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I reached out through the bars and grabbed him. I was sure he could easily break my hold, but I had to try.

“It doesn’t matter. Just kill me. Please.”

For a long silent moment, the huge beast of a man studied me and then he shook his head. My heart sank.

“Where’s the key?”

“I…” I sighed. Resigned. If he wanted to fuck me, there wasn’t much I could do about it. Maybe I could get the gun from him and shoot myself before he left. Or maybe he’d be willing to shoot me after he fucked me. “In the left nightstand drawer.”

God, he was big. I couldn’t help but wonder if everything was… proportional. I really hoped not.

Slumping down, I watched him go to the nightstand and get the key. He really was silent as a ghost. It took him less than a minute to get the cage door open. Standing on the other side of the open door, he held his hand out to me.

“Come.”

Still clutching the sheet tightly to my chest, even though I knew I wasn’t going to get to keep it, I reluctantly obeyed. Which was when I realized he was no longer holding the gun. Where had he put it? I didn’t see a holster.

I put my hand in his, and immediately felt very small and very vulnerable. I hadn’t felt this way since my father traded me to Don Bianco as collateral for the debt he couldn’t pay.

To my shock, rather than dragging me over to the bed, or shoving me to my knees, or any of the myriad of possibilities that flitted through my head, the big man just stared down at me, frowning. I stared back up at him, my comparatively tiny hand in his huge palm, wondering what he wanted from me and why he was just standing there.

“Where are your clothes?”

I blinked.

“I don’t have any.” Obviously I’d had some when I’d been delivered to Don Bianco’s house, but I hadn’t seen them since that first day.

The big male scowled. I didn’t know what to think about him, and I wasn’t sure I liked it.

Being able to anticipate what was coming my way meant safety. Not knowing what he wanted from me was unknown territory. Could my life possibly get worse? Did I really want to find out?

When he took hold of the sheet, for a brief moment I felt relief that he was going to finally fuck me and behave the way I expected. Was I looking forward to it? No, but at least I understood that.

Instead, he wrapped the sheet around me, and knotted it, almost like a dress but with no straps or top. I stared at him.

Maybe he wasn’t interested in women.

Or maybe I smelled bad.

Or was too dirty for him.

The Bianco men didn’t care. Maybe he did.

Which should have been a relief, but instead my trepidation and wariness were growing. If he didn’t want to fuck me, what did he want from me?

“Come on.” It was an order. Not that I had a choice. He had one huge hand on my back and was propelling me through the don’s house.

Oh, maybe he was worried about being interrupted. He wanted to take me somewhere that he could fuck me without worrying that the don’s men would find us. Which was a possibility. As we moved through the house, I could hear voices coming from the kitchen.

The night guards.

At some point, they would patrol. If they heard noises inside Don Bianco’s room, they might not look… but maybe he didn’t want to risk me calling out to them. Or making too much noise.

Little did he know.

He held me close against his side while we were within earshot of the kitchen. I smiled at the rowdy conversation. They were drinking. Probably eating. Enjoying themselves thoroughly. I hoped they enjoyed their last few hours of blissful ignorance. That would make cruel reality all the more painful when it arrived.

We reached one of the side exits. Unguarded for some reason. I shook my head. Don Bianco’s men were perpetually lazy and now he’d paid for it.