me, Giulia. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t need the money.”
“We all need the money. You don’t see me stealing it! Do you have any idea what they’ll do, if they catch you?”
String me up? Hide my body? I have no idea.
If there’s one person who might have any inkling what I’m going through right now, it’s a woman who lived on the streets. “I went home this weekend. My mom … she’s a junkie. It’s a long story, but she’s seeing some asshole who skipped off with about fifty grand worth of drugs. The drug dealer beat up my mom, and aunt, broke two of her fingers, and threatened to kill them, if we don’t pay him the money.” Tiny fissures in my composure bleed out the urgency ready to burst inside of me. “I’m freaking out here, Giulia.”
Dubious brown eyes stare back at me, the way I often looked at my mom when she told me similar ridiculous stories of desperation.
“I know this sounds nuts. It is nuts. But I can’t let him hurt my aunt. Or my mom.” It’s not my mom that concerns me, but I don’t tell her that.
Sighing, she steps past me, deeper into the room, and I wonder if she’s contemplating ratting me out. Not that she’d have to. I’m sure the camera caught everything. And now, even if I want to return the damn thing, its hand is broken.
“There’s no other way for you?” Back turned to me, she can’t see the hilarity of such a possibility written all over my face.
“Do you honestly think I’d be stealing this thing, a doll, if there was? I’ve wracked my brain trying to figure out how to fix this.”
“There might be another way. The question is, how much would you be willing to sacrifice to save your mother’s life?”
“What?”
She turns around, and the resolution etched in her expression is almost more terrifying than the look of shock from before. “What would you sacrifice to save your mother and aunt? Pain? Your dignity?”
“I just stole a freakin’ doll. I’d say dignity is out the window at this point. What are you getting at?”
A sharp exhale, and she presses her lips together, casting her gaze to the side. “There is a group. It’s how I got out of my situation. They help people. Lucian is a member of it.”
“What group?”
“I don’t know what they call themselves, but--”
A hard knock at the door startles my muscles, and I almost drop the doll again. “Oh, no.”
Looking around the room, I zero in on the dresser and shove the doll inside, beneath my underwear. At the other end of the drawer, I slide out my pocket knife from where I stored it to keep the maids from finding it under my pillow. Tucking it tight to my body so Giulia can’t see, I drop it into the pocket of my military jacket. I don’t know how this place handles thieves.
On my way to the door, Giulia grabs my arm. “Ask him about it,” she whispers. “Lucian. He’ll know what you mean.”
“I don’t think that’s going to help me now.” I twist my arm out of hers. “I’ve no doubt they’ve seen what I’ve done.”
With heavy steps, I clutch my stomach and stride toward the door, throwing it back on where Rand stands in the hallway. Chin lifted in the air, he stares down his nose at me, his brows stern with disappointment.
“Miss Quinn, Master Blackthorne has requested you report to his office immediately.”
Chapter 30
Lucian
Leaning back in my chair, I rewind the footage of Isa swiping the doll out of the glass case. I couldn’t give a damn about the overpriced toy, it’s the betrayal that gnaws at me. The idea that this girl has the balls to steal from right under my nose.
At the ding of the elevator door, I pause the footage, and when Rand escorts her into the office, I want to throttle my dick for lurching against my zipper. Head bowed, she comes to a stop in the middle of the room, not bothering to look me in the eye, and when I give Rand a nod, he exits the room.
Once the elevator doors close, I push forward in my chair, resting my hands against the desk. “Anything you want to tell me?”
She gives a subtle shake of her head that only stokes my anger. “Nothing I’m guessing you haven’t already seen.” Hands clasped in front of her, she looks ridiculous in that dress. A