The men stopped the bleeding then stitched up both my entry and exit wounds, like this was an everyday occurrence. They didn’t give me anything for the pain, and I was too stubborn to ask. A thick piece of gauze was wrapped around my shoulder, hidden underneath my t-shirt so I didn’t stick out like a sore thumb.

I was thrown in the back of the Escalade before they escorted me into the center of Florence. It was five in the evening, but the sun was still bright because it was summertime. We ventured down the narrow streets until we approached an old building. With a tap of a button, a door to the underground garage opened, and we descended.

It didn’t bode well that they allowed me to see where we were going.

I could have broken the window with my elbow and jumped out of the car at any time. But if they really did have my father, running wasn’t an option. Regardless of our differences, we were family. He would lower his weapon for me in a heartbeat…at least, I hoped he would.

We plummeted into the darkness of the underground garage. Other expensive cars were parked in the spaces, all SUVS and all black. After we parked, we got out of the car. The two sidekicks tried to handcuff me.

I kicked one in the shin. “Are you kidding me? I surrendered and I’ve been shot.”

He clenched his jaw before he snatched my wrists again.

Like a horse, I slammed my leg back and bucked him.

Damien raised his hand. “Let her be. Nothing she can do anyway.”

The guy finally let me go.

I kicked him again anyway, hitting him in the ankle.

He didn’t hesitate before he backhanded me, hitting me hard across the cheek and making my body turn with the impact.

I moved with the momentum and almost tumbled to the ground, but I regained my balance before that humiliating event could occur. I righted myself again and glared at him, ignoring the tingling sensation in my cheek.

He pointed in front of him. “Walk, bitch.”

“You know, I’m getting a little tired of this nickname.” I stepped in front of him and followed Damien.

Damien opened the door and led the way. “I hope not. It fits you so well.”

I was tempted to kick him in the back of the knee, but Damien would do something worse than slap me. I was already suffering from a gunshot wound, and I didn’t want a stab wound to go with it.

He led me into the building and past a bar where the lackeys were enjoying their booze after a long day of criminal activity. Most of them looked me up and down like I was a plaything they would enjoy sometime that evening.

Not gonna happen.

I was led into a private room. With black walls and black-framed mirrors, it looked like a private room in a club. There was a bar in there too, but instead of having a bartender, there was just an older man in a black suit. He sat on one of the curved leather couches that faced a black coffee table. There were three glasses of scotch on the surface.

I was certain one of them was for me.

The goons shut the door behind us, leaving the three of us alone.

“She’s damaged goods,” Damien announced as he sauntered into the room. “But she didn’t give me much of a choice. Pulled a samurai sword on me. She was pretty good at wielding it too.” He approached his boss then turned to me. He snapped his fingers like a man calling to his dog.

I refused to cooperate. I probably would have sat of my own free will because booze was exactly what I needed to mask the pain. But comments like that weren’t well received. My eyes narrowed, full of murder.

The man in the suit studied me with an unreadable expression. He had a gray beard that matched the hair on his head. His skin was tanned and tight, but he looked to be in his fifties. His age hadn’t slowed down his muscularity, and he filled out the suit well. He still possessed enough strength to be a formidable opponent. “We treat our guests better than that.” He rose to his feet then indicated the leather couch across from him. “I’m sure she’s thirsty after the day she’s had. Damien, get her a few painkillers to take with her scotch. No need for her to suffer.”

If this guy were trying to kiss my ass, it wouldn’t work. If he had a demon like Damien on his payroll, he definitely wasn’t trustworthy. But the booze and pills were calling my name, so I took a seat. If they wanted to kill me, they would have done it already, so I knew their offering hadn’t been poisoned.

I took the pills and washed them down with the scotch. I drank the entire glass, needing every drop to steady my nerves. Like my father, I didn’t show fear in the face of danger, but a good glass of booze always made it a little easier. A drop dripped from the corner of my mouth, so I wiped it away with my forearm. “Let’s skip the power plays and the bullshit. I need my father, and you need me. Elaborate.” I rested my elbows on my knees as I stared at the gentleman sitting across from me. He seemed harmless, like a grandfather who only punished you when you really deserved it. But I wouldn’t let the false kindness in his eyes overshadow who he really was.

He held his glass in the hand resting on his knee as he smiled at me. “Like father, like daughter.”

“Not sure if that’s a compliment or not.” I’d inherited my father’s hardness but not his lack of morality. I also had his eyes, but that was as far as our shared attributes went. Everything else I had I received from my mother, who’d been dead for many years.

“I’ll let you decide.” He took a drink before he set the glass on the table.

Damien sat beside him, his predatory eyes glued to my face. Lust and hostility shone in his gaze. He wanted to shoot me again just to get off on it. He was a demon without a leash. There was no telling what he might do.

They obviously needed me for something. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be alive. If they wanted to torture my father and punish him, it would make sense to execute his only daughter. But I was still sitting there, the painkillers kicking in. “On with it.” Perhaps I was bolder than usual because I knew I had some sort of power in this game.

“You know Damien well, obviously,” he began. “But we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting. I’m Micah.”

“And you know who I am,” I said, not bothering with an introduction. “Where is my father?”

“In the building.” Micah wore a gold ring on his finger with a green emerald in the center. His hands showed his age, the veins mixing with the wrinkles. He must be a few years younger than my father. “The specifics don’t matter.”

“They matter if you want my cooperation.” My father taught me to always be strong, regardless of the opponent I faced. Earning your enemy’s respect was the only saving grace you would ever receive. And if your fate was unavoidable, it was best to go out with honor. I was too proud to kneel for anyone—because that was how I was raised.

Damien gave a slow grin. “You’re lucky you’re alive right now.”

I glanced to him. “As are you.”

He widened his grin farther, hating me but wanting me at the same time. His green eyes were set in a handsome face, his masculine cheekbones complementing his full lips. He was a beautiful man, but he was tainted by such evil, his handsomeness got lost in translation.

Micah ignored his right-hand man. “If your father remains in my captivity, I will torture him and kill him.”

I maintained the exact same expression, just as I would in a poker game. My brother was part of the family business, but he hadn’t been mentioned once. He must have disappeared before they could get to him—and now they had no idea where he’d gone into hiding. He would never tell me, so it was pointless to ask. “I assumed. What do you want from me?” I didn’t have special skills or any interaction with the family business, so I didn’t have much to offer. Even my information was useless because I’d turned my back on the trade. That should be obvious to them—if they did their research.

“We’ll make a trade with you,” Micah offered. “One man for another.”

I narrowed my eyes automatically, the fear involuntarily controlling my reactions. The only person they could possibly want was my brother—and that was a trade I refused to make. They could threaten to kill me again, and it still wouldn’t make a difference. “You have a building full of capable men at your disposal. Why are you asking me?”

“This man is untouchable.” Micah pulled out a folder from the inside of his jacket and set it on the table between us.

I didn’t open it. “If he’s untouchable, I’m a terrible person to ask. I may be a good shot, but I’m no assassin.” I couldn’t pull off any kind of stunt. I lived a quiet life outside of Florence. I went to work every day at the gallery, spent time with my friends, had a few dates here and there, and then went home.

“We don’t want you to kill him.” Micah pushed the folder closer to me. “We need this man alive. Bring him to us, and your father goes free.”

I couldn’t allow myself to think about my father’s condition. He was probably locked up in a room with no windows and barely a cot. Maybe he deserved it because of his business, but it broke my heart to imagine him that way. If there were anything I could do for him, I would. “As I’ve already said, I have no skills. I’m an art buyer.”

Damien watched me with those malicious eyes. “Give yourself more credit, sweetheart.”

I kept my gaze on Micah so I wouldn’t rip out Damien’s throat. “Who is this man?”

Micah grabbed his glass again, but instead of drinking from it, he held it in his palm. “Cato Marino.”

That name meant nothing to me.

Micah must have recognized the blankness in my eyes because he elaborated. “He owns the biggest bank in the world. He hides money for the Chinese, has ties with the vaults in Switzerland, and half the debt of the United States can be attributed to him. There may be banks under different names, but they’re all owned by the same man.”

“Jesus…and you think I can touch this guy?” I laughed despite the seriousness of the situation because it was ridiculous. “He’s like the richest dude in the universe. You think I can just walk up to him and ask him to come with me?”

“No.” Damien watched me without blinking. “But you could get into his bed.”

Now it became crystal clear. They wanted me to spread my legs and seduce this man. They wanted me to bed him like a whore. Once I gained his trust, I could trick him into being caught by the wrong hands. “I’m not in that line of business.” I grabbed the bottle of scotch and refilled my glass.

“Then you better find another plan,” Micah said. “It doesn’t matter how you pull this off. As long as we get Cato Marino, your father walks free. It’s that simple. Do nothing—and I will kill him.” The gentlemanly attitude was long gone, and now his true colors rose to the surface. He squeezed his glass with his fingers. “Your father encroached on our territory and was stupid enough to cross the line one too many times. I was kind enough to give him a warning—but no more.”

My father ran a cigar business, exporting them all across Europe. They were high quality, sometimes costing eighty euros just for a single one. But that wasn’t how he made his money. His cigars were stuffed with drugs—the finest drugs in this hemisphere. He smuggled them where they needed to go under the clever disguise. The problem was, Micah was in the same line of work—and Italy just wasn’t big enough for the both of them. I warned my father that his good luck would run out, that he would take a bigger bite than he could chew. When he didn’t listen to me, I turned my back on my family—because I wanted a simple life.

“You’re a clever woman, and I respect you.” Micah had just threatened me, but now he’d flipped his attitude like it hadn’t happened. “You didn’t approve of what he was doing. You warned him this would happen. You left your family and started over. Unfortunately, the rest of your family didn’t inherit the same intelligence.”

“But I’m still here with you…so I can’t be that smart.” I should have left Italy. I should have moved to France or London. Or better yet, I should have crossed the pond and started a new life in America.

Micah gave me a slight smile. “You can blame your father for that.”

Yes, I could blame him for all of this. I wanted nothing to do with his criminal life, but I somehow had been dragged back into it. “What do you want with Cato Marino?” I didn’t know anything about this guy, but I knew he wasn’t innocent. If he were, Micah wouldn’t be risking his organization to take down such a powerful man. There must be a good reason.

“Our business.” Micah took a drink. “Not yours.”

Why did I expect anything else? “And if I say no?” I had every right to walk away right now. I’d warned my father so many times. Even when my mother was murdered, he didn’t stop. That was the last straw for me. He was blinded by greed and power. Fortune was more important than his family, more important than the woman who gave him his children. He got himself into this mess, and I should let him suffer for it.

Damien cocked his head slightly, as if that answer was the one he was hoping for. “Then you can join me in my bed.” The threat was palpable, filling the air around us and permeating our skin. His lust matched his hostility, and there was no evidence of a bluff. “And when I’m done with you, I’ll throw your dead body into your father’s prison—naked and dripping with come from every hole.”

Like bugs were crawling across my skin, I felt my body being twisted under invisible hands. My breathing picked up slightly, and my fingers flinched automatically, wishing I could grab a glass and smash it over Damien’s head. But I already had a gunshot wound, and I wasn’t craving another.

Even if Damien hadn’t threatened me with that terrifying image, I knew my conscience wouldn’t allow me to abandon my father. If he were anyone else, I would have kept fighting until the last drop of blood left my veins, but my loyalty wouldn’t allow me to flinch. If I managed to pull this off, I would save my own life as well as my father’s.

And the little girl inside me still wished we would have the fairy-tale ending I always wanted—a simple life together. Family dinners on Sunday. Putting up the Christmas tree while the frost pressed against the windows. Drinking wine at our favorite vineyard just when the harvest finished. I’d felt alone my entire life—even when my family was just a few miles away. “If I bring Cato to you, you release both my father and me?”

Micah nodded. “As long as your father shuts down his business.”

My father loved that business more than me, but perhaps being locked up for god knows how long would change his mind. “Fine. But I’m not sleeping with him.” I would do anything to save my family, but opening my legs wasn’t an avenue I would take. There must be some other way to make it happen.

“It doesn’t matter to me how you do it,” Micah said. “Just get the job done. But if you fail, there is no deal. Until Cato Marino is in my captivity, your father will remain here. And if you can’t deliver what you promised, I’ll be forced to kill your father. So, if I were you…I wouldn’t take your time.”

Damien smiled at me. “But after I capture you again…I’ll definitely take my time.”