Page 20 of Sweet Retribution

I sit up straighter. We haven’t come across any relatives.

“Name?”

“Um...” The line between her brows furrows. “Michael. I can’t think of his last name.” She closes her eyes in thought.

I wait and watch as she mentally goes through her memories. She bites on her bottom lip and I want nothing more than to climb over my desk and take her lip in my mouth. To run my tongue across hers. To taste her. All of her. Between her legs, the cavern between her breasts, and what promised to be a sweet honeysuckle mouth.

“Locke. Michael Locke. I’m pretty sure that’s it. I met him a couple times at dinner events. He’s just as creepy and evil as Antonio.”

Michael Locke. The name has come up in our research but no connection to Antonio Rossi was ever made. I nod to Marco, standing in the back corner of the office, and he leaves. I don’t need to tell him what to do. He and Tio will find what we need to know.

I round my desk and take Gia’s wine glass from her. I go to the bar and fill both our glasses. She’s standing by the chair when I turn around, and takes the wine glass I offer.

We sip our drinks in silence. I wait for her to yell at me, to ask about Sebastiana, to remind me of our marriage contract. Instead, she gives me a devastating smile that tells me she’s up to no good.

“Dinner on the patio in twenty minutes. I’ll be sure to set enough place settings for your men and... Sebastiana.”

With her head held high, she walks gracefully out of my office. And, shit, if her hips don’t have an extra swing to them.

Dinner is pure hell. Gia set the table for five. The fifth plate I assumed was for her, but she said it was for Lucca, who would be waking any moment and getting ready for the night shift. Then, she went inside to eat with Maria, leaving me with a groping Sebastiana who is placed to my right.

I expected her to be jealous, to kick Sebastiana out of the house, not welcome her in her place. Especially since Sebastiana has done nothing but lay it on thick, coming on to me stronger than usual.

We were fuck buddies. We don’t grope in public, or at my dinner table. Hell, we never ate dinner together before. She knows her place and never questions me. Now, things are different. Granted, I’m the one who forced her to stay here. When she called me crying four days ago that two men had been following her, I told her to take extra security precautions.

The men got closer, and even managed to corner her in a club threatening to rape her in the back room if she didn’t leave with them. She put her stilettos to good use and rammed the guy behind her in the balls with the spike of the heel. The man in front of her had been shocked at the other’s reaction, and loosened his grip around her arm.

She made it to a friend’s house where she called me. I had her wait while Marco picked her up. While waiting, she’d received a call from someone telling her to give me a message.

“A whore for a whore.” I give him Gia and he gives me Sebastiana. I have no plans on allowing him to touch either woman.

I may hold no feelings or attachments to Sebastiana, but I won’t allow her to be hurt as a way to get to me. Keeping her at the estate is the only way to keep her safe. I should have given Gia a heads up, but there hadn’t been any time.

And besides, Sebastiana comes in handy in keeping me away from Gia, and Gia away from me. We crossed a line and came too close to letting emotions rule the sex between us. Distance, anger, and her distrust are necessary in keeping my head on straight, and in finding Rossi.

Before I even finish my main course, I’ve had enough of Sebastiana’s pawing at me, and bark at her to leave.

Unlike Gia, she doesn’t question me and gets up. As soon as she’s gone, Marco and Tio fill me in on what they’ve found on Locke, which is next to nothing.

“He’s been in Morocco for the past two weeks with his latest woman.”

“That doesn’t mean he isn’t working with Rossi.”

Marco nods. “Tio has a guy on Locke’s payroll. Claims to have no knowledge of Gia’s kidnapping. He says Rossi’s unstable, especially of late.”

I don’t doubt that. “We need to find out where he’s hiding,” I state the obvious. I don’t believe we found all the girls, either. Lorenzo was too smart to have them all hiding in the same place.

Rossi’s got to have another spot. It’s the only logical reason why Lorenzo would go to such measures to put Rossi and Gia together, and to write in the statement about an heir.

“We could always try to draw him out,” Tio says, his gaze darting to my left.

He doesn’t need to elaborate. I don’t like the idea, but it may be the only, or at least the quickest, way to get Antonio out of hiding.

“Have a plan on my desk by morning.” I push back from the table and retreat to my study.

Using Gia as bait makes me sick to the stomach, but so does the thought of Rossi taking her again. I log into my computer and spend the rest of the evening diving into Locke and Rossi’s past searching for any red herrings and unusual activity.

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