Page 13 of The Beast Who Broke Me
I hear Big Gee make a noise of disgust from behind me, but D’Amato and his husband are watching me carefully, so I can’t fuck this up. I try to let Caligula go, and all he does is cling tighter and shove his tongue into my mouth. I pull him off my damn lips at last and try to make it look natural.
But he doesn’t pause there. He snuggles into me with a look of adoration and sends a brilliant smile back at D’Amato, whose face is unreadable.
“Oh, so you two are, like, acouple?” Finch breaks in. “How totally adorable.”
“I told you,” the Clemenza says, with that ice-cold bite I’ve come to expect from him sometimes. “You don’t understand our relationship.”
I mean, he’s right. EvenIhave no goddamn clue what’s going on, except that the Clemenza is playing every man in this room. And even though all of usknowit, he’s getting away with it.
Despite telling his husband to stay out of things, D’Amato turns to him, eyebrows raised. Finch gives him a nod, and D’Amato sighs. “Alright, then. I will allow Caligula Clemenza to leave here with you, Orsini. But I want your word—your word tome—that you’ll protect him.”
“I…” The Clemenza’s spit is still all over my lips, and I have to fight the urge to wipe my mouth down. “I give you my word, Don Morelli. I’ll protect him.”
I’ll protect him from anyoneelsewho wants to kill him. But only because I plan to do it myself.
Luca D’Amato nods, and I take a step back, pulling the Clemenza with me.
“Before you go,” Finch says with a sugar-sweet smile, “I just want a word with Cal. In private.”
From around my neck, the Clemenza’s arms reluctantly disengage. I have to fight the instinct to grab him back. “You don’t mind waiting a moment, do you, Dami?” he asks.
For the first time, I give a smile, though it feels more like a snarl. “I don’t mind at all.”
Waiting is my forte, after all. I waited long enough to get my hands on Caligula Clemenza in the first place. I can wait another few minutes for Finch D’Amato to whisper in his ear.
But once we’re alone again, no power on earth is going to stop me choking the life out of that son of a bitch.
CHAPTER 6
CALIGULA
The last thingin the world I want to do right now is have a heart-to-heart with Luca D’Amato’s flashy husband, but I can’t think of a way to turn him down. So I dutifully follow Finch D’Amato into a side room, filled with two desks and dusty desktop computers that look like they were abandoned decades ago.
Finch wrinkles his nose at the dust on the seats. “These are Cucinelli,” he says, sighing at his pants. “So I guess we’ll just stand, huh?” He smiles at me again, and his eyes seem greener in this light. “I saw you at the opera that night,” he goes on. “The night you were attacked. So you’re the asshole who stole my Vanquish II, huh?”
I almost smile. It’s pleasing to know I denied this man something he wanted. “Lorenzo Benedetti is very fond of me.”
“He must be. I told him I’m trying to move Luca away from his total devotion to Armani, introduce him to new wonders. But my husband is a stubborn man.”
“Lorenzo understood the true value of that fabric—which is probably why he gave it to me instead of your husband.”
“You run out of insults yet? Because I wanna talk for reals.”
“What do you want?” I ask flatly.
“Well, here’s the thing, Cal.” The theatrical manner falls away from him. “You might think you’ve got that beast out there on a leash, but he’s got more fight in him than you realize.”
“Dami has been nothing but kind and considerate to me.”
“Uh-huh,” Finch snorts. “Look, you’re determined to leave with him—God knows why, but that’s your business. I just want to make sure you have a Get Out of Jail Free card if you need it.” He slides a hand into his pocket and I take a cautious step back, but he pulls out a phone rather than a weapon. “Here.”
“If you think I’m going to let your husband track my every move?—”
“I know you’re going to leave it off most of the time. Maybe even switch out the SIM, and that’s up to you. But I want you to text me at least once every twenty-four hours and tell me you’re alive. My private line is the only contact in there, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t share it around. You know how bad the telemarketers are getting these days.”
“Why would I text you?” I ask.
“You caught a tiger by the tail, kid, and you might get your head bitten off if you’re not careful.” Finch D’Amato has always had a party boy reputation, but there’s none of that in his manner now. He’s all business.
