Page 10 of Love Without Control

“You’ll need to take these with you. The folks in New Orleans only deal in cash.”

Cash? He wasbuyinga woman? Fuck almighty!

Fiero and I were both silent as Father closed the safe and left the bags on the floor before going back behind his desk. “Come around here. I need you to take a look at the friend I’ve selected. I don’t want those fuckers to try the old bait and switch with me.”

Friend.That word irked me more than anything.He’s buying a fucking person!And I was a hundred percent sure she wouldn’t want to befriendswith Luca Cappitani.

Rounding the desk, I stood behind my father’s chair as he sat and wiggled the mouse to turn on his desktop computer. His fingers clacked across the keys, bringing up a black-screened website with Goods & Services, Incorporated written across the center in a bold white script.Well, that’s vague.

“Both of you, turn around while I put in my password,” Luca snapped, and we did. After a few keystrokes, he muttered, “Okay, you can look now.”

I did and wished I hadn’t. My father leaned back in his chair and stroked a finger over his lips as we watched the video on the screen. It was surprisingly clear.

“My girl is number five,” he said, almost dazedly.

The camera stalled on a raven-haired Latino woman with the number one on a white sheet of paper duct taped to her chest. She was standing against a wall wearing a tank top and shorts, and her eyes looked hazy as she glanced to her right and then back at the camera. It was obvious she was being coached because she pushed a tremulous smile across her lips.

The view moved to the woman on her left, number two, a blonde who repeated the rightward glance and forced smile. Three was another blonde, and tears dripped down her face as she attempted to push the corners of her lips upward. She looked so afraid, and rightly so.

Woman number four was obviously still affected by whatever drug they’d given her because she swayed as she looked at the ground, her red hair draping across her face. There was no sound on the video, but someone must have snapped at her because her head rose, one hand swiping the damp strands from her face.

I glanced at Fiero, whose lip was curled up into a grimace of revulsion. I’m sure mine looked the same.

“Here she is,” Luca said, his words almost coming out in pants as he palmed his crotch. I wondered how difficult it would be to cut off his dick with the letter opener on the corner of the desk.

My eyes slowly returned to the screen and then widened in shock. The caramel-haired beauty also had a number taped to her chest, which was exposed by the light-purple swimsuit she was wearing. She was gorgeous, but the most striking thing about her was the resolute glare in her bright blue eyes.

She didn’t smile at all, her lips instead forming a defiant sneer that only made her more beautiful. Bruises dotted her arms and legs—which made me want to hurt whoever had dared to touch her—and when she lifted both hands, I noticed she was the only woman who was bound with thick layers of duct tape around her wrists.

Her blue eyes narrowed toward whoever was speaking off camera and then rolled back to stare out at me. Or it felt like she was looking directly at me… into my fucking soul. Then she bared her teeth in the meanest smile I’d ever seen on such a pretty face at the same time she lifted both middle fingers.

I barked out a laugh—though there was absolutely nothing funny about this situation—but her sheer bravery was captivating. She had to be scared to death, and yet she’d just given a bigfuck youto whomever was watching. I was weirdly proud of her.

“Worth every penny of the seven million I’m paying for her,” Luca muttered. “She's going to be fun to break.”

Over my cold, dead body.I wasn’t sure where that thought came from, besides being outraged at the treatment of these women like any decent human would be. Not that I was entirely decent. Not even close, but I did have a tiny bit of humanity left in my dark heart.

But this was something greater than mere humanity. It washer. Number five. Fuck, I didn’t even know her name, but I knew she was something special.

Luca continued, unaware that my hands were reaching for his neck, prepared to strangle him from behind. “Tits are kinda small, but I’ll get her some implants.”

You sick, motherfucking prick…

I was an inch from taking my father’s life when I was yanked backward by the neck of my dark-gray dress shirt. “Okay,” Fiero said, “you’ve seen who he wants. Now get going. I’m tired of fucking looking at you.” He shoved me toward the bags on the floor, his brown eyes flashing like a caution flag as he followed me.

Pulling myself from the spell the feisty woman had put me under, I stomped toward the duffels and picked one up. “Make yourself useful and carry one of these to my car,” I demanded, shoving it at him. It weighed around fifty pounds.

I picked up the other two as my brother muttered, “Whatever will get you out of here sooner.”

Almost to the door, I paused when my father called my name. “Damiano.” I glanced over my shoulder to find his smug-as-hell smile. “Don’t fuck her. I want her fresh when I get home from Nevada.”

The only thing that saved his life was a hard push in the back from my brother. “Jesus. Move already. I’ve got shit to do.”

Every nerve ending in my body was being seared by a fury like I’d never known, but I pushed it way down deep before stopping beside a framed photograph in the foyer. Dropping one of the bags, I kissed my first two fingers and pressed them against the faces of my mother and sister. When I was done, Fiero did the same.

Then I picked up the dropped duffel and walked out the front door, which was being held by Sebastian, with my brother on my heels. Popping open the trunk, I shifted my eyes to find Fiero looking warily at me.

“You all right?” he muttered under his breath.

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