Page 36 of Traitor
I’d seen that woman fight in court for years for her clients. I’d seen her turn over every stone, take every business trip she needed to, and get down in the trenches with people I didn’t like at face value just to figure out the truth. And stupid, naïve little me always thought she was doing what she could to help innocent people.
Instead, she was keeping guilty people out of where they needed to be.
I’ll put you all away.
“Miss Pettigrew!” Lorenzo bellowed.
I snapped back up, my eyes wide. “Yes, Sir?”
He wrapped his hand around my throat, choking off my air supply. “See to it that you clean those ears of yours out by tomorrow morning. I’ll be along shortly to delve out your punishment.”
He tossed me to the ground and I landed on my one good shoulder, thank fuck. But, someone quickly grasped my hair and started tugging me across the kitchen floor. The last vision I saw was of Teo, his eyes raking along my body as if he were trying to memorize me.
And as the bodyguard dragging me by my hair tossed me into the small room I had been afforded, I forced myself to take a look at the person I’d become. A woman, trapped in a never-ending Hell, who was willing to shoot her way out if she had to.
“I’ve gone from putting murderers away to becoming one,” I whispered to myself.
I pulled myself up from the floor and stumbled into the bathroom. I took stock of the bruise against the left side of my face and heaved a heavy sigh. I had no idea what Lorenzo had in store for me later, but as I reached underneath the bathroom sink, I laid my hands on the shiv I had been preparing. At night, every night I’d been in this room, I had been filing a piece of plastic I found beneath the bed. I used the one blunt nail-filer afforded to me and slowly fashioned it into one of the sharpest objects I’d ever had in my hands.
I took it and slipped it underneath my pillow, readying myself for his intrusion.
Then, as I let the rest of my old self die, I perched on the edge of the bed and waited for my prey to wander into the trap I had so cleanly set for him.
All the while, praying Teo got my message.
16
Mateo
Lorenzo openedthe door for me. “Thank you for your commitment to today. I have to say, I enjoyed our conversation.”
I walked out onto the porch. “As did I. Though, might I make a suggestion, since I know Miss Pettigrew so well?”
I turned around at the sound of his growl and didn’t give him a chance to respond. “She responds to brutality with brutality. She’s more like her mother than we believe. Her weakness lies in people treating her with kindness because she’s never experienced it.”
He snickered. “This some kind of ploy to get me to back off of what you believe is still yours?”
She will always be mine.“Nope. Just giving you a fair shot at making some of the wonderful, heated, more incredible moments I have had with her. Because trust me, there’s nothing like pinning a woman down after tying her up and still hearing her beg for more.”
His eyebrows rose. “What kind of kindness? Hypothetically speaking.”
I smirked. “Hypothetically? I’d try tending to her shoulder yourself. Maybe put some ice on it? She’ll be putty in your hands in less than two days if you turn the tables on her and catch her off-balance.”
He nodded slowly. “Your notes have been logged. My men will see to it that you get home safely.”
I walked my happy ass off the porch. “No need, my men are waiting for me at the end of the drive. Take care, Lorenzo!”
The second we were out of sight of his house, I started punching the seat. I let out the loudest roar I’d ever bellowed in my life, and I held it until my voice was nothing but a croak. Tears of anger rushed my eyes. I slammed my feet into the floorboard of my town car as my driver took me home with my men in tow behind us.
And I didn’t waste any time once I got inside.
“Everyone! Gather around!” I called out hoarsely.
Lyle came out of nowhere and whistled through his teeth, commanding everyone’s attention.
I patted his shoulder. “Thank you, Lyle. And I’ll need a word with you after I’m done with this meeting.”
He nodded. “Of course, Mr. Emiliano.”
