Dark Saint [Romano Brotherhood, #1]

03 | Nina

"Stop moving," Santo suddenly snarls, clamping my arms to my side and pressing me against the bars of the cell. I freeze as the cold metal bites into my cheek, feeling the press of his body behind mine, all hard muscle. My heart quickens at our position as I feel his breath on my neck, and I can't stop myself from squirming and whimpering, trying to push him away.

I feel cold hit my back as he steps away, and I immediately flip around so I'm facing him. He's not manhandling me, for once, and he's got a look on his face I've never seen before.

"I'm not going to do that to you," he growls. "Fucking stop that. Nobody in this house is going to rape you."

I furiously wipe at the tears that escaped. "Oh, that's where you draw the line? You'll maim, torture, and kill but you won't rape? Thank God you have a moral line."

"I prefer for my women to be willing," he says through a smirk, and chills run down my spine. "It's much more fun for me that way. Now, would you like to go in yourself or for me to put you in?"

Asshole.

I'm cowering against the wall when Massimo comes down. The cell has a tiny cot with red stains that I'm trying really hard not to look at. Santo has been standing in front of my cell just staring at me, but I'm too terrified to do anything except curl up in a ball and try to breathe.

So much for being feisty. Fighting back.

Santo approaches his older brother, turning away from me, and I strain to hear their conversation.

"You think Luciano will respond favorably to her torture?"

"Perhaps. I see no point in continuing to wait for him to make a move now that we know what she truly means to him."

"And if she's lying?"

"Then we are torturing the precious Genovese gem. Even better for us."

"Luciano will already be upset because of what I did today."

"He conducted an idiotically planned drug deal in our territory and got several of our men killed. He's been coming closer and closer to crossing me for months. Whatever he gets, he had coming to him, Santo."

"I'm trying to figure out your game, Simo. What are you prepared to ask for in exchange for her?"

"San Francisco. Seattle. Either one."

"He won't give those cities up," Santo's voice becomes that harsh growl that sends tremors down my spine. "Not even for that mistress of his I just bled dry at his fucking fundraiser."

Massimo exhales sharply. "Never thought I'd see the day you back down from torture, Santo. The girl wasn't going to be ours until you brought her here. Now that we have her, I'm not fond of the idea of her going back to her family. Look at her. She's small, weak. Luciano will be angry when that is taken advantage of. She dies, Santo. The question is whether we will benefit from her death or not."

I can't help it. I start hyperventilating. I'm listening to Massimo's unfeeling voice describe my death like he's providing observations about the weather and it's sinking in that I'm about to fucking die.

She's small, weak.

Massimo is right. I've never felt weaker than I do now.

"Additionally," Massimo is saying, "infiltrating one of his fundraisers was your idea. Just because I went along with it, does not mean I approve of your methods. Hai troppa rabia. Hai lasciato che quella donna ti controllasse, anche adesso."

Santo's response fades in and out of my consciousness as my panic builds. "She does not control me. Lei è bella, sì, ma la bellezza così devastante come la sua dovrebbe essere temuta e non abbandonata."