Page 28 of Trapping His Assassin

Uncle was not going to like this failure. Not one bit.

Headingout of a country with huge CCTV nationwide was hard, but not impossible. But even though I wanted to stay and play with Roman, I couldn’t. I needed to get away from him, so I could turn the tables on him. I couldn’t stay in Italy either.

“Ticket, please?” The steward held his device in his hand.

I showed my ticket and he scanned the code.

“Thank you.” He moved to the next seat. On and on, until his voice grew faint.

Amid my thoughts, the train started to move. As we pulled away from the station, I heard my phone ping.

Mateo: Did you find a way to delay?

Me: Not purposefully.

Mateo: What the fuck does that mean?

Me: Heading out of the country.

Mateo: Keep me briefed and I will keep him from contact.

The ‘him’ in question must be Don Ricci.

Me: Understood.

I clicked the button on my phone to darken the screen. My head leaned against the cool window as I gazed out at the passing countryside. I wasn’t leaving for Mateo. I was leaving for myself.

When Roman took me in front of all his men, it changed something within me. I’d never had an orgasm with a man. And this boy, this man, made me feel like a woman.

My heart and mind were both twisted and torn. This was my enemy. The target. I couldn’t fall for a fucking target. That was wrong, and if the Don wasn’t thinking about killing me, he would as soon as he found out about my tryst.

I was so fucked. I’d never failed a mission so completely. If the Don didn’t kill me, then Headmaster Mikhail would, as soon as he got his hands on me. Luckily, most avoided Switzerland. It was like an unspoken sacred ground.

Many of us had banks there. No one fucked with another faction’s money unless they wanted a full-out war with everyone. So there was a silent peace treaty upheld by many generations.

I’d lie in wait until I received the signal from Mateo. Then I could take Roman out, finish this game, and save my students. I needed to get some funds and waste his time a little. That wouldn’t be hard.

I closed my eyes, with a small smile on my face. The first man to work for it, and I wasn’t going to make it easy on him. No, he would be chasing me when he least expected it, and since he liked pain so much, I would draw out his death until it was time. Then I would carve his heart out, and give it to my uncle. That would be when my students were safe.

“Perfect.” Headmaster Mikhail walked around me slowly, his lewd gaze forcing bile into my throat.

I stood in the middle of the room, shivering in front of him. I couldn’t remember my parents anymore. My uncle had kept me with nannies and tutors, until I was old enough to be of use to him. It was all I’d ever known. My governess made sure to keep up with my studies, but she’d retired a while ago.

I was being sent to a special school, to teach young women like myself how to be ladies. It was my punishment. At least, that’s what Don Ricci told me. But the man standing before me gave me the creeps. Even if he was a supposed good samaritan man, I didn’t like his eyes on me.

My nanny was given instructions to drop me off here. She wasn’t allowed to stay, so our goodbye was hard enough.

“I’ll miss you,” I’d whispered to her, while we clung to each other in the back of the car.

We’d been together for a long time. She raised me. Kept me in line, and made me feel a little less lonely. I got all my affection from her. She cared for me.

“I’ll miss you, too,bambina.” She kissed my forehead and the driver parked, stepping out of the car to unlock my end.

My hand trembled as I reached for the handkerchief in my pocket, trying to hide the tears that threatened to spill over. Ricci always said crying was a sign of weakness. But here I was, in a delicate lace dress, feeling completely exposed and vulnerable in front of this stranger, who stared at me with curiosity. I wiped away the tears, but my hands were shaking too much to keepthem from falling down my cheeks. Ricci’s words echoed in my head, making me feel even more powerless in this situation.

I didn’t feel brave.

I didn’t feel savage.

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