Part 6:

Care. She tied off the turn she’d just wound and didn’t let it reach her face. She looked up and let the look say more than the answer would. Hardly anyone knows Veto Ki has a house on Malta either. She drew the bandage tight, tighter than the wound required. He shifted with a low sound in his throat, but he didn’t tell her to stop.

Veto Ki loves two things, money and power. She smoothed the edge down, half surprised at how level her own voice stayed over her own life. “Keeping his daughter out of sight was never about protecting her. It was about never giving anyone away to make him weak.” for a maid,” he murmured, watching her hands. “You know a great deal.

I told you I’m not a maid.” “Then explain it to me.” His gaze moved over her, slow and unconvinced. Why would a man like Veto Ki hand the run of his house to a girl as young as you? One corner of her mouth curved without warmth. I’m 25. She pulled the knot tight and tied it off. His jaw flexed, but he held the sound back this time. Their eyes held.

And I’m very good at my work. A knock landed on the door. Boss. Aeros didn’t look away from her. What is it, Tony? Miss Ki is asking for the maid. Isabella’s hand stilled on the bandage. Aeros caught it. The small stop, the half second her fingers forgot what they were doing, and something behind his eyes sharpened, filed it away.

He rose from the bed slow and the smile he turned on her had a question in it. Then let’s go see how well Anita serves her mistress. The door opened and Aeros walked her in with Tony a step behind. Anita was on her feet before the door had finished swinging. The two women crossed the room and held on to each other.

And for a second Isabella let herself breathe in the only friend she’d had inside these walls. They didn’t hurt you. Anita pulled back just far enough to search her face. “Tell me they didn’t.” “I’m fine,” Isabella tightened her arms, and under her breath against Anita’s ear, the words came fast and low. “There are tunnels below the house.

We can get out through.” A hand closed over her arm and drew her back. OS set her an arms length from Anita, his attention moving between the two of them. 3 hours apart, and all this longing. His voice stayed even. That’s enough. He took the phone from his jacket and held it out to Anita. Call your father. Anita didn’t take it.

I don’t have his number memorized. His eyes narrowed on her. What kind of daughter doesn’t know her own father’s number? He dialed it himself, watching her the whole time, and pressed the phone into her hand. Veto Ki is going to hear his daughter’s voice and know I have her. The line rang twice. Then it connected. Papa.

Anita kept her eyes down. It’s me. They caught us. Both of us together. For 3 seconds, the line gave back nothing. Are you all right, Isabella? Veto’s voice came through. Careful. Too even. Did they hurt you? Anita’s with me. It’s just the two of us, Papa. Isabella’s gaze cut to her, every nerve drawn tight.

Her father had heard Anita’s voice answer to his daughter’s name, the woman who’d run his house for years, and he hadn’t missed a step. He knew. He knew. And he was playing along. And not once did he ask for her. Aos took the phone back and held it between them, the line still open for the room to hear. I have your only daughter, Veto.

The words came low and even with no heat at all. Come back to Malta. Bring back what you stole and come alone. Veto’s voice came back through the speaker fast and tight. Give me time, OS. I can’t pull that kind of money together by tonight. The muscle in Aeros’s jaw ticked once. Time? A cold thread of amusement ran under the word.

Clauddio didn’t get time. Isabella watched him, the name cut across his face as it left him, and for the first time she wasn’t looking at a monster. She was looking at a man standing over a grave. You took Cladio from me. His voice dropped into something quieter and far worse. So, I’m going to take your daughter from you. The reply came back loud enough that Isabella caught the shape of it.

A promise to kill him if he laid a hand on her. Aeros almost smiled. You should have thought of that before you crossed me. There’s nowhere on this earth you can run that I won’t find you. The line went quiet. Then Veto’s voice again. Lower bargaining. What it would take, what Aeros wanted for her. Bring back what you stole, and I’ll let her live.

OS’s eyes drifted from Anita to the woman he thought was the maid, then back. But understand me. The money keeps her alive. It doesn’t buy her back. She stays mine either way. A sound came through the speaker. A question, an objection. 3 days, Veto. He let the silence do the work before he finished it.

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