Page 53 of Hunted Vengeance

“Wait here,” Marcello mutters before he leaves the room, and within seconds, there are three men standing against the walls, their eyes on us, somewhat surrounding us.

It’s almost comical because I know the men who are in my circle can take these fucks down in a heartbeat, and nobody would be able to stop us. That’s not the purpose of our visit today because if it were, it would have already been finished.

Adriano takes his sweet-ass time as he moves into the room, flanked by Marcello and another one of his men. Tilting my head to the side, I watch my ex- and future father-in-law stop a few feet in front of me.

“I should have known you were behind my daughter going missing,” he sneers. I open my mouth to speak but promptly snap it shut when he continues. “Thank fuck you found her in time.”

Well.

That was not expected.

At all.

I stare at him, a bit shocked and a lot dumbfounded. I’m not quite sure how to respond now. I thought this was going to be a battle, both mentally and physically, so hearing him thank me is a bit unsettling.

I’m not sure what to do. I stand in the middle of the room like an asshole, just waiting for thebut, waiting for him to tell me what the fuck he’s talking about. Thankfully, he continues and doesn’t make me ask.

Adriano walks over to the small bar in the corner of the room and pours himself a vodka. He turns to me, lifting the glass in the air as if to ask if I want one. I’m already half-loaded on whiskey, so I decline.

Then he walks over to a sofa and jerks his chin toward the one across from him before he sinks down onto the cushion. “Have a seat,” he roughly grunts.

Walking over to the couch, I take a seat, but the others don’t. They stay standing and on high alert.

“Malcolm came to me when I put Colette on the market. I wanted someone to marry her who could help me break into politics. A tit-for-tat situation. I knew I forced your hand with her, so I figured you didn’t give a shit.”

I can’t even get mad at his assumption because I didn’t think I gave a shit, either, until I realized that I did. Then she was gone. “Malcolm sent a couple people over in an attempt to comply with our contract, and technically, they did, but it was not what I wanted.”

Ahh, there it is. The swindler got swindled. “He also, in an attempt to show me just how big his balls are, put Colette up for auction.”

I’m sure that I’m supposed to be outraged, but I’m trying to figure out how the two men are different. Adriano put her up for auction as well. But I don’t say that. He’s giving me information, and there is no bloodshed so far, so I’m working with him until I won’t be any longer.

“He sold her wedding night for a million dollars. A chance for someone to fuck her after the wedding and before the groom had a turn.”

Everything around me goes black, and then, almost instantly, red fills my vision. The rage that I feel is virtually unable to be contained. I want to paint this whole fucking room bright red with the blood of every one of Bellucci’s men standing here. I’m holding on to a very bare thread, and my hands itch to grab the guns in my shoulder holster.

“You were going to let that happen?” I ask, gnashing my teeth together.

It’s not really a question because I already know the answer. I knew it before I asked it. She was taken away, and he just fucking let it happen, even knowing what this asshole wanted. What he was going to do to her and what he was capable of doing to her. Colette was and is pure. There is nothing evil inside of her, nothing warranting this level of neglect and downright abuse.

Leaning forward, I growl my next words. “What the fuck were you promised that you thought this was a worthy trade?”

“Everything,” he simply states. “I wanted more than just my foot in the door. I wanted a seat at the table, guaranteed. I wanted the government and their fucking groups off my back and to do my business in peace. All that fucker wanted was my daughter. Seemed like a good trade.”

“Until?” Grayson growls before I can.

“Until he wanted Colette to lure boys to him. I didn’t ask why, but I didn’t like that shit at all.”

“The head of the children’s protection agency,” I murmur. “What the fuck did she want?”

Adriano shakes his head, closing his eyes slowly before he reopens them, and his gaze connects to mine.

“She wanted to see Colette and said she would be good to lure boys. The rest of the meeting was about the position they wanted me to start off in. It wasn’t what I had discussed with Malcolm, which is why I was glad when Colette ended up going missing yesterday.”

I almost laugh. For the man who pretends to be pissed off that his daughter was bid on for her body and supposedly was going to be forced to do something with boys, that wasn’t what pissed him off or what was the final straw. It was the fact that he didn’t get what he wanted.

“What is his name?” I ask.

“Who? Malcolm?”

---