Page 149 of Sinful Lies

I wanted to scream at him, wanted to tell him he was wrong, but my voice wouldn’t come. My lungs burned, each breath a struggle as the weight of my fear pressed down on me, squeezing all the air from my chest.

He took a step closer, boots thudding against the cold concrete floor with every step. I could feel him closing in on me, his presence suffocating, making my heart race faster, like it was trying to escape from my chest.

“Where does Carlos keep his dirty money? His contracts with the FBI?”

“I—I don’t know,” I stammered, my words weak and broken. I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything. My body was too sore, my neck aching where he’d yanked it back, my hands raw and useless against the ropes.

He sneered, his voice dripping with disdain. “Of course, you don’t. You don’t know shit, do you?”

His face was so close now I could feel his breath, rancid and suffocating against my skin. My neck tightened, but I couldn’t pull away. The cold steel of the knife grazed my skin, light at first, teasing, before it pressed harder, a promise of pain.

Before I could even react, the blade cut into my neck.

The pain exploded through me, sudden and blinding. A scream tore from my throat before I could stop it. It felt like fire had been poured onto my skin, like my flesh was being torn apart. I couldn’t think—only scream.

“Tell me where it is,” he repeated, his voice chillingly calm, but there was something darker underneath it. I could feel how much he wanted me to hurt. “Or I’ll make it worse.”

I shook my head, tears streaking down my face, mixing with the blood flowing down my neck. “I don’t know! I don’t know!” I choked out, my voice trembling.

But he didn’t stop. He didn’t flinch. The knife pressed deeper, and the agony was all I could feel, the world spinning around me. My chest heaved with sobs, my body shaking from the force of it.

“Turns out, the Lazzios are just pathetic cowards after all.”

And then the knife sank deeper, driven into my back.

The pain was unbearable, a fire that burned through every nerve in my body. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t scream.

Everything was a blur of agony, of darkness closing in.

And then nothing.

Chapter

Thirty-Six

“Life is more fun if you play games.”

? Roald Dahl

Jade

I didn’t know who the hell had pissed in Lazzio’s morning coffee, but damn, they must’ve hit the jackpot.

The man was fuming overeverything.

The account manager had messed up the guest list and ordered way too many champagne bottles. Lazzio hadn’t wasted a second hanging up on him—except to tell him that if he hadn’t fixed it by noon, he would be fired.

Grace had brought him a tuna sandwich, and he’d groaned like she’d handed him a dead rat. He always hated tuna. Even his dog, Georgino, ate better than that.

His words, not mine.

Carlos Lazzio had come for coffee, but Angelo had sent him packing too, claiming there was no time for drinks when his employees were screwing everything up.

Normally, watching him blow a gasket was my favorite thing—like scoring the perfect pair of heels on clearance, or finally landing those concert tickets I’d been dying for.

Pure joy.

But today?

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