Page 44 of Surrender

I wander over to the open bar and order a glass of white wine. As I wait, Silvano approaches and orders an expensive red.

“Is Pavone as difficult to deal with as I’ve heard?” I ask, genuinely curious. It’s always good to know more about the dangerous men in the city.

Silvano makes an amused noise. “Yes and no. But he often agrees to my ideas because they sound ‘fun,’ so I suppose that’s all that matters.” He raises his wine glass to me. “Your Daddy let you wander free?”

I clink my glass against his. I must have said some stupid things in front of him, and while I cringe internally at my carelessness, I don’t let my displeasure show. “Apparently. He’s busy playing with bigger, tougher men.”

We both sip on our wine for a moment, assessing each other.

“You know…” Silvano brings his hand up to the back of my neck, squeezing only briefly before dropping it again. “...if you’re into rough play, there are people who do it better than Cristiano.”

Fuck off, I almost snap at him. I’ve fucked around plenty, but nobody’s ever done it better than Cristiano.

But I’m sure that’s the reaction he wants. I need to be smart, and use every opportunity presented to me. I angle myself so I’m leaning just a bit closer to him. “Oh yeah? Who would you recommend? I might have some free time right now.”

Silvano covers his mouth to suppress a laugh. “Brazen. Boys like you can be fun. Come on, I’ll introduce you to a friend of mine.”

He walks off, like he expects me to simply follow him. I look at my half-downed glass of wine and consider carefully. It’s probably not smart to allow him to lure me into a dark corner of his mansion, but… I don’t think he intends to kill me. Not yet, anyway, and especially not at a party like this. Murder just puts a damper on things.

I set my wine glass aside and follow him out of the party hall and into a small lounge area. It’s decorated like something straight out of the 1900s, with large furniture and endless bookcases. There’s even a giant globe sitting on the side table next to the bottles of liquor.

Silvano sits down in the large armchair, and points to the floor in front of him. “Sit.”

I snort in amusement, and very pointedly sit down… on the coffee table. I rest my chin on the palm of my hand and look at him. “You definitely gotta earn it first.”

My disobedience only has Silvano smirking. “I suppose I should have expected as much. You aren’t a good boy at all. You’re a rabid dog chomping at your bit. I’ll need to put you in your place.”

“You can try,” I answer. I lean back and spread my legs. “But I don’t go down easily.”

Silvano gets up to loom over me, and I admit I feel a bit of a thrill. He’s a good-looking man, although a little too clean-cut for my tastes. I’m sure he can wield a paddle or a whip just fine, too, but I don’t expect him to be able to spank me as hard as Cristiano had.

Not that I particularly want Silvano to touch me at all.

“No, I see that you don’t.” Silvano places one hand on top of my head and tightens his fingers in my hair. “You were there, weren’t you? During the explosion. That’s why your back is as cut up as it is.”

“Must have been,” I answer, although I’m internally bristling. Fuck, how much of my back did he see that day?

Silvano leans down and licks a line up my jaw. “You got up again so fast. Not at all like the delicate little bird you look like. A very pretty little robin.”

My eyes widen, and revulsion spirals through me, but I swallow it all down. I can’t let him see my reaction. I reach up to wrap my arms around his shoulders. “Nothing delicate about me.”

Silvano’s hold on my hair loosens, and he lowers his mouth so it’s inches away from mine. “I have a knife I’d love to use on you. I want to see your skin as red as your hair, drawing beautiful patterns through it…”

If he were more my type, if this had been a month ago, if he hadn’t called me robin, it might even have been tempting. But I nip at his lower lip anyway. “If I struggle enough, you might even leave a permanent mark. Not like…”

“Is this a private meeting, or may I interrupt?” Cristiano’s crisp, cold voice sounds from just behind me.

Silvano tenses and pulls away from me. “It depends. Some boys enjoy being torn between two masters.” He draws his knuckle along my jaw. “Should we invite him to join, boy?”

Well, fuck. I want to tell Cristiano to get out so I can get back to drawing information out of Silvano, but that would be too suspicious.

Besides, I kind of like the look on Cristiano’s face right now. I bite my lower lip and pretend to think, looking Cristiano directly in the eye. “I’m not sure. What should I say, Daddy?”

His eyes are smoldering, dark with anger and something I think that’s a little more primal, as he stares back at me. “You know who you belong to, little fox. Do I need to remind you?”

That tone of voice sends shivers down my spine. “You might need to. Or else I could grow bored and go for somebody more—”

Before I can finish speaking, Cristiano has closed the distance between us, and his fingers are in my hair. He yanks me up to my feet. “Try again, boy.” With the lounge door still open, it’s possible that we might be seen, but Cristiano doesn’t seem to care.

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