The Dictator (Banker 2)

“Siena—”

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I don’t want to hurt you, so I just need you to lie in the back seat and let me tie rope around your wrists.”

Stunned, he just stared at me like he couldn’t believe the reality right in front of him. “You’re leaving Mr. Marino?”

I nodded. “I have to. He killed those five people right in the driveway. I don’t want him to do that to me too. So…get in the back seat.” I pulled the twine from my pocket and hoped he would be cooperative.

He sighed quietly before he gave a nod. “I suppose it makes it easier this way. I feel obligated to tell Mr. Marino what happened, even if I do want you to be safe. At least this way, I can keep my ethics and allow you to run at the same time.” He grabbed the groceries from the cart and loaded them into the trunk.

“You aren’t going to talk me out of it?” I asked in surprise.

“No. Humans will do extraordinary things to survive and protect their child. That’s exactly what you’re doing, and I can’t blame you.” He shut the trunk then gave me a weak smile. “I know Mr. Marino is dangerous. In my heart, I know he wouldn’t hurt you. But my heart has been wrong before…” He pushed the cart back to the retrieval area then sat in the back seat.

I moved beside him and tied the rope around his wrists.

“But I should warn you, Mr. Marino has more power than you can imagine. I don’t think you’ll be free very long before he finds you. And when he does…he may not be so forgiving. He’ll see it as a betrayal.”

I nodded. “I have to try, Giovanni.”

“Then good luck to you.” He smiled at me. “I hope everything works out.”

“Thanks for everything. You were my favorite thing about living there.”

Like always, his cheeks reddened. “And you were mine.”

His hands were tied, but I hugged him anyway. “I’ll miss you.” I kissed him on the cheek, and before I could get too emotional, I left the keys beside him and exited the car. The second I started to look for Landon, I found him.

He stood outside his black SUV, dressed in all black.

I crossed the parking lot and moved into his chest for a hug.

“That was the easy part. Now comes the hard part.”

18

Cato

Bates and I had a long meeting with a group of investors that shoveled money into our bank. They hid their wealth from their respective governments, and then we, in turn, invested that money into various stocks. We split the profits down the middle. They made money off invisible money, tax-free. And we made money doing almost nothing.

But talking about money seemed to last forever.

Siena’s words kept haunting me. I was a very successful man, but I didn’t have much to show for it. I only had a few friends, but they were just guys I went out drinking with. There was nothing real there. Bates was my brother, but I wouldn’t consider him to be a friend. Instead of building relationships with other people, I just stacked my cash higher and higher. Now it seemed repetitive and boring. I’d been feeling that way for a long time, and the emptiness never wore off.

Siena was right about me.

I had nothing.

My phone rang in my pocket, and I glanced at the screen to see it was one of my security guys. They were always giving me updates, so I ignored it. I returned my attention to Mr. Howard, who discussed inviting more of his colleagues to participate in this move.

My phone rang again. It was the same person on the other line, so I took it. “Excuse me, I have to take this.” I cut off Mr. Howard and pressed the phone to my ear. “What is it? I’m in the middle of a meeting right now.”

“I apologize, sir.”

“Don’t apologize. Justify disturbing me. What’s so important?”

“Giovanni, sir. He left hours ago and hasn’t returned.”

I rose from the chair and let myself out of the conference room.

Bates gave me an irritated look, but he resumed the meeting without me.

The second the door was shut, I screamed into the phone. “You interrupted me to tell me that? That he’s been gone for a few hours? Are you fucking kidding me? The man has a life. Maybe he’s fucking someone.”

He kept a steady voice even though he probably wanted to shit himself. “We’ve tried calling him many times. He’s not answering.”

“You tend not to answer the phone when you’re fucking someone. Don’t bother me with this nonsense again.” I hung up and walked back into the conference room.

Hours later, the snoozefest finally ended.

We all shook hands, and the suits left the office.

Bates immediately broke out the scotch. “Jesus, that was boring. At least it’s going to make us a ton of money.”