Page 10 of Wretched Choices

I catch a glimpse of her standing with Ethan and a few more people, his hand around her waist. Ethan Caine is a playboy who takes long-legged women, no matter their IQ, to bed. Isabel being with him makes me question her choices.

I pull my eyes from them. I need to concentrate on my goal. Dante is still on the lookout for any other intruders. Events the last few weeks have been alarming, and the boy we found snooping around is still being kept with us. Dante asked around, and he did have a sister who suddenly disappeared, making his story valid. We couldn’t find much about him or his family. They are just ordinary people, though perhaps poorer than most. He's just a normal kid. The bug he had couldn’t be tracked, and we searched for his sister but found no clues as to where she is. If he had done what he'd been asked to, he would be dead. And if his sister is not already dead, she is long gone. Because the only people who would go against me are those who see me as a threat, and those are the worst kind of people.

Just as I spot a person walking down toward the offices, I see one of my men has noticed as well and is carefully following him. As I turn, leaving it to him, a figure approaches me.

Ethan.

“Salvatore, what a delightful party! I thought you preferred less attention.”

I narrow my eyes at him and shake his offered hand. “This is a fundraiser, not a party. It’s for the impoverished youth, for those who have potential but no funds. And besides, it will be good for my hotel. A little attention never hurt anyone.” Before I can add anything else, someone approaches us from the side. That someone is Isabel, and the way Ethan wraps his hand around her waist makes me want to punch him in his smug face.

When I sent the invite to Caine Enterprise, I didn’t expect Ethan to show up. The man I usually deal with there is Weston, his brother.

“Salvatore, may I introduce you to a friend of mine, Isabel Roberts. Isabel, Salvatore is the owner of this beautiful hotel and many other businesses.”

She smiles coyly like I didn’t have my hands on her hours before.

“Really? And what are your other businesses, if I may ask?” She raises her eyebrows and takes a sip of her drink.

Fisting my hands by my sides, I glare at her. Before I can answer, Ethan does it for me.

“Construction, and he owns the nightclub Twenty-Seven too. I should take you there sometime.” He winks at her, to which she rolls her eyes.

Something inside me snaps. I want to beat the smug look off Ethan’s face. The fact that he can take her out makes me want to break his perfectly straight nose.

“Maybe,” she says, looking at me.

I turn my attention back to Ethan. “I was expecting your brother.”

“Believe me, I don’t want to be here either. It’s not how I like to spend my nights. But Weston had a private matter to attend to, so I had to sacrifice myself.” Smirking, he turns to Isabel. “But the one good thing about tonight is Isabel.”

She pats his chest and smiles. “Oh, you are so sweet.”

“Well, I’ll leave you. Have a lovely rest of the night.” I walk away before I do something I’ll regret. I need to clear my head, and being near that woman won’t help.

Later that night, somewhere after two a.m., I’m sitting in my office at the same desk where I caught Isabel Roberts snooping around. The smell of citrus and vanilla still lingers, and it takes a huge amount of willpower for me to concentrate on the screen in front of me.

“Do you know who he is?” I ask Dante as we look at the images our hidden camera caught. One of several we installedjust moments before the party started because we couldn’t take the risk of them being discovered by anyone. And as expected, our main security cameras were disconnected.

Only three people other than me knew about the new cameras. Dante, my consigliere, Gabriel, and Marco, my fixer who does all kinds of jobs from hacking to making people disappear like they never existed without spilling any blood, which is different to how Dante makes people disappear.

Those three are the ones I trust with my life.

Those men have been by my side since our teens.

Gabriel was born into the family. Even though his father was just a soldier, he earned his place by my side and even that isn’t enough for all the times he and his family were there for me.

Dante was a kid living on the streets. No one knows why he left his parents and ran away from home. He never told us, and we never asked, assuming he would tell us when he was ready. He earned our trust the first time we met, when he saved our lives one day in a dark alley after we were attacked by one of my father’s enemies at the time.

Marco basically forced himself on us, and we had no other choice but to let him into the family. His skills were just too good to pass up.

“I’ve never seen him before. This job is too clean for my liking.” Dante, playing with his knife, says from his seat in the office.

“I agree. Don’t you have a facial recognition program, Marco?” Gabriel passes the tablet back to Marco.

“I do, and I’m running it. It takes time.” Marco types something on his tablet, adding, “Do you know how many cameras and how much data this program has to go through? I have it running back at my place. If the program finds a match, I’ll get a notification.”

I take a deep breath and wish I didn’t when, instead of air, I breathe in her scent. “We need to know who he is. He’s not working alone. That I’m sure of.” I look at Marco and concentrate on the men in front of me, ignoring the feeling that scent is causing. “Marco, I’ll wait for your call if you find something.” Before I can change my mind, I add, “Look into Isabel Roberts. She might be who she is saying, but I want you to take a closer look.”

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