Stalking Ginevra (Morally Black Book 4)

Tears blur my vision as I stumble through the office, each step a struggle to keep from breaking into pieces. Everyone working the weekend rises from the seats, their eyes boring into my back.

I reach the elevator, pressing the call button over and over, needing to get out. Mom was right. I should have left with my dignity when I discovered the truth. Nothing good could have come from staying in a firm Dad stole from the Terranova family.

The doors open, and I step inside, squirming at the sight of my tear-streaked face. I’ve become so pathetic, it hurts. Before I can press the button to go down, the doors slide open again, and Julian steps in.

Stomach plummeting, I reach for the control panel but he presses the button for the penthouse. Annoyance surges, burning through the haze of despair.

“What are you doing?” I say as the elevator ascends.

“I’ve been trying to talk to you for days,” he says. “This might be my last chance.”

Before I can lunge for the control panel, the doors slide open, revealing the penthouse. The familiar scent of old leather and aged whiskey hits me with a hit of nostalgia. I stare at Dad’s desk, which backs onto a floor-to-ceiling view of the city.

Julian grabs my arm and yanks me out of the elevator. I try to pull free, but his grip tightens, leaving me no choice but to follow.

The doors close behind us, and the elevator descends, along with the lurch in my stomach, leaving me trapped with no way out.

“Let go!” I shout, the drop in my gut twisting into panic.

He releases my arm and turns to face me with an earnestness in his gaze that makes my skin crawl. “Your dad was funneling money out of the firm.”

My jaw drops. “He was?”

He nods. “He squirreled away Fifty, maybe a hundred million.”

I stare up at him, not knowing what the hell to think. As if reading my mind, Julian adds, “Sometimes when we worked late up here, I saw the transactions.”

“But how?” I ask, my voice breathy with shock.

“Everyone thought he was helping the mafia for free, but he was getting paid off the books.”

His words seep into my mind, stealing my breath. It makes a twisted sort of sense, considering there wasn’t enough cash for the firm to cover payroll. But those amounts are ridiculous.

“Are you sure about this? How did no one else see those transactions?”

“Your dad never let anyone come up here but me and Martina.” He flicks his head toward Dad’s desk. “And let’s just say they left me alone a few times to give me the chance to snoop.”

Unease twists in my gut. Dad brought Martina up here for sex? The mental image threatens to derail my thoughts, but I shove it aside. There are bigger problems now, with our lives hanging in the balance. The missing millions could pay off the loan sharks, move Mom out of Victoria Gardens, and keep her away from lowlifes.

“Does Terranova know?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “I wanted to run it by you first.”

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

Julian’s gaze hardens. “Every day, I tried to get your attention, but you were too stuck up to even notice.”

The bitterness in his words stings because they’re true. I treated Julian like he was the biggest nuisance since the mosquito. Still, a part of me wonders why he went to such lengths to tell me in person when he could have written a note. What does he stand to gain now by telling me this?

Folding my arms, I look him full in the face. “Maybe I was. But this money could help us all. So, what can you tell me about these accounts?”

He cocks his head, studying me with narrowed eyes. The tension between us thickens, making me shift on my feet. There’s a reason why I avoid Julian. The way he looks at me is disconcerting. It’s the kind of desperate longing that makes my skin itch, as if he’s waiting for me to finally recognize we were always meant to be together.

“Don’t think I’m going to hand it over for free,” he finally says, his voice a low growl.

My stomach dips at the implication. The hopeful part of me assumes he wants a cut of the money. Maybe a twenty-five percent finder’s fee that I’ll have to negotiate down to ten. But the way his breath quickens, while those gray eyes devour mine, makes my flesh want to crawl off my bones.

“What do you want?” I ask, forcing my voice to stay even.

He pauses, his gaze sharpening.

“A relationship.”

The room feels smaller, the air thicker, making my skin break out in a cold sweat. I step back, my breath shallowing, my head shaking from side to side.

“Is this blackmail?” I whisper.

Julian advances, his gaze darkening. “You know, I used to see you as flawless. Thought you were untouchable, my dream girl.”

He looms over me, his shoulders broadening, like a polar bear about to strike. My pulse accelerates, and every fine hair on the back of my neck stands on end.

“But after what you did with that client in a filthy strip club, you can get on your knees and earn that information.”

The words slam into my chest, freezing me on the spot. I recall every reason I kept Julian at arm’s length. The way he always pushed my boundaries with his words or his presence, the way his eyes always found me across the office. I never bought into that nice-guy act, and I was right to trust my instincts.

Heart pounding, I force my legs to move, turn on my heel and stride back to the elevator. I jab the button, but nothing happens. No light, no flicker. Just silence.

His low, mocking chuckle sends a shiver down my spine. “It won’t come.”

My shoulders rise to my ears. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve overridden the lock,” he says, sounding gleeful. “You’re not leaving until I’m satisfied.”

The horror of the situation tightens around my neck like a noose. I don’t turn around. I couldn’t stand to look at his smug face. “How did you—this was my dad’s apartment. You can’t⁠—“

“Do you know how many times your dad and I worked late here?” he taunts, drawing closer. “How many times Martina was under the table, sucking him off while we talked business?”

My stomach churns at the image, my throat thickening with bile. I don’t want to believe what I’m hearing, but after Martina’s confession, I can’t dismiss it as a lie.

“You want proof?” he asks.

“Of course not,” I snap. “Why the hell would I want to see something like that?”

“Not about your dad and Martina. The accounts.”

When his voice drifts to the other side of the penthouse, I finally turn around. Julian walks over to the desk and pulls open a drawer. He extracts a file and waves it like a flag. “Do you want it?”

My breath catches. I want to snatch the papers, to end this nightmare, but I’m powerless against a man his size. Every instinct screams at me to keep pressing that damned button, to somehow override the lock, even though I know it’s futile.

“What do you want?” My voice trembles.

He grins. “Get on your knees and crawl for it.”

Disgust churns in my stomach. There’s no way I’m debasing myself again. It will only backfire like it did with Brisket.

“Do you even have the information?” I snap.

“It’s right here.”

“Then why didn’t you take it to Terranova?”

His eyes narrow. “I told you why.”

“Let me guess? You tried to claim the money for yourself, but you hit a dead end because you’re not my dad’s heir?”

He stiffens, his nostrils flaring, but he doesn’t reply. Because I’ve struck a nerve. He needs me to extract that money. Instead of telling me about it and demanding a finder’s fee, he wants to make me submit.

Because a cowed and humiliated Ginevra is more likely to share that ill-gotten wealth than one who’s stuck up.

“Release the lock on the elevator, then we’ll go to a coffee shop and talk.”

I have no intention of discussing anything with this asshole. Not when I finally have some leverage with the loan sharks. They can retrieve Dad’s stolen money and squabble over the rest with Terranova. All I care about is getting the hell out.

Julian walks around the desk with the files tucked under his arm. I don’t believe for a minute that they contain anything of substance. Anyone with a lick of sense wouldn’t keep that kind of information where Martina or Nick Terranova have their little trysts.

I step aside as he closes the distance between us, but he drops the files to the floor. Heart lurching, I stagger back, but he yanks me into his arms.

“Why do you only love violent lowlives like Benito Montesano and Samson Capello?” he asks, his breath hot against my ear. “Why not me? Am I too good for you? Too blond? Too clean-cut?”

His large hands close around my head in a vice-like grip, holding me in place. Panic punches me in the chest, making my body stiffen. Then he crushes his lips to mine, the kiss rough and forceful. Gagging, I struggle against his grip, but he’s too strong.

My heart pounds, pumping blood to my extremities. If I don’t get out of this, I’m screwed. I reach down between our bodies, take hold of the erection straining through his pants, and twist.noveldrama

“Bitch!” he howls and stumbles to the side, only to backhand me across the face.

Stars explode in my eyes, the blow bringing with it the sharp taste of blood. I stumble, trying to recover, but he crashes into my side.

I topple to the carpeted floor, his weight on my back crushing all the air from my lungs. He grabs at the edge of my skirt, his erection digging into my back.

“Is this what you want, Ginny?” he sneers.

“Get off me,” I scream and elbow him in the gut.

Julian’s body goes rigid, and he hisses through his teeth. My breath quickens. Did I break a rib? He falls to the side, revealing a masked figure looming over us, holding a curved knife. Blood drips from its tip, answering a hundred unasked questions.

It’s Bob Brisket.

But is he here to kill us both?