Page 89 of Savage Seduction

“Where is Marco?” I asked again, my voice trembling.

Jacob chuckled. “You’re not as clever as you like to make out, huh?”

Fear coiled in my stomach.

“Jacob, what’s going on?”

“Jacob, what’s going on?” he mimicked. “God, you’re a stupid little slut. Whatever does he see in you?”

I scrambled away from him, but only got a few feet to the wall. There was nowhere to go, and the ties on my limbs made it hurt. Zip ties, I realised, glancing at my ankles.

His eyes raked up my bare legs and the pretty pink skirt I had worn for Marco, and my chest heaving in my pale blouse from my panicked gasps.

I flinched. He smirked.

“I guess I can see what he sees in you,” he said, his rough hand reaching out to stroke my smooth calf.

“Don’t!” I snapped.

His mouth twisted in disgust. “You might tempt some men, but not me. I don’t go for whores.”

“I’m not a whore.”

“But of course you are. Toby told me you’d sleep with Marco with the right incentive, and you did. Just as we planned.”

My mouth dropped open in shock. “You… you know Toby?”

“Tick, tick. I can almost see the cogs turning in your silly little head,” he mocked.

“You and T-Toby… You spiked Marco’s drink that night?”

He nodded. “Not personally, of course. We needed to get him out of his house and Toby was sure Marco had his eye on you. Marco always did like anything in a skirt that was hard to get, and he hadn’t had you yet. We had a backup whore ready to grab his attention just in case, but it turned out not to be necessary.”

“I don’t understand. How do you know Toby? What is going on?”

“Toby owes a lot of money to a lot of people. He was easy pickings. He’s been helping me build up my financial portfolio for years. Insider trading, you’d call it.”

My head was pounding horribly. I didn’t know whether it was the drugs they’d injected me with that were making me feel so dull and stupid.

“But… But why did you need to drug Marco? I don’t understand.”

“Marco’s father is old school. Left a fortune in bullion in their basement vault in the house. All that money just sitting there. Getting old and side-lined in the mafia makes you rethink your priorities. I have no intention of dying before I’ve really lived.”

“So… you stole Marco’s gold? That’s why you broke in that day? That’s why you let… some goons attack Chiara?”

Tears leaked from my eyes.

His mouth tightened. “That was a regretful consequence. The stupid kid tried to make a run for it and things got out of hand.”

“Why are you doing this?” I pleaded. “You already have the gold. Please let me go.”

He tutted. “Sadly, we don’t have the gold. Marco had the security systems upgraded without keeping me in the loop. He always was too smart for his own good.”

My hopes crashed. My mind raced. “But… So you’re doing this because you still need to get the gold? Are you planning to ransom me to Marco?” I laughed at that. “He won’t give you that gold. He’s dumped me.”

“He always was hot-headed,” he said with a smirk. “Just as I’d hoped. I’ve been trying to get rid of you for weeks. Luckily, you kept your sly little mouth shut, or I might have had to kill you sooner.”

I stared at him. “Why?” I gasped.

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