Page 96 of Sin & Secrets

“You should be thanking me, baby. I’m saving you.” His breath reeks, and I try not to choke.

“You shoved me into the trunk of a fucking car.”

His eyes darken. “A necessary precaution. After our last encounter, I was sure that Moretti had turned you against me. But you don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

The gunshots echo through my mind once again.

No. Claudio wasn’t smart enough for this. He couldn’t have pulled something like that off.

And yet he’s there, standing before me with that smug little smile that makes my heart ice-cold with fear.

“What have you done?” My voice wobbles as I speak.

“You think I was going to let thatbastardtake you away from me? After all the trouble I went to just to bring you here?” His laugh is low and cruel. “You’remine,Cassandra Bellini.”

“You handed me over to him! You signed that contract!”

Claudio’s growl is the only warning I get before he slaps me again.

“I did what I had to. Let him think that he could control me. But none of that matters anymore, baby. He’s gone, and we can be together again.”

I take my time to recover, letting my hair fall over my face as I try to manage the grief boiling up inside me.

Claudio snarls in disgust. “I knew it. I knew he’d use you up and spit you back out like this. But you’ll fall in love with me again in time. For now, you only need to know your place and do exactly as I say.”

“Fuck you.”

“They will come for you, whoever remains loyal to that bastard, so I’m going to need you to wait right here until they come knocking.”

I yank at my restraints desperately, but it’s no use. I’m nothing more than bait. Mia…Teo…Martino…they were going to wander right into Claudio’s trap.

But…If Claudio only wanted me, then why should he care about the others? Why act against the entire Guild if this was just a personal vendetta against Rocco?

“Why, so you can kill them all and become don yourself?”

It’s a shot in the dark, and judging by the way Claudio laughs in response, I missed it by a mile. “Could you imagine? Me?”

He hunches over with merriment, and I cringe slightly at his overreactive display.

Irritated, I bite back. “Then why bother with them? Just take me and leave them behind.”

“Oh, I plan on it, but all in good time.” He reaches for me again, dragging his fingers through my tangled hair. “It’s just a shame he’s turned you against me. But that deal was just too good for me to pass up.”

All I can do is hope my stare conveys all the loathing and venom that I feel for him.

“I should thank you, really. When your father asked me to pick you up, he took the loan out in my name to incentivize me to bring you back. You know, so the Guild wouldn’t track me down and murder me for stealing from them.”

My words get stuck in my throat. My father…employed Claudio.

My father was in the Italian mafia.

Claudio grins down at the shock on my face.

“But the fucker went and died on me before he could pay the loan back. If it weren’t for that deal with Moretti…” he shakes his head. “It’s kinda poetic, though. You paid the price for your father’s incompetence.”

I think I’m going to vomit again.

Had any of it been real? That first night Claudio had watched me perform in Ohio, he’d asked me for my ID…was it to check that I was the person he was looking for?

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