Page 4 of Dark Desire

“My brother?” He glanced at me, seemingly perplexed by my statement.

“Earlier—you said you were waiting for word about your brother. I assume that’s what the call was about.”

“Oh. Yes, can you handle this?" He motioned to the prep table.

Rolling my eyes at him. "Of course, Vincenzo."

He held my gaze, silently at war with himself, before finally relenting to whatever it was he was thinking. "Call if something comes up.”

I watched as he turned and left the kitchen. Something big was going on with his brother. What, I had no idea. In time, I hoped I’d get him to open up to me, but until then, I would have to be patient. I needed him to trust me. Everything depended on having his trust, so I wasn't going to push it and risk fucking up my chance.

Turning to the copious amounts of vegetables strewn across the prep table, I pushed thoughts of his disappearance from my head and got to work.

With Vincenzo I knew to earn his trust, I'd have to ensure his prized possession, the restaurant, was seen to and taken care of. Otherwise, he'd fire me on the spot—defeating my whole reason for existing in this place.

Him.

Three

Vincenzo

The house was a measure of the man’s over inflated ego—an ego that would eventually be his downfall if I had anything to do with it. “It’s empty,” I called out as I stepped out of the monstrosity Dmitri called home.

Bastian kicked his foot into the dirt. “Where is he?” He growled in frustration.

“I don’t know, but Katya was definitely here. I found where she was being held.”

“Show me.” Matias pushed past me and started up the steps, but I hurried to intercept him.

“Wait, Matias.” I jogged up behind him and grabbed hold of his arm. “You need to know there is evidence of…” My voice trailed off, trying to find a delicate way of putting what I had seen.

“Evidence of what?” He snapped, jerking free of my grasp.

“Look. I don’t think her stay here has been all that pleasant.” He burst through the front door and raced up the stairs, leaving me outside with his brother. Turning to Bastian, “You should follow him. What he’s about to walk into is going to cause him a great deal of pain.”

He nodded and took off up the stairs. I stood with my arms folded and waited for what I knew was to come. When I heard Matais' roar of pain, I knew he'd seen exactly what I'd found. He was a sick man to allow his daughter to be harmed, like the evidence indicated she had been.

My phone rang, startling me to the present. “Vincenzo.” I barked into the device.

“Tell Massimo we will meet you at Bellissimo. We will do what we can to help bring this monster in.” Miguel’s deep voice filled the line before it was gone. Glancing at the blank screen, sounds of footsteps alerted to me to the others’ presence. I glanced up and found my brother watching me. “Miguel is going to meet us at Bellissimo. He’ll help us search the locations.”

Massimo nodded in approval. “The more we have helping, the faster we will locate her.” He strode toward his SUV and got in, motioning for the others. Matias climbed into the backseat and slammed the door. I knew he was at war with himself right now. He felt powerless, and that scared him—a feeling I knew all too well myself. The only way I could have any sense of control was at Fantasia.

My dick pulsed beneath my zipper as thoughts of the redhead filled my mind. Something about her eased the darkness inside me and I knew one night with her hadn't been nearly enough for me. I wanted—no, I needed to make her my submissive permanently, if she agree to my request.

I straddled my bike and tore off. I knew Miguel would prove to be an asset to us. Having his men assist in finding Dmitri's location, or at least where he was holding Katya, would reduce the time spent looking. After the short ride into Vegas, I pulled into the parking lot. The others had already arrived and were seated in a private room at the back of Bellissimo.

Riley smiled at me as I entered. “Hey, Boss. Your party is waiting for you.”

Forcing a smile on my face, I nodded toward her. “Great. Make sure we aren’t disturbed.”

“Sure thing. Do you need me to bring you anything? Drinks or food?”

“Drinks would be good. Thanks, Riley.”

Miguel was seated at the table with Matias, Bastian, Massimo, and Donny. “Vincenzo, I was catching Miguel up on what we know. From what we've learned, Ivanov has multiple warehouses around Vegas. Miguel's agreed to have his men start searching them while we try to pinpoint Dmitri’s location.”

“And what do you want me to do?” I sat down and waved Riley into the room. “Everyone, this is my manager, Riley.”

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