Page 25 of Crazed

I exhale deeply. "That's good, but, dolce, you can't just walk into a jewelry store and have them take it apart."

Her eyes widen. "Why not?"

I slide my hands up and down her arms, calmly stating, "You don't have proof it's yours. If he thinks it's stolen, he may call the police. Even if he doesn't, you don't want word getting out you have this."

"Then how do I get rid of it?" she frets.

"Easy. I'll take you to my family jeweler. He's been with us forever and knows his stuff. Plus, he'd never talk, and he'll know who to offload it to."

She arches her eyebrows. "You'll take me to him? Today?"

Cockily, I puff up my chest. "How much do you love me?"

She tilts her head, smiling. "More than you'll ever understand."

I kiss her hand. "It's a good thing the feeling is mutual, then. I guess we're going to have to put on some clothes today."

6

Katiya

Guilt eats at me.While my father did give me the box, and I did steal Ludis's ring, I still need to offload it. So I'm using it to my advantage. Massimo's jeweler is the first step in finding out more information about his other contacts. I assume if he trusts me with Ettore, he'll start to trust me with other information.

Everything about my underlying motives feels horrible. Massimo didn't hesitate to take care of my problem. All he does is care for me. Since my father died, he's the only person who's put me first. Yet, I don't know how to avoid the wrath of Leo.

Massimo's vengeance will be worse. It'll be personal.

I shudder at the thought.

"You cold?" he asks, pushing the button to increase the heat in his Ferrari.

"A bit," I lie again.

He veers to the right, entering the expressway, then guns it, weaving in and out of traffic. The sun is bright. I take my sunglasses out of my purse and put them on.

"You look sexy in your glasses," Massimo states, wiggling his eyebrows under his own pair.

"Thanks."

"Of course, the cat-eyed ones you wear in the library are pretty hot, too. In fact, I think I'm going to require you to wear them next time I tie you up," he adds.

My lips curl up. "Is that so?"

"Yep."

"Whatever you want, sir," I flirt, pulling my sunglasses down and batting my eyelashes.

Satisfaction fills his expression. It's no secret that Massimo loves it when I call him sir. But I love it, too. Something about submitting to him makes me feel alive.

And I'm going to throw it all away and destroy his life so Leo can get what he wants.

I don't have a choice.

Maybe I should tell Massimo.

No. He's never going to forgive me for lying to him about how I "earned" my freedom from Leo.

"You know what I want to do?" Massimo asks, turning on the radio.

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