarily before she says, “These guys aren’t playing around. They’ll kill me. You don’t understand.”

I cock my gun. “The only thing I understand here is that if the next words out of your mouth aren’t what I want to hear, I’ll shoot out your kneecaps, and then you’ll watch me separate your family’s necks from their bodies with a blunt table knife before I do the same to you. I hear it’s an excruciating way to go.”

She glares up at me. “I was employed by a man I only know as X, but I know he works for Il Sguardo Nero. They all do.”

“Who’s they?” Fiore asks in confusion.

“The pimps. The only thing they care about is money and the girls who earn them money, and your little bitch fucked with one of them, and now she’s going to?—”

She never gets to finish her sentence because I shoot at the middle of her face, making it explode into a rainfall of blood and pieces of bone.

“We’re done here,” I tell Fiore.

“What should I do with her?” Fiore asks.

“Leave her,” I say. “I want?—”

My phone buzzes in my pocket with an incoming call. I see it’s Aurora, so I pick up immediately, imagining the worst but knowing no one can get through all the men at my gate to get to her. Also, Carlos won’t repeat his mistake of not making sure she’s protected at all times if he wants to continue breathing.

“Princess, talk to me,” I say into the phone.

“Where are you?”

I look down at the body on the floor. “Out on some business.”

“Is it very important? I want you here.”

I want to continue digging into this Il Sguardo Nero, but there’s a hint of fear in Aurora’s voice that I don’t like.

“No, it’s not important. I’ll be there shortly, princess,” I say before hanging up.

“Continue to look into this,” I tell Fiore. “And don’t stop until you have this Il Sguardo Nero guy and all his men’s balls nailed to a silver platter at Aurora’s feet.”

It’s past midnight by the time I climb up the stairs and walk through the hallways to my bedroom, where I left Aurora earlier.

I’m surprised to find her still in bed and immediately become worried and suspicious. Aurora isn’t the type to stay in one place. I was expecting to find her digging through my things and being generally nosy about my house.

The woman is far too curious for her own good.

“You should be sleeping,” I say to her.

“And you should be in bed beside me.” She glares at me.

I smile at her. “Bossy little thing. I should tan your hide for your insolence.”

“I dare you,” she replies, giving me a look of challenge.

My body fires up at the thought of leaving my fingerprints on her flawless skin, but my lust clears out quickly when I see the look on her face.

She’s biting at her lip worriedly and looking spooked.

“What’s wrong?” I growl, concerned.

She holds out her phone to show me, and I see a picture of her in a yellow dress. She’s smiling into the camera and holding a straw hat over her eyes. There are thousands of likes and comments on the picture, and I don’t like the thought of strange men staring at this picture and lusting over her.

---