Lover in Lingerie (Lingerie 15)

“I’m pissed,” I snapped. “I’m pissed that my daughter was stupid enough to get mixed up in this.”

Crow sat down in his leather chair. “Griffin just said she likes the guy. He’s good to her. She can leave whenever she wants. I’m not happy about this, but it could be a lot worse.”

I shook my head. “This is as bad as it could get. I don’t want my daughter anywhere near him.”

“I don’t like him either,” Griffin said. “But he looked me in the eye and said he does nothing but treat her with respect. He’s not a liar, so I believe him.”

“Fuck.” I sat down and ran my hands through my hair. “This is a nightmare.”

“I would have done something if she were in real danger,” Griffin said. “But since it’s gonna be over in three weeks, and she actually likes the guy…I decided it was riskier to do something.”

Three weeks was too long for me. “I don’t want that asshole anywhere near my daughter. Whether you’re with me or not, I have to do something.”

My brother looked at me. “Cane—”

“I don’t care if Carmen likes the guy. She’s been brainwashed. And what if the three weeks ends, and he changes his mind?”

Crow didn’t have a response to that.

“He said that wouldn’t happen,” Griffin said.

“And you believe him?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Griffin said. “And Carmen does too. I don’t like this any more than you do, but I feel like there’s nothing we can do. Carmen seems to have a close relationship with him. She says she can walk away now if she wanted to.”

“I don’t care,” I said. “That’s not even something you should say in a relationship.”

Crow turned to Griffin. “How did she get the black eye?”

“She was at that bank when it was robbed,” Griffin said. “One of the guys punched her.”

“Jesus Christ.” I covered my face with both my hands and actually felt the desire to weep. This whole time I thought my little girl was safe living on her own, and now I knew she was being terrorized in alleyways, dominated by a crime lord, and mugged at the bank.

“Bosco’s men handled it. Killed the men and saved her,” Griffin finished. “In her eyes, he’s saved her life three times.”

“When was the third?” Crow asked. “You only mentioned two.”

“I guess one of the men at the casino became obsessed with her,” Griffin said. “Started stalking her. Bosco threw him in the ring, but he beat his competitor. So Bosco jumped in and finished the match himself. Broke his arm and his back. The man pleaded for mercy, and Bosco shot him.”

This man was a million times worse than I ever could have imagined. Not only was he powerful, but he wasn’t afraid to bloody his knuckles either. He didn’t have to jump in the ring, but he did it anyway—just to prove how strong he was. “I don’t know what to do.” If I could march down there and blow his head off, I would, but I wasn’t stupid. I would never make it past his army and his security. The man never went anywhere alone, so there was no possibility of success. “I guess I should talk to Carmen myself.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Griffin said. “It’s not going to change anything, and she said she would keep this a secret from you.”

“Then what are you suggesting?” I snapped. “Just forget the whole thing and be fine with it?”

“Fighting him isn’t an option,” Crow said. “It’s a suicide mission.”

“But this is my daughter,” I reminded him. “Saving Conway was a suicide mission, and I was still there.”

“But we still had a chance,” Crow said. “This is totally different. He’s the worst opponent we could possibly face.”

“I don’t give a shit,” I said. “This is my daughter. I’ll do anything for her.”

“Cane.” Griffin shook his head. “Carmen wouldn’t want you to get yourself killed. It wouldn’t help her anyway—especially since she wants to be with him.”

“Like I said, she’s confused,” I hissed.

“I agree with Griffin,” Crow said. “Fighting him will get us nowhere. Just dead in a ditch. We wouldn’t be doing our family any favors by all of us dying.”

I was too angry to think straight. I just wanted my daughter to be out of this situation, to make sure this man wasn’t brainwashing her or forcing her to do something she didn’t want to do. The fact that all these terrible things had happened to her made my heart break into a million pieces. Just because Bosco was the richest man in the country didn’t mean he could get away with this. The thought gave me an idea. “All he cares about is money.”

Griffin lifted his gaze to meet mine. “What?”

“All he cares about is money,” I repeated. “If we walk in there with a hundred million in cash, that might get him to forget about Carmen. That’s a lot of money, even to someone like him. We tell him it’s his if he just forgets about her.”