Page 33 of Ruthless Boss

Dante

The color drains from Gia's face.

I withdraw and slide back on the bed, facing her. Anger surges into my blood.

Does she know? Does she know this isn't going to end well for her? She must.

A small bob makes its way down her throat. She's a vision. Disheveled hair and a sheen of sweat on her face and neck. She's naked, still bound. She brings her legs together, a silent sign of self-preservation.

"What did you say?"

I shake my head. Does she want to make sure she heard me correctly? "Gia Santini. You," I spit out, curling my fingers into a ball.

She yanks her wrists, rattling the handcuffs, and her lovely tits shake. "Uncuff me."

"That's not an option." I put security in front of the basement door and the backyard, facing her windows. Truth is, there's not much she can do here—most objects have been carefully removed. But I want her to feel cornered. To experience the same despair zipping through my veins.

She lied to me. Betrayed me. Deceived me and my family and took me for a fool.

She deserves to die—but what she deserves and what I'm willing to do right now are two different things. I can't kill her yet—and that weakness brings a wave of shame upon me. Keeping her alive is a living, breathing sign of my lack of strength. I've been weak and stupid and didn't use my better judgment. Hell, I agreed to "not worry." I'm sure she had a good laugh behind my back.

Gia—a part of me wants to call her Lucia, but I need to stay strong—screams, then moves her arms, rattling the handcuffs but not conquering them. There's no way out for her.

"I'd save my energy if I were you," I say cooly.

She groans. "Listen… I'm sorry. I can tell you anything you need to know."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. I heard Ciro was looking for me from a former coworker. I don't know where he is now."

A twinge of jealousy squeezes my chest. Tucked under the ranging betrayal is the fact she's married. She's someone's wife. I could kill him—and I will. But first things first.

"Do you think I care about your loser husband? Give me Ross Santini's location," I demand, bringing my head to the game. There's a chance she might know where Santini is, or maybe her husband does. Either way, I need to act.

She tilts her head to the side like I'm speaking a foreign language. "I never met him. I don't know where he is."

I shake my head. "Enough lying."

"It's true. Listen. My mom married Ciro's dad, who's Ross's cousin. Aroldo did work for him on and off. Ciro did, too—they weren't up the ranks, so they flew under the radar. Those two weren't even good at being low-rate thugs."

"You expect me to believe you?" What are the chances of her never having met Santini? She must think I'm an absolute idiot. "Why did you want to work for me?"

"Because when I heard that I'd be locked away in a modern-day fortress of a mansion, working for you sounded like heaven. I left my husband two months ago and wanted to keep moving east. But I ran out of money and needed work."

"How convenient."

"It was. I was tired of getting beaten by Ciro. I would’ve worked for the devil if it meant I'd be safe until I saved enough money."

Until she saved up enough money to keep moving. Even if I believed her story, she's still a traitor. She came to my home, got involved with my daughter, and was going to leave us at the first opportunity. Why does this matter? As someone in my world, if I'm thinking with a clear head, I should appreciate her scrappiness. But I can't have a clear head where she's concerned.

"So you'd leave us," I say, a dark emotion enunciated in every word.

She looks at me square in the eye. "Yes."

"Gia." Saying her name still feels odd. She's been Lucia all these weeks, but Gia is a new woman. Lucia never existed—and if Lucia never existed, does that negate what happened between us? Was it all a lie? And am I being naïve to even question it? Of course, it was a lie. The worst truth is the one I don't want to accept. "What were you hoping to extract from me?"

"What do you mean?"

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