Criminal Desire | ✓

04. STUBBORN

04. STUBBORN

MIAMI, FLORIDA

"YOU SHOULD EAT, KALANI." The man spoke. Deduction skills led her to believe that his name was Giovanni. She'd heard it too much and seeing as this man was the head of the household, she could only assume. His eyes hadn't left her in the seven minutes they'd been sitting there in silence. Frankly, she was starving, but her stubbornness kept her from indulging in the platters of beautiful looking food.

She almost shivered hearing him say her name. It was something about his accent.

She shrugs, folding her arms over her chest. Ignoring her grumbling stomach, she lies, "I'm not hungry."

She was very hungry but she didn't want him to know that.

Giovanni narrowed his eyes at her, "You're stubborn."

"I got it from my dad." She deadpans, tilting her head as she meets his eyes.

Another silence passes between them. It wasn't uncomfortable or awkward, just tense. Giovanni was relaxed, his upper body resting against the back of his chair comfortably, his elbow propped up on the arm of it. Kalani was a different story. She sat up, her back as straight as a board, her arms folded across her chest as if to hide her cleavage.

Giovanni releases a breath as his eyes trail down her body. She was very gorgeous, he would admit. He doesn't allow himself to venture further into that thought.

"I sent two of my men to get some stuff from your apartment." He tells her, watching as her eyebrows furrow.

"Excuse me?" She exclaims, appalled at his lack of respect, "How dare you?"

He just stares at her, brown eyes glistening in the sunlight. "You will be staying with me for a while. It's best if you had some of your things with you."

Kalani seethes, "You didn't answer my question from last night. Why ━?"

"Why are you here?" He finishes her statement, his gaze venturing out to the pool. He watches as the wind causes a ripple in the water, "One part of it is to lure your brother out of hiding. What better way is there to do that than keep his sister hostage?"

"Yeah, you keep saying my brother stole from you but you still haven't told me what it is he stole." Kalani rants, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"That's not your business." A part of Giovanni wanted to shield this young woman from finding out what her brother did. Since finding out her innocence, he wasn't really sure what reaction to expect when she finds out that her brother killed his father.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You're keeping me hostage and you're telling me it's not my business to know what I'm being held hostage for?" Kalani rolls her eyes, fully aware that she wasn't going to get anywhere with his vague answers, "What's the other part?"

Giovanni almost smirks at her tenacity, "The other part is classified."

Kalani groans aloud, "You're such an asshole."

Giovanni tries not to smile at her exaggerated reaction. "You're the one with a reckless brother."

"He's not my responsibility anymore. He hasn't been for months, so stop blaming me for his actions." Kalani ranted. Giovanni scoffed at her words, receiving a glare in return, "What? Do you have a problem with the truth?"

"No," Giovanni chuckled, "Not at all."

She waits for him to elaborate, but he doesn't continue the conversation. Instead, she speaks up, "My friends are going to look for me, you know that, right? My boyfriend is going to look for me."

Giovanni arches a perfect eyebrow, "My men were instructed to pass along a message to your friends ━ you don't seem to have a lot of those so the news spread quickly. They were told that you ran away with another man. The same thing was told to your boyfriend. He didn't seem to care much."

Kalani, honestly, wasn't surprised that Hunter couldn't care less. He was probably on his 'work trip' anyway.

"So, you made me sound like a cheater?" She narrows her eyes at him.

He ignores her question and continues, "They also informed your father that you will be busy for the next month, what with you working overseas now. Luckily, you weren't smart enough to connect your friends and your family so the stories will never intercept."

Kalani seethes, "He'll never believe that."

"Well, he did." Giovanni deadpans, his gaze growing harsher by the second. "And right now, you are a ghost."

Needless to say, Kalani wanted to cry. She was stuck in an unknown place with unknown people and her father has no idea where she is.

He continues, "Since you're going to be here a while, it's easier if you just stop fighting and accept your fate, Kalani." And with that, he rises from his seat, "Now, get dressed. I have some business to take care of and you will join me."

this chapter was like 800 words and that's how long they're (probably) gonna be from now on