Page 112 of Savage Seduction

“Was it you—?” My voice choked off.

He shook his head. “He shot at us, so Sandro shot him. Luckily, he was armed. He’d been on his way to a business deal.”

“I’m glad it wasn’t you,” I said. “Your mother thinks I’ll…” My voice trailed off.”

“What?” he asked, insistent.

“She doesn’t want you to live the kind of life that is going to get you in trouble or killed. I guess she was worried I’d be a bad influence. Turned out she was right.”

He looked stricken. “What happened was nothing to do with you.”

“But it was,” I said in a dull voice. “It was me who downloaded an app on your phone that let them bypass your security. Without me, they wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

I expected him to be furious. I tensed, refusing to flinch.

But Marco wasn’t angry. He stroked a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Jacob admitted what he had done. Everything. They used you because he sensed how I felt about you. Otherwise, they would have just found some other way to do it. This is his fault. Not yours.”

I shook my head. It still felt like a betrayal, the enormity of what had happened because of what I had done. How could I have been so stupid to think I was just downloading an authenticator app?

“There was a… a video of me,” I whispered in a small voice, utterly mortified at having to admit it. “Toby threatened to—”

“It’s gone,” Marco said in a harsh voice. “Deleted. It will never see the light of day.”

I flushed, horrified at the idea he had seen it. “It wasn’t real.”

“I know that, carissima. I know it wasn’t you.”

I almost choked at the strength of the sob of relief that ran through me. The video was gone. Thank goodness it was gone forever.

He stroked my hair. “You’ve been so brave. So incredible. Without you, Chiara would be dead,” he said, his voice raw. “You saved her. How did you escape?”

“I crawled out of a grille I’d loosened. It’s a long story.”

He heard the pain in my voice. That I wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.

I curled my fingers into loose fists, the raw nails still throbbing with pain.

Looking stricken at the sight of them, his big hand dropped to cover both of mine. He held them gently like he wanted to protect them, and cursed quietly in Italian under his breath.

“What about Jonathan?” I asked. “I left him there chained up.”

His eyes narrowed. “Landry is still there? Jacob admitted he’d found him, but said he’d escaped.”

I pulled my hands away from his. “You can’t hurt him, Marco. I won’t be responsible for his death. I want him to go to prison for what he did to Dolly. All of them.”

“Did they hurt you?” he asked through clenched teeth.

I shook my head. “No.”

I couldn’t look him in the eyes. They had not assaulted me, not the way he meant, but one of them might have assaulted Chiara. And yet I couldn’t tell him. It would violate her privacy all over again.

“Tell me the truth,” he said harshly.

“They didn’t,” I said firmly, “and I’ll tell you what I want to tell you. Nothing more.” I glared at him stubbornly.

He looked agonised.

I touched his hand. “They really didn’t,” I assured him softly. “If they had, maybe I would feel differently. But I want them in jail for what they’ve done.”

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