Page 71 of Bastard Prince
“Maybe it’s time to put your mouth to better use, hey?” he asked rhetorically, and I could feel the bile climbing my throat. “Maybe it’s not your pussy that’s golden, but your mouth.” Reaching for his pants, Dino began to unbuckle, and for the first time, I started to think that this situation might not be redeemable after all.
“Alright, Bertoli,” came a woman’s voice, the sound alerting me to the fact that there was a second door to this room. “That’s more than enough. No one wants to see your pencil dick, least of all me.
I never thought a day would come when I would be glad to see Special Agent Caroline Anderson, but it appeared that this was a day made for surprises.
She was still as dull looking as she had been the previous times I had seen her, with her lanky hair and watery brown eyes, but there was a manic quality to her gaze that hadn’t been there before, and it made me wary.
“Who the fuck put you in charge?” Dino turned to glare at her, his pants still half undone. He stood before her, hands on his hips and absolutely no shame at the fact that she had just caught him trying to violate me, looking every inch the entitled brat that I knew him to be.
“The United States Government,” she deadpanned in response.
“You think I give a shit about that?”
“You should, seeing as how I have enough evidence on you to make sure you never see the outside of a federal prison again.”
I raised my eyebrow at the implication of her words. Special Agent Anderson had the evidence, but it appeared she had no intention of using it.
Wasn’t that interesting?
When Bradford started laughing at the look on Dino’s face, Anderson rounded on him. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re laughing at,Sheriff.” She sneered the word as if it tasted bad in her mouth. “It’s not like your shit don’t stink. How about you get your ass back to your desk and try and make yourself useful for a change?”
“Hey, I got ‘em here, didn’t I?”
“How impressive. You can fetch like a dog.”
“Fuck you, lady.”
“Ask nicely,” she said with a saccharine smile.
Bradford stood for a moment, facing off against her and huffing out his nose like a steam engine. Anderson didn’t even blink.
Realizing his position, Bradford finally dropped his eyes and looked at the floor like a kicked puppy.
“How do you expect me to get back to town?”
“You’ve got a radio. Use it.” She gestured to the door behind her, the one opposite the one we had entered from. “Your cash is in the envelope on the desk. Try not to fuck up the plan, alright?”
Not bothering to look at either of us, Bradford stomped to the door like a pouting child and left. When the door had closed behind him, Anderson rounded on Dino.
“How about you go play with your own toy,” she said, tilting her head toward where Enzo waited. “I think Francesca and I could use some girl time.” She gazed at me, a wide fake smile on her face and murder in her eyes. “We have some catching up to do.”
“If we’re doing makeovers, can we start with waxing?” I piped up conversationally. “I have been wanting to get my hands on your eyebrows forages.”
Her smile dropped as her stare turned glacial.
“Get the fuck out, Dino,” she called, not even bothering to look at him.
Dino huffed, but dutifully turned and headed the opposite direction that Bradford had gone, muttering under his breath about overbearing bitches. When he had his hand on the door handle, Anderson looked up, calling out, “And Dino? Try not to kill him, will ya?” Cutting her eyes to me, she added, “At least not yet.”
The ice cold dread that filled my veins was almost crippling. I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek to keep from passing out.
I couldn’t lose Enzo. It was simply not an option. There was no vision of the future for me without Enzo in it. He and I were fated, our story only beginning. There was no way I could finish the tale on my own.
Once, I had thought I had known what love was, how it changed and shaped you, but I had been so naïve.
Because this love? This massive, all consuming, high stakes love? This was what little girls should be dreaming of.
Not a hero on a white horse, coming to take you away to be coddled and caged, never to face a challenge or consequence as long as you lived.
