Page 27 of Breaking Rosalind
Twisting, I deliver a knee to his balls that makes him howl. I scramble to my hands and knees in the direction of the gun, but Cesare grabs my ankle and drags me back.
“Who sent you?” He crawls on my back, his fingers closing in around my throat.
He pins me to the hard floor, forcing out all the air from my lungs. I twist and turn and buck, trying to break free from his grip, but there’s no escaping his superior body mass.
Sweat breaks out across my brow as I struggle beneath his weight. No matter how I wriggle, he keeps moving to anchor me into place. When his erection pokes into my ass cheek, I take that as my prompt to switch tactics.
“Are you trying to kill me or show me a good time?” I ask, making my voice husky. “Because newsflash: choking makes me wet.”
He chuckles, the sound harsh. “I’m going to enjoy your slow death.”
“Fuck, Cesare,” I moan. “Do a girl a favor and let her die with your huge cock in her pussy.”
His breath hitches. His grip loosens for the fraction of a second I need for an opening. Throwing my head back, I slam it into his nose.
“Fuck!” Cesare flinches back with a roar, and I twist free.
Heart pounding, I launch myself across the room toward the bed. He’s right behind me, his body heat scalding my back. Just as my fingers close in around the gun, his fist lands on the side of my head. Pain flashes through my skull like lightning, and the room spins.
“Drop the gun,” he bellows.
Fuck that. I need to stay conscious, get the fuck out of here, and survive another day for the sake of my girl.
I turn around, readying the pistol, but a second punch knocks me to the ground. My fingers loosen, the gun falls to the floor with a clatter, and I go limp.
Heavy, labored breaths pull me back into awareness. The intense throbbing on the side of my head tells me that only minutes have passed since Cesare knocked me out. I hold still with my eyes closed, feigning unconsciousness to bide time.
My body is upright, and I’m sitting on a leather surface with my arms and legs splayed. This must be the bondage chair I noticed last night.
Peeking through my lashes, I find Cesare sitting on the bed with the contents of my purse spread out across the mattress. I cringe at the sight of the handgun, syringes, knives, vials of liquid, and compressed fabrics, but my stomach plummets when he’s scrolling through my phone.
He must have bypassed its security by scanning my retina. Everything inside it, from the contacts to the photos, has been carefully curated to protect my identity. But it’s not foolproof. A determined investigator could break through the encryption and reveal anything incriminating.
“What are you doing?” I rasp.
“What’s this icon?” He holds up the handset.
“Which one?” I ask, already knowing he’s found the Moirai Group’s app.
He strides over, his eyes flashing, and holds the screen up to my face. “This one,” he hisses and points at the icon of the spinning wheel. “Why is it protected with a password?”
“It’s an e-reader containing the complete works of Homer.” The lie rolls off my tongue with practiced ease. “And the password exists, so no one scrolls around and messes with my bookmarks.”
He sways on his feet, his gaze still unfocussed. “What is it?”
My heart pounds. There are three passwords. The first will open the Moirai app, the second will delete it and send the firm an SOS with GPS coordinates, and the third will wipe the data and open a text file of The Odyssey with annotations.
There’s no point in aggravating Cesare by making him delete the app. Gunther already knows my location, and the firm can’t yet magic a method to penetrate the Montesano stronghold.
“Minus sign, six hundred,” I say, giving him the third.
He taps in the passcode, his breath still labored, and curls his lip. “Huh?” He blinks once, twice, three times, before shoving the screen back in my face. “What the fuck is this?”
“Ancient literature,” I reply.
“Bullshit.” He backhands me across the face, making my head snap to the side. “No more lies.”
My eyes narrow, and I clamp my lips shut. I’ve been trained to withstand harsh interrogation tactics. Cesare will get frustrated or bored before I break.