Page 21 of Dangerous Deception

“Think what you want,” he says as he picks up the phone.” But at the end of the day, you belong to me and you are a representation and extension of me. So you will do what I say and you’ll like it. Understand?”

9

RAFFAELE

“And then, and then we went to the beach and–and Isa–Isab–Isbelis teaching me to swim!” A grinning, dimpled face beams up at me from the tablet in my hand, with two rosy cheeks positively glowing from time spent in the Italian sun.

“Jaime,” comes a thick Italian accent off-screen. “I’ve told you to call meNonna. It’s much easier.”

“Nonna,” the child repeats, smiling brightly at the woman on the other side of the screen. “Nonna is teaching me to swim!”

“That’s great, Jaime. Could you put Nonna on for me? I have to talk to her.”

“Okay!” The screen blurs as the tablet changes hands, and I hear Jaime screaming at the top of his lungs for his sister Katie, growing distant as he presumably runs away.

“Raffaele.” A deeply wrinkled, tanned face comes into view as Isabella situates herself on her chair. “I wondered when I would hear from you.”

“Sorry it’s taken me so long. How are the kids settling in?”

“As well as any five and eight-year-old can after being sent across the world to escape their tyrant father,” Isabella replies sharply.

“Did you tell them what happened to their mother?”

Isabella’s face twists, then she nods curtly. “Jaime is too young to understand, but he knows Katie is sad. She’s doing well. I think she understood her mother was in pain.”

“Well, the Amantes are no longer a problem for me, or a threat to them. I’ve set up trust funds for each of them, and if you want to send them back to the States?—”

“No,” Isabella cuts in quickly. “It’s fine. It’s been years since the vineyard has had children running around. I like it.”

“Not too much for your old bones?”

“Hey! Less of the cheek. You’re never too old for a spanking, boy.”

Her words draw a soft laugh from me. “Understood. Thank you for doing this.”

She shakes her head and squints against the morning sun. “It’s no problem. They needed a safe place to stay, and we have plenty of room here. I only wish their mother could have come with them.”

My smile immediately vanishes. I’d thought I had more time with their mother, but she was in more pain than I could have anticipated and my failure to protect her will continue to haunt me. Helping get her kids out of the country and ensuring that no member of the Amante family survived were the least I could do in her memory.

“What are you doing up at this time of night?” Isabella squints down at her watch. “Isn’t it almost four in the morning for you?”

“Work never sleeps, Isabella. You know that. I’ll check in again when I can. Let me know if you need anything.”

The call ends and the tablet falls dark as my car pulls to a stop outside a building with dark red neon lights and light music flowing out of the two open doors. I shove the tablet into the pocket in the door and climb out of the car to be greeted by Vito.

“Catch me up,” I say, rolling up my sleeves as we hurry toward the entrance.

“Four of them. Pretty sure they’re Irish. Got rough with a couple of the girls, so Ruby tried to nip it in the bud. That’s when things got nasty,” Vito explains.

Reaching the door, I motion for two of the men stationed outside to follow me in. Warm lighting greets us inside the brothel foyer from the dangling teardrop lights glittering above. The light pink walls melt into a deep red down each corridor, leading to the array of private rooms for people to find their entertainment. At the front desk stands Ruby, and my eyes immediately lock onto the split in her lower lip.

Anger ignites in my chest and my teeth clench. “Where are they?”

Ruby points down the left corridor, clutching a sheer shawl around her shoulders. “They kept one of my girls with them,” she calls as I break into a run down the corridor. “Don’t hurt her!”

Normally, I’d be pissed that Ruby felt the need to even ask me that, but given the situation, I won’t blame her. The call came through forty minutes ago about rowdy patrons who had shot a guard and were being overly rough with my girls. The only reason my men hadn’t stormed the place immediately was because the safety of my workers here is paramount and we don’t act without Ruby’s permission.

I may be the owner of this brothel and countless others like it, but women like Ruby are the ones with the power here.

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