Page 33 of Breaking Rosalind

He nods.

“Do you and your handler work alone?”

As much as I want to lie to protect the Moirai Group, I can’t. No two-person operation has the clout to infiltrate the New Alderney Times.

I blink twice.

“Do you work for a family?”

I blink twice.

He pulls the trigger with a click.

The gun doesn’t fire, but my adrenaline spikes, and my entire body goes rigid with shock. In that terrifying moment, I could have died without seeing my baby again. I thrash in my restraints, screaming out a protest.

“I was telling the truth, asshole,” I yell, but can’t form the words.

He gazes up at me and grins. “I already know you work for a specialized firm of assassins. I was asking about the client.”

Shit.

“Now, let’s start again, pet,” he says. “I’m going to run through some names. You’re going to confirm who wants me dead so badly that they’re prepared to pay an assassin.”

Molten fury burns through my chest, but my veins fill with cold fear. I can’t win with this tricky bastard. He’s determined to trip me up with ambiguous questions so he can pull that trigger.

The door behind us opens, and Benito Montesano strolls in, staring into his phone. “Leroi texted to say—” His jaw drops. “What the fuck?”

Cesare yanks out the revolver, springs to his feet, stands in front of me, presumably to hide my nudity. What can I say? He’s a gentleman and a ghoul.

“Brother,” Benito says, his voice low. “What were you doing with that gun?”

“Let’s discuss this outside.”

Benito disappears behind the door, leaving me alone with my racing heart.

“Stay here.” Cesare shoves the revolver’s glistening tip between my eyes.

“As if I could even move,” I mumble through the gag, rattling the buckles of my restraints.

He grins, but his eyes are glacial. “Don’t even think about it, pet. If you make me catch you again, the next round of torture won’t be so pleasurable.”

I let my arms fall limp, flash my eyes, and let out a garbled, “I’ll be good.”

Cesare strides to the door with the revolver, and I hold still until the door swings shut. My mind races for a way to escape this mad house before he returns.

The next wrong move won’t just cost me my life. Cesare will keep me alive and use my body to fulfill his every sick and twisted fantasy before he grants me a painful and humiliating death.

FOURTEEN

CESARE

I jostle Benito out of the pool house, not wanting him anywhere near my Rosalind. My brother hasn’t gotten laid since he was dumped by his fiancée. He acts like he hates women, but Rosalind is hot enough to tempt even a eunuch.

We move in silence until we step out into the pool area. Benito directs me to the narrow path that leads through the bushes that surround the building’s posterior, and points at the security camera.

“Leroi told me everything. Did you know she snuck out through the bathroom window to search around the grounds?”

“You saw her on camera?” I ask.