Page 38 of Fortress of the King

RAYNE

I geta message from Angelo the next day about our dinner date. He’s going to pick me up at eight from my apartment. I don’t know where we’re going, and since he doesn’t tell me, I don’t ask. I’m sure it will be somewhere swish, but I hope it’s somewhere private.

Angelo is a man who gets photographed pretty much wherever he goes.

He has it all.

Flash cars. Multiple houses. Women on his arm and at his beck and call.

There is nothing a man like him can’t get. Which is why I plan to offer him a little resistance, playing a little coy. It’s clear he enjoys the thrill of the chase, so why not play a little hard to get.

My instructions are to seduce him, but that isn’t how Angelo works, oh no. He’s all alpha.He’sthe one who will be doing the seducing, he is the one in complete control, let’s make no mistake. We both know it. He can get anything he wants.

I may be doing this because I have no choice, and I have to save my sister, but one thing Angelo is not going to do is buy me. He can give me flashy earrings equivalent to three months of my paycheck, but that’s all it is. A commodity. And he’s a means to an end.

I hold it together as best I can, thankful that I have my wits about me, but that doesn’t mean my mind isn’t reeling with the danger and complexity of what I’m about to do.

I knew going into this it was risky. But that isn’t solely it.

It’s what he does to me that shouldn’t have me feeling like this.

I should detest this man, he’s the epitome of everything I hate.

A powerful man who takes what he wants, when he wants, and picks and chooses who lives or dies. A man who has soldiers working for him, not ordinary men, one who owns the police and politicians. A man who lives in a literal fortress with security everywhere he goes. A man who can buy anything he wants.

And yet here I am.

I question his conscience, but then again, I have no right to, for what about my own? I can’t deny that my soul is tainted. Even if sleeping with him makes me feel like one of his whores, another part of me craves him to do it. To take control. To make me forget.

The lines are not just blurred, they’re impenetrable, and I can’t let that happen. I’m here to get intel and I need to get something on him at dinner. If I don’t have something to give Mia’s captors on him soon, I know things will go from bad to worse.

I also can’t stop thinking about Dane’s little stunt at the gallery and how embarrassing that was. I just hope Angelo hasn’t caused me more problems. I heard the snap; I know he broke his arm and probably cracked some ribs. The last thing I need is another lawsuit on my hands.

As if I would ever go back to a loveless marriage with a drunk. Dane will never change, and there’s no reason to think otherwise. What I do want is my divorce to finally be settled and now I’m rattled he’ll retaliate after being beaten up by Angelo. He could press charges against him. If he’s smart, he’ll leave well alone; then again, I could press charges for him grabbing me first and prove self-defense since there would be footage on the surveillance cameras as well as Melody as my eye-witness.

The next morning, I’m waiting in line at the local Starbucks while contemplating my divorce, what to do about Dane, and Angelo’s panty-melting kiss, when someone taps me on the shoulder.

I turn around and a stunning dark-haired woman with piercing green eyes and beautiful, flawless skin looks back at me.

“Can I help you?” I say, wondering who she is.

“I’m so sorry,” she replies. “Are you by any chance the woman that was at the gallery auction last night?”

I nod. “Yes, I work there.”

She smiles kindly. “I thought I recognized you. Hi, I’m Allegra, I’m a close friend of Angelo’s.”

She holds out her hand, and I, in turn, shake her hand.

“Nice to meet you.” I smile back.

“I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself. It seems Angelo was rather smitten keeping you all to himself.” She giggles a little as the surprise shows on my face.

I wonder how many other people noticed?

“Oh, well, no, it’s nothing like that…”

She nods knowingly and then taps her nose. “It’ll be our little secret, don’t worry.”

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