Page 46 of The Don's Prisoner

“And I understand that, Victoria, but he’s a lot more dangerous than you realize. I know this because we live in the same world, he and I, and if he put out a verbal threat on the family, he and all his men will come for us. It’s just a matter of when. So please, can we discuss this in the morning? Maybe I can go get your sketches or go with you to the office for a while. We’ll figure it out. Just… please hear me out and come upstairs with me,” he kissed the left side of my neck and wrapped my hair in his right hand so he could pull slightly, giving himself more room. My body began to tingle, and I gave in a little, moving my left arm to circle around his head, holding him to me. He growled slightly and bit my skin sending shock waves through my body that brought everything to life.

“Okay,” I whispered and, before I could even move to head up the stairs, he bent down and scooped me up into his arms. I clasped my hands around his neck, smiling as he carried me up the stairs, kissing me silly as he did so.

He made love to me, gently and slowly, like he wanted to apologize and convince me to stay all at once. He whispered sweet nothings in my ear as he made me call his name over and over with every orgasm he gave me. He took his time discovering every inch of me, and I did the same, licking and sucking every inch of him before we came together one last time. He cried out my name as he came deep inside me.

When we were finished, he lay next to me, his arm wrapped around me holding me tightly to the front of his body. We fit so well together that it was almost like we were created from the same mold. I lay awake in his arms fighting my emotions, wanting to give in to his sweet pleas to stay home the next day, but my independent stubborn inner voice refused to listen. I had things I had to do, and no man was going to tell me not to do them. It wasn’t his company, it was mine. It wasn’t his money on the line, it was mine.

No one was going to keep me from doing the job I loved.

So, when the light began to stretch up the hallway from the window, I snuck out from under his arm, crept down the stairs, threw on some clothes he had picked up for me, and left, grabbing an Uber to take me to work.

While I was waiting for the Uber to arrive, I wrote him and note and left it on the counter. I hoped he would understand. I couldn’t just leave everything to Caroline and Guy—it was my responsibility. Maybe it was a bad idea to be the only person who could make those decisions, but it was my art, my soul, my life. I couldn’t just decide to not go through with my plans, the ball was already rolling.

The Uber picked me up and drove me to work, but I had a sick feeling in my stomach the whole time. I instantly regretted leaving the house, and I considered having the Uber drive me back. Gio wanted to talk about it, and he had been willing to compromise. Why wasn’t I? Would it be so bad for him to sit on the couch in my office for a few hours while I worked if it made him feel better?

I was throwing a hissy fit and trying to prove he couldn’t control me. That was what the real issue was. I had been independent since before I graduated high school, and this was me fighting having to give that up. It was me fighting the fact that what I really wanted was to give in to Gio and just relax. But I was afraid if I started doing that now, I would give in to him on everything, and I would no longer have a say in my life.

The Uber pulled up in front of the store sooner than I had expected, and I made sure to tip him well. I watched as he drove away, considering just calling him back before deciding that I would just grab a few things I could work on from Gio’s place and then order another cab home. I would be there ten minutes tops, then I would head back to Gio’s and apologize to him for going.

I turned towards the main door, which was locked since it was still several hours before opening, and fished around for the key in my jeans pocket. When I looked up and went to unlock it, I saw the image of Rex standing behind me in the glass. I tried to cry out, but his hand clamped over my mouth before I could, which muffled any sound I made. He used his other hand to bring a hypodermic needle to my neck. It pinched and he pushed down on the plunger.

“You should have listened to him for your sake, Vicky, but I’m so very glad you didn’t. This is going to be a lot more fun than what I had planned,” he said in my ear before whatever he had injected into me caught hold of my consciousness, and I slipped into oblivion.

Chapter fourteen

Giovanni

The sheets next to me were cold when I woke up, and it took me a minute to realize it was because I was alone when I wasn’t supposed to be. She was supposed to be with me, but she wasn’t. I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes, listening for the sound of her moving downstairs or rummaging around in the bathroom, but there was nothing. I was alone, and the house was empty.

Fucking Victoria.

She had gone to work even though I had asked her not to in the sweetest way I could manage. I knew that ordering her to stay home was a bad idea. I knew she would test my boundaries just because that was her nature. But I was sure when I brought up the idea of a compromise that she would see reason—try to meet me halfway.

Apparently, I had been wrong.

I swore out loud and looked on the nightstand for my phone. It wasn’t where I normally put it because we had had sex the previous night, and I hadn’t been thinking about where my phone was. I rolled out of bed and searched the floor for my pants and finally found them half-tucked under the bed. My phone was in the pocket, thank goodness. I took it out and called Victoria’s phone.

It just kept ringing.

My heart plummeted as I threw on the same pants I had had on the day before and raced downstairs to find my car keys which I had left on the coffee table. I felt a little better when I saw her bag of things sitting on the couch. At least she hadn’t left me entirely because that had been the first thing that had crossed my mind. I had been too much of an asshole telling her not to go to work or something, and she had left me for good.

The fact that that scenario worried me more than that of Rex getting to her was a detail that I cared not to examine at that moment. It might mean my father had been right about me loving Victoria, and I couldn’t think about that just then. I had to find her.

I grabbed my keys and dialed Logan’s number. He was the only one I knew who would be awake at such an ungodly hour and would answer his phone. I was getting in my car, not even worrying about the fact that I was shirtless, when he answered, his voice tense.

“You never call this early. Is everything okay?”

“No, Victoria is gone, and she won’t answer her phone. It just keeps ringing. Can you have one of your guys tap it or something? Track her?”

Logan owned a company that dealt in anything technology-related. I could call him a “hacker”, but he was much more than that, and so were his friends. The things they did were closer to magic than to real-life abilities, and as far as I knew, there was nothing they couldn’t do.

“Why have one of the guys do it when you could have the Master take care of it?” he asked, and I sighed as I started driving towards Victoria’s work.

“Do you need her number?” I asked. He laughed in my ear.

“Oh please, I’ll just find it in your contacts.”

“You’re a little scary sometimes, dude,” I told him, and I could hear the grin on his face.

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