Page 47 of Captive in His Castle
“Yes, I’ve listened, and I still think you’re wrong to hide the truth from him, and I would tell him the truth in a heartbeat. He’s a grown man fully capable of making his own choices.”
Despising that she was using his own words against him and twisting them, he shook his head vehemently. “No, you don’t want to believe that I’m right. You refuse to even consider it or consider what the consequences could be. You refuse to trust me. You want to keep me locked in your head as the kidnapping bastard –”
“The kidnapping bastard thatyou are,” she spat.
“The kidnapping bastard that I am who only kidnappedyou to save my oldest friend and to save you too,” he spat back, holding onto his anger by the skin of his teeth. “The kidnapping bastard that I am who’s kept you locked in a cage and fed you nothing but bread and water.”
She threw her hands in the air, fury and disdain colliding to etch themselves into her features. “What do you expect from me, Dante? Gratitude? As I pointed out days ago, a cell is still a cell, whatever its size. You’ve kept me in a gilded cage where I’ve been watched at every turn and not been allowed to make a single decision for myself. Even the clothes I’ve worn have been chosen by someone else!”
“You chose to become my lover,” he said through teeth he had to grit. The euphoria of their lovemaking –lovemakingshehad instigated – had sunk into his guts and twisted into something dark and ugly. “You chose to become my lover of your own free will.”
“There was nothing free about it for me,” Callie disputed bitterly. She’d become Dante’s lover only because she’d lost the fight with her own desires, and for him to even suggest her staying longer…
God, theemotionsthat had gripped her when he’d asked her to stay. There had been a moment, barely a split second, when longing had wrapped around her heart so tightly she’d come with a beat of saying yes, and it terrified her that the longing was still there.
“And even if it was a free choice,” she continued, her tongue taking on a life of its own as her terror deepened and knots coiled tightly in her stomach, “it was just sex, and if you think I wouldeveragree to extending my time here just because you haven’t bored of having sex with me yet, then you are off your rocker. Forget that I need to get home to my pregnant sister; I can’t wait to be free of this prison, and I can’t wait to be free ofyou. You might not have been named for Dante Alighieri but you’ve brought me to hell, and when youset me free, hell will freeze over before I want to see you again.”
As Callie poured vitriol from a tongue that felt as if it belonged to someone else, Dante’s features hardened to granite. For the longest time, he did nothing but gaze at her with eyes that were the opposite of warm. And then his top lip curled and, in a tone as cold as his stare, said, “Come with me.”
She folded her arms and lifted her chin with defiance. “Come where? Going to lock me in the dungeon until Sunday?”
For the very first time, he stared at her with loathing. “To my office. Your passport and phone are in my safe. You can have them now. I’m letting you go.”
He strode towards the door without another word.
It took a moment for Callie’s uncomprehending brain to connect with her feet. “What do you mean, you’re letting me go?” she demanded, hurrying to follow him.
“Exactly that.” Exiting the vaults into the library, he headed straight to the dining room, Callie quick-marching to keep up with him. There, he spoke to Bernard, who was waiting for them to take their seats for dinner. “Please notify all staff that Miss Thomas is allowed to leave the estate with immediate effect,” he said in English. “Arrange for a car to take her to the town.”
Not waiting for a response from Bernard, Dante strode to the Leopold room. From there, he cut through to the adjoining reception room and, from that, took a door into a room Callie hadn’t been in before, a sprawling, orderly, fully modern office.
She stood at the doorway and hugged her knotted stomach tightly. The beats of her heart were echoing between her ears. “You’re letting me gonow?”
His reply was a curt, “Yes,” and he pressed his hand to oneof the floor-to-ceiling bookcases crammed with folders. It opened like a door to reveal an inbuilt safe that was nearly as tall as Callie. After turning the dial a number of times, it sprung open.
Working quickly, he removed her phone, passport and watch, and an ordinary letter sized envelope, the latter of which he held up to her. “Your ticket home. Your flight leaves Naples mid-afternoon on Sunday but can be exchanged for an earlier flight if you see sense.”
Placing her belongings on the desk, he then went back into his safe, reached into the back, and removed two wedges of cash, each tied with a band. “This is ten thousand euros, more than enough to get you to Accardiano before the wedding. I would offer you a lift in my helicopter tomorrow, but I will not actively help you.” He met her stare with that bitter curl on his top lip. “But neither am I prepared to let you leave here without the means to help yourself if you find yourself stuck.”
“Why would you do this?” she whispered, suddenly feeling cold. It was like all the fury that had carried her through what had turned into the bitterest of arguments had exhaled out of her. “You only brought me here because you said it was too dangerous for me to be anywhere near Accardiano.”
“And it is. You’re the one choosing not to believe me. Choosing not to trust me. Because you don’t trust, do you, Callie. You can’t bear to put your trust in anyone but yourself. You don’t trust your sister to know what’s best for her and her baby, and you don’t trust me to know what’s best for my oldest friend. You don’t even trust that I want you to stay for reasons that run deeper than sex.”
She flinched, his words striking harder than any hand could have done.
His jaw somehow managed to clench even tighter. “Niccolo is in debt to Lorenzo. Hundreds of millions in debt to him.If he abandons Siena before the wedding, that debt will be called in and Lorenzo will take control of all Niccolo’s business affairs. If Niccolo is lucky, Lorenzo will consider that sufficient vengeance.” The granite of his stare flickered with ice. “No one getsluckywith Lorenzo Esposito. He is a man who believes in an eye for an eye with an ear taken for good measure. Siena is his pride and joy. His princess. The only thing he prizes above her is his honour, and if his princess is jilted on her wedding day, his honour and pride will both be hit, and he will seek vengeance on those who’ve wounded it. Ifyou’relucky, he might decide to leave your sister alone.”
Dante took in the ashen colour Callie’s face had now turned, and had to fight the swell of nausea that rolled in his guts. To remember how barely an hour ago she’d blown his mind and his heart with her seduction only added to the sickness curdling him. It hurt to even look at her. “If you leave now, you will have time to take a cab to Florence and catch the night train to Naples or the bullet train first thing in the morning. … hell, with that kind of cash, you’ll find a driver to take you directly to Accardiano. You can be there before breakfast. You’re wily enough to think of a way to catch Niccolo’s attention, but if not, the wedding itself is taking place in the church of Santa Maria. Position yourself well enough, and he will very likely notice you and be intrigued enough to speak to you.”
“Why are you doing this?” she repeated.
He held the lock of their stares so she could feel the weight of his next words as well as hear them. “I’m putting the choice and all our fates, heaven, hell or purgatory, in your hands. Believe me or don’t, trust me or don’t, the consequences will be for you to live with.”
His phone range. He answered it with a terse, “Ciao,” listened a moment and then ended the call. “The car is ready for you.”
But there was an uncertainty to her posture and expression. “You’re really letting me go?”
He breathed deeply and inclined his head. “Yes, Callie, I am really letting you go.” His gaze flicked to the door in a sign of dismissal. “You should change your clothes before you go. The nights here can still be chilly.”
