Page 56 of Ruthless Oath

He gazed down at me, breathing heavily as he wiped my lips with his thumb.

“I knew I’d find something for you to do with that sassy mouth.” He stroked my face with the back of his hand and winked.

My heart fluttered and my stomach jumped.

He adjusted his pants and buttoned them, never taking his stare away from me. I held his gaze, awaiting his next move.

He took the gray throw from the edge of the bed and draped it over me.

“Well done.” He caressed my face again, warming me with his touch. “For the first time since meeting you, I don’t want to strangle you.”

“The night isn’t over.”

His lips curved into a brief smile as he went to the door, leaving me naked and aroused on the floor.

“Now do you understand what it means to be my captive, my little brat?”

My heart pounded when he left the room, locking the door behind him. As his footsteps got farther away, I accepted that I was exactly where I wanted to be.

A hostage with no regrets.

Thirteen

Marchello

Problem after problem.My father’s empire was spiraling out of control, and I had to figure out how to stop the fallout.

“Someone is trying to draw you out,” Milo said over the phone.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Are you sitting down?”

“Fucking tell me,” I shouted.

“The shipment scheduled to dock this morning was intercepted.”

“Intercepted by who?” I gripped my phone, trying to block out the fury that threatened to seep in.

“As far as I can tell, it looks like it was the Bello family,” he said. “Our informant said that Frankie Bello is making noise and saying that since Dad isn’t around, our territory is up for grabs.”

“That motherfucker.” I leapt out of the chair like a predator ready to pounce on his unsuspecting prey and paced the dimly lit room. “This is not good.”

“Wait until the cartel finds out we lost their shipment.”

Wait until Dad finds out.

“Chello, what do you want to do? We have to move fast.”

“We have to hit back, but first I need to smooth this over with the cartel.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“We’ll pay for everything they lost.” I let out a long, frustrated breath. “Throw in any car that they want to make this right. A show of good faith.”

“I’ll have Lucas handle the negotiations,” Milo said.

“Yes, it’s better if he does it.”

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