my loyalty wouldn’t allow me to flinch. If I managed to pull this off, I would save my own life as well as my father’s.
And the little girl inside me still wished we would have the fairy-tale ending I always wanted—a simple life together. Family dinners on Sunday. Putting up the Christmas tree while the frost pressed against the windows. Drinking wine at our favorite vineyard just when the harvest finished. I’d felt alone my entire life—even when my family was just a few miles away. “If I bring Cato to you, you release both my father and me?”
Micah nodded. “As long as your father shuts down his business.”
My father loved that business more than me, but perhaps being locked up for god knows how long would change his mind. “Fine. But I’m not sleeping with him.” I would do anything to save my family, but opening my legs wasn’t an avenue I would take. There must be some other way to make it happen.
“It doesn’t matter to me how you do it,” Micah said. “Just get the job done. But if you fail, there is no deal. Until Cato Marino is in my captivity, your father will remain here. And if you can’t deliver what you promised, I’ll be forced to kill your father. So, if I were you…I wouldn’t take your time.”
Damien smiled at me. “But after I capture you again…I’ll definitely take my time.”
3
Siena
This was what I’d gathered about Cato Marino.
He was stupid rich. Multibillionaire.
He was self-made. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the achievements of this single man in his single lifetime.
He was young. He just turned thirty in March.
How did someone so young accomplish so much?
And the most surprising revelation of all…he was hot.
Inexplicably gorgeous. So beautiful it was unreal. Over six foot of steel—and probably all steel in his pants too. Every picture I saw of him showed off his caveman shoulders, his muscled arms, and tight waist. Whether he was in jeans or a suit, the hardness of his body couldn’t be denied. Sexy from head to toe, he was model material, not just banker material.
I hadn’t planned on seducing him to accomplish my goal, but now I realized that plan wouldn’t have worked anyway. A hot billionaire like him was already getting too much ass to handle. He could have any woman he wanted, so there was no way I could impress him. He might glance at me, think I was pretty. But an instant later, he would already be thinking about something else.
I did as much research as I could, and it was safe to conclude this man was impenetrable. Every photograph I could find of him showed his security team in the background. The only public appearances he made were for work. His personal life wasn’t disclosed. There wasn’t even a picture of him going to the grocery store to pick up some orange juice.
No wonder why Micah put this on my shoulders.
There were a few places Cato frequented in Florence, so I decided to get a view of him in person. Perhaps if I studied my prey, I’d gain a better understanding of how I was going to pull this off. Marching up to him with a gun wouldn’t accomplish anything. One of his men would take me out in a second. I probably couldn’t even walk up to him at all, not without being intercepted by one of his bodyguards.
I didn’t have a lot of time to waste, but I had to take this slowly if I were going to accomplish anything.
I went to one of his favorite clubs in Florence. I didn’t have a clue if or when he would show his face, so I made an appearance three nights in a row, wearing a different dress and heels each time. The bartender thought I was a lonely alcoholic who had quickly become a regular.
On the third night, I sat alone at a table when I finally got some luck. My hands were wrapped around my glass of scotch as my eyes watched the commotion at the doorway. Bouncers moved out of the way so Cato could lead the pack. With three other good-looking men in suits, they entered the bar, all heads turning their way like they were beautiful women in heels. Women weren’t the only ones looking, but men too, probably envious of a man who was so rich and handsome he could have any woman he wanted—at any time.