Her Mafia Daddy - Chapter 30: Chapter 30

"Arrivederci, Signore Ravazzani." I led her to the SUV and Benito opened the rear door. She tossed her head back, long wheat-coloured strands of hair whipping over her shoulder, to stare at me. Her expression was a mixture of stubbornness and defeat, like a person who knew they'd lost but could not stand to admit it. "Let me go, Ravazzani."
"Never. Get in the fucking car, Valentina ." Muttering to herself, she did as she was told. I followed and sat directly beside her, so close that our thighs touched. I wanted her to be uncomfortable.
She shoved at me. "Do you mind? Move over."
"Is it wise to order me around after you tried to escape tonight?"
"Can you blame me? You kidnap and intimidate me, you are forcing me to marry someone I hardly know, and you killed two men in cold blood tonight. I would be insane not to try to escape from you."
Benito started the engine and we headed back to the estate. The car was silent, and I thought about what she'd said. She believed I killed those two boys tonight, which meant she hadn't been watching but listening in the dungeon. So she didn't know that while I had shot them, they were both very much alive. I decided not to correct her. Better she think of me as a monster, a killer, and be afraid to cross me.
Rafael's POV
The drive was short. When we pulled up to the castello, Benito turned the car off. I told him to leave us, so he got out and strode toward the
surveillance room on the back side of my home. I said nothing, just waited.
"I should have known," she snapped, "that you have all the police here on your payroll. The two of you were laughing like old friends."
"The police are helpless, too weak to stop our organisation. They know it is better to work with me than against me. A lesson you would be wise to learn, as well."
"I don't want to work with you." Her voice hitched, as if she were holding back tears. "I don't want to be part of your horrible family full of murderers and criminals. You're all psychopaths. I want you to let me go."
This from the woman who had nearly melted in my arms after hearing me interrogate and shoot two men? I didn't believe it. She was scared because she might not mind it. She might even like it.
I reached into my coat pocket, took out the pistol and rested it on my knee. "Do you want to kill me, Valentina ?"
She grew very still, her gaze darting between my face and the gun.
"What?" I grabbed her wrist and forced the gun into her palm. Then I aimed the barrel at my chest. "Go on, then. Shoot me." I stared directly into her dark eyes, showing her how comfortable I was with violence.
"Pull the trigger, dolcezza," I said in a low rasp, like I was seducing her. Licking her lips, she tried to edge away. "You're insane. What are you doing?"
Putting my hand on the door behind her, I caged her in. The lights of the castello illuminated the interior of the car, and I could see the pulse racing on the side of her throat, flush to her skin. No fear, however. Whatever she was feeling was something different, something that confirmed all my suspicions about her.
"You want to kill me, no? This is your chance. Pull the trigger and watch my blood spill out all over your lap and onto the seat, spray against the glass of the windows. Then you'll be free," I whispered.
"Until your men catch and kill me."
"Don't think about that. Think about how good it will feel to pull the trigger and take my life with your own hand. To watch the light fade from my eyes until I am nothing. What power you will feel in that moment."
The barrel of the gun shifted against my sternum, and her mouth parted slightly on an exhale, her pupils dilating. I bet if I looked at her nipples, they would be poking through the fabric of her clothing. Dio, this woman. She was extraordinary. I had to curl my hands into fists to keep from touching her.
"You're crazy," she said quietly. "It's like you want me to do it."
"I want to prove that you are not frightened of me. That you are just as crazy, just as wild as we are."
"I'm not. I'm a good person. I don't want any of this."
"A good girl would have stayed at home instead of sneaking out of her father's house, just to find a man to fuck her. A good girl would not have stabbed a man like me in the hand with a pen. A good girl would not be turned on by holding a gun on a man." I leaned in.
"You are definitely not a good girl, Valentina ."
"You're wrong." Her voice was weak, unsure.
"Go on then. Pull the trigger."
Valentina's POV
This was insane. It was like he was seducing me into killing him. His voice, rough and low, filled the car and my head, luring me deeper into his web. I was mesmerised, not frightened, which worried me.