The Banker (Banker 1)

“You’re a clever woman, and I respect you.” Micah had just threatened me, but now he’d flipped his attitude like it hadn’t happened. “You didn’t approve of what he was doing. You warned him this would happen. You left your family and started over. Unfortunately, the rest of your family didn’t inherit the same intelligence.”

“But I’m still here with you…so I can’t be that smart.” I should have left Italy. I should have moved to France or London. Or better yet, I should have crossed the pond and started a new life in America.

Micah gave me a slight smile. “You can blame your father for that.”

Yes, I could blame him for all of this. I wanted nothing to do with his criminal life, but I somehow had been dragged back into it. “What do you want with Cato Marino?” I didn’t know anything about this guy, but I knew he wasn’t innocent. If he were, Micah wouldn’t be risking his organization to take down such a powerful man. There must be a good reason.

“Our business.” Micah took a drink. “Not yours.”

Why did I expect anything else? “And if I say no?” I had every right to walk away right now. I’d warned my father so many times. Even when my mother was murdered, he didn’t stop. That was the last straw for me. He was blinded by greed and power. Fortune was more important than his family, more important than the woman who gave him his children. He got himself into this mess, and I should let him suffer for it.

Damien cocked his head slightly, as if that answer was the one he was hoping for. “Then you can join me in my bed.” The threat was palpable, filling the air around us and permeating our skin. His lust matched his hostility, and there was no evidence of a bluff. “And when I’m done with you, I’ll throw your dead body into your father’s prison—naked and dripping with come from every hole.”

Like bugs were crawling across my skin, I felt my body being twisted under invisible hands. My breathing picked up slightly, and my fingers flinched automatically, wishing I could grab a glass and smash it over Damien’s head. But I already had a gunshot wound, and I wasn’t craving another.

Even if Damien hadn’t threatened me with that terrifying image, I knew my conscience wouldn’t allow me to abandon my father. If he were anyone else, I would have kept fighting until the last drop of blood left my veins, but 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.