Page 137 of Breaking Rosalind
“They’ll hurt her if I do.”
“Who?”
“The Moirai,” I snap. “My boss practically threatened her life. That’s why we moved her to another state, and you’ve just brought her back to New Alderney, where she’s vulnerable.”
His brows pinch. “You should have said?—”
“When you were drugging me, torturing me, or when you had me gagged?” I scream. “Why would I confide in a grown man with twisted sexual tastes who enjoys spending time with a fourteen-year-old girl?”
He flinches, his nostrils flaring.
“Is that what you think of me?” he says, his voice chilling me to the bone.
“What else am I going to think? Miranda doesn’t deserve to be around a man like you.”
“Are you going to tell me how to take down the Moirai, or will I hand you over to my brother?”
“Miranda—”
“You don’t get to use her as a bargaining chip,” he snarls. “Not after making that accusation.”
My breath quickens. I don’t know if I’ve made her situation better or worse. “I want to tell you everything, but I need to know she’ll be safe.”
Ignoring me, he removes the bandages from my feet, then releases the strap on my legs, and lifts me off the table.
He carries me across the room and into a darkened hallway. I’m naked, save for a few scraps of bandages around my crotch and breasts, not to mention the wad of fabric encasing my fingers.
“Cesare?” My voice trembles.
“Since you’re so eager to meet my brothers, you can join them for dinner.”
“Wait!”
“Do you want the gag?”
“If you hadn’t taken Miranda again, I would have given you that information.” I whack him on the back with my covered fist.
He spanks my ass, sending a sting across my skin that travels straight to my clit. My jaw clenches at my body’s inappropriate response. It’s like that part of my anatomy isn’t connected to my mind.
At the end of the hallway, he places his palm over a scanner and carries me through a door that opens into a darkened stairwell. As he ascends the steps, I memorize the route in case I ever get an opening.
“Where are you taking me?” My voice echoes off its stone walls.
He answers me with another spank that makes me stifle a groan. After days of sensory deprivation, any touch from this sick bastard ignites my nerves like fireworks.
“You’re staying upstairs with me,” he says, sounding gruff. “Where you’ll be safe.”
The declaration makes my spine stiffen. Is Cesare deluded, or does he think he’s the lesser of evils compared to his brothers?
“What makes you think I’m safe with you?”
“I take care of my pets.” He slaps my ass again, only this time, he rubs slow circles over my heated skin. “Benito isn’t interested in making you feel good. He’d cut you into pieces even after you spilled everything. Roman would shoot you between the eyes.”
“Cesare?” I whisper, my heart pounding, my words dying on my throat.
My mind is so scrambled, I don’t know what to believe. Everything I thought I knew about this man is a blur. The only thought that burns true in my mind is my desire to keep Miranda safe.
He doesn’t prompt me to continue and moves through what seems like a labyrinth of hallways and staircases. When we reach a bright stairwell with winding stairs, I wonder if he’s taking me up to the tower I noticed when I was taking photos of the grounds.