The Tyrant (Banker #3) - Penelope Sky Page 0,41

give you what you want. You’ll torture me until I crack, but I won’t crack. You’ll contact Bates next and offer my freedom in exchange for his cooperation. He won’t give you what you want either. So I suggest you kill me.”

“Or maybe I need to crank up my torturing methods right from the beginning.” He stood in front of me, his arms crossed over his chest. “When a man hasn’t felt a needle in his eye or a hot iron in his ass, he thinks he can handle anything. But once it really gets rough, he breaks. Trust me, they all break. You’ll be no different.”

12

Siena

Every time I called, it went straight to voice mail.

Something wasn’t right.

He should have been home an hour ago.

My heart was beating so hard.

Giovanni came into my room without knocking. “Bates is outside. He’s gathering all the men. Something’s wrong.”

I almost ran out of the room, but then I remembered I had a daughter I couldn’t leave unattended. “Giovanni—”

“I’ll take care of her. Go.”

I ran down the stairs then made my way outside. The last car left the roundabout as every single man under Cato’s payroll took off—and left the house unprotected. “What’s going on?” I found Bates standing there on the phone, talking to someone about his mom. He hung up and turned to me. “Damien has Cato. He called me when it happened. They ambushed him, and there’s nothing he could have done about it.”

“Oh my god…” I covered my mouth with my hands as the tears emerged. “No. No. No.”

“I sent the rest of the men to intercept him, but I have a feeling they’ve already made it to their headquarters by now.”

I paced in a circle, my hands digging into my hair. “So what? Break down the front door and get in there.”

“It’s not that simple—”

“I don’t care if it’s simple! Get in there and get him out.”

“Listen to me.” He grabbed both of my shoulders and shook me. “I want my brother back as much as you do, but their headquarters is underneath the building, deep underground. I can crash the building down, but that would only trap Cato underneath it. We could storm inside, but the hatch can’t be broken.”

“So we do nothing?” I shrieked.

“No…I just have to figure something out.”

“What do they want from Cato?”

“Everything.”

“What does that mean?” she hissed.

“They want access to all his bank accounts, all of his assets, all of his billions.”

“Then give it to them.”

Bates gave me a disappointed look. “We agreed we would never give any of that up.”

“So you’d rather die for money?” I asked incredulously. “Is it really more important than your life? Your brother’s life?”

“It’s not just about money. It’s about power. It’s about not handing over everything we worked for to some assholes. We don’t negotiate with assholes. Cato and I both agreed that if either one of us were captured, we wouldn’t negotiate.”

“He must feel differently now. He didn’t have us when he said that.”

Bates shook his head. “Trust me, he won’t change his mind. He would rather die than let them win.”

“No!”

“It’s not about money—”

“Money has done nothing but ruin your lives. Don’t you see that?” Tears streamed down my face. “Just give them what they want. Get Cato back… I need him. His daughter needs him.”

Bates gripped my shoulders and tried to calm me. “I will do everything I can to get him back, okay? Look, I’m on your side. I just need a second to think.”

“We don’t have a second.” I pushed his arms down. “They’re going to torture him. They’re going to torture and kill him the way they tortured and killed my father. I’m not letting that happen to him.”

“Well, do you have any ideas? You’ve been there before. How do we infiltrate their building? Get underground?”

I’d been there before, but never under the hatch. “I’ve only been on the bottom floor. I didn’t even know they had an underground. I don’t see why we can’t storm the building, kill all the men, and smoke them out.”

“I’m sure they’re prepared for that eventuality.”

“Then negotiating is our only option.”

“I can’t, Siena—”

“Then offer them something. Offer them a billion or something.”

He shook his head. “Then all our enemies will think they can do that to us.”

“How about we just focus on getting Cato back before we think about the future?” I hissed. “Give them the business and get out of the game for good. Money isn’t worth this nightmare.”

Bates sighed. “Siena, you’re oversimplifying it.”

“This