Page 101 of Savage Ambition

Survival instincts kept me still. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No? You deny how your breath catches when he touches you, how your cock hardens when he speaks?” Salvatore sneered as he looked down at me. “I’m sure you moan his name when you jerk off alone in your bed at night.”

“You’re mistaken,” I insisted.

“Let’s test my theory. I will give you an hour with any worker here, free of charge. Take your pick. Prove to me that Dragon means nothing to you.”

The proposition made my skin crawl. “What would that prove?”

“That you understand the difference between Dragon, who works for me, and Dante, who belongs to me. It’s a distinction you seem dangerously close to forgetting.”

I tried to pull away. “No, sir. It’s not like that.”

“Liar. I’ve killed men for less deception than what I see in your face right now.”

“What difference do my feelings make when all Dante cares about is money?”

Salvatore lowered his hand to the soft expanse of my neck in a deadly caress. “Perhaps there’s another solution to our problem.”

“There is?”

“Join us at Gennaro Corporation.” His thumb caressed my Adam’s apple with threatening gentleness. “Work alongside Dante under my personal supervision.”

A job offer was the last thing I’d expected. “What?”

“You have a certain innocence of the boy next door, which is an underserved demographic here.” His fingers flexed, not quite restricting my breathing but showing how easily he could. “I’d train you personally. It’s an honor I only bestow on my most valuable acquisitions.”

The implication of what Dante must have endured under his “training” made fury burn through my veins. I trembled with the effort of restraint, knowing any outburst might get him punished. “I appreciate the offer, but I must respectfully decline.”

“Then we’re finished here.”

I stood on shaky legs, desperate to escape. “Yes, sir.”

“Understand that there won’t be another warning.” His voice hardened. “Cross me again, and you won’t return.”

“Or else?” The question slipped out.

“There is no ‘or else,’ as you say. There is only obedience or obliteration. Choose wisely.”

I turned to leave, but he seized my wrist. He used it to yank me against his chest, one arm locking around my waist like a vise.

His fingers slid under my shirt, finding Dante’s mark. He pressed down hard over the bruise. “If I ever find evidence of this occurring outside these walls, my son will suffer in ways that would haunt your worst nightmares. The torments I’ve inflicted on him before will seem merciful compared to what awaits him should you defy me. Understood?”

I gave a stiff, jerky nod.

“Not even your sizable trust fund can afford the privilege of falling in love with him.” He shoved me back toward the door. “Dare to be that stupid, and my offer to work for me becomes forced employment. As your new owner, I’ll have you servicing clients whose appetites demand more blood than cum on the sheets, who find their arousal in your agony, and climax only when your screams give way to broken sobs.”

My legs almost buckled as the full implication of his words crashed over me. The clinical way he described my torture made it worse, as if he was reciting a business plan rather than threatening to destroy me. I could picture myself strapped down, bleeding, begging for mercy from faceless investors who’d paid for the privilege of breaking me.

Except he wasn’t outing a hypothetical threat for my future. He was describing Dante’s daily reality. Salvatore laughed as he walked away, the satisfied amusement of a devil who’d broken countless souls and considered it good business.

Dante hadn’t chosen to work at Gennaro Corporation. He was a prisoner of a heinous monster.

And I had no idea how to save him.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

DANTE