Page 15 of Brutal Vows

With clinical detachment, I force her fists open and give her a quick pat down before propping my pistol on her lap and pinching her chin between my fingers, ensuring I have her full attention.

“Don’t move. Be silent.Capisci?” I demand.

Her glare intensifies and her nostrils flare as she inhales through her nose.

“Of course,il mio sovrano.”

Magma pulses in my balls, but I ignore my stiffening cock and give her a demeaning pat on the cheek before fitting my pistol back into my ankle holster, rising, and shutting the door. She maintains eye contact with me through the windows as I walk around the front of the car.

After a few minutes of driving, I decide her bright green eyes are too calculating, so I pull over and unbuckle my belt.

Her already taut body stiffens further and alarm widens her eyes, but she remains silent and watchful as I pull my belt out of my beltloops and turn toward her.

“Close your eyes,” I demand.

The muscle ticks in her jaw again. I’ve never seen the response on a woman before. Intrigued, I loop the belt in my fist and rub the leather over her jaw.

“Do I need to repeat myself?” I murmur.

She lowers her lashes.

As I fashion the belt into a blindfold, I use the warmth of the leather compared to her cool, sweaty brow to center my thoughts.

The thought of torturing a woman sours my gut, but this is no ordinary woman. She’s the conniving bitch who tried to ruin my life eighteen years ago.

With the belt secured around her eyes, I drive around for a few minutes, ensuring we don’t have a tail before heading toward a block of rundown apartment complexes at the edge of the suburbs. Despite the constant turf wars of the smaller gangs in the area, no one dares touch the apartments no matter how vacant they seem, since they belong to me.

I don’t need to wield Nico Russo’s name to terrify people.

Which makes Julieta’s stoic silence a smidge unnerving. Can someone change so much in less than two decades?

I don’t believe it. Not someone as self-centered and devious as the woman who tried to pit me and my don against each other.

She nearly destroyed my life with her tricks, but now it’s my turn. I warned her what would happen if she ever returned to New York City.

I drive around the complex to ensure no one is watching before parking in the lot between the two closest buildings.

As I turn off the engine and exit the car, I push my doubts away and allow the fury festering in my soul to fuel me around the hood to the passenger side.

Julieta sits in silence as I open her door and grab her wrist. She doesn’t balk or fight when I uncuff her from the dashboard, unbuckle her seatbelt, and close the handcuff back around her wrist.

I toss her over my shoulder. My suspicion grows when she doesn’t fight. She grunts and grabs the back of my shirt for stability but doesn’t buck or wriggle as I slam the door and carry her down to the basement apartment. The black iron gate squeaks as I push through it, and the dirt on the concrete steps crunches under my shoes as I descend, but the key slides into the lock without a sound and the door opens without resistance.

As I shut and lock the door behind me, I leave my humanity on the stoop.

No matter how tempting the lying, evil seductress over my shoulder may be, nothing will stop me from getting the answers I need from her.

She’ll tell me everything.

I’ll break her, learn all her secrets, and then make her pay for almost ruining my life nearly eighteen years ago, even if it means crossing my personal boundaries.

Julieta Giordano will not fool me again. Her bright green eyes won’t sway me, her luscious curves won’t tempt me, and the stoicism in her every decision won’t stop me.

She only has herself to blame for what I’m going to do to her.

Chapter 5

Loretta Giordano

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