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Then he went to work.

Not with scissors – with rope.

My ankles were bound to the chair legs, and then around my knees… then my torso, trapping my arms within the towel. I looked up at him and raised my eyebrows as he came around to the front of me to finish tying me up. It was like being trapped in a warm, fuzzy cocoon.

“Is this really necessary?” I asked, doing my best to look innocent.

Tomas just shrugged.

He was much smarter and far more cautious than any of Don Bianco’s men. Damn him. The rope didn’t just go around me, it went over my shoulders too, and threaded through the parts of the chair. I could barely wriggle by the time he was finished.

Only then did he take the scissors out of his pack.

Chapter Four

Tomas

The haircut wasn’t difficult, but I didn’t think it had the same effect as the fancy stylists in New York. At least her hair was a lot shorter now and that would help make her less recognizable. Also it would be easier to deal with.

I tilted my head as I inspected her. She was pretty, now that she wasn’t so dirty, with sharp features. Even my attempt at cutting her hair couldn’t do away with that.

We both needed to eat. Her even more so than me with the way her skin stuck to her ribs. The rope I’d tied around her should keep her secured to the chair. There was no wiggle room out, even with the towel in between her and parts of the chair. When I’d tied her up, I’d been careful to make sure her arms and legs weren’t covered by the towel, for this exact reason.

“I’m going to go get us some food.”

“Um… and I guess I’ll just wait here?” Despite the treatment she suffered at Don Bianco’s hands, clearly she hadn’t had all of the sassiness kicked out of her.

“Yes.” I walked over to the bed to pick up my coat. “You won’t be able to get out of those ropes before I get back. If I come back and find that you’ve knocked the chair over, I’m just going to leave you in that position, so make sure that you’ve thought through how you want to sleep tonight.”

“What if I don’t knock the chair over?”

I thought about it for a moment. There should probably be some kind of reward for doing as she was told. That was how things worked with my cousins and their wives.

Not that Ivy was my wife, but she was a woman. One currently under my care.

“Then you can sleep in the bed tonight.”

“With you?”

I turned to see the sneer on her lip. Considering the condition I’d found her in, I could guess what she thought I’d want in return.

“I’ll be sleeping there too, but no, you do not have to have sex with me to sleep there.” I put my coat on. “Don’t try to escape, don’t knock the chair over, and you can sleep in the bed.” I started buttoning my coat. “I will tie you to it.”

The expression on her face was full of confusion.

“So you’re going to tie me to the bed, but not have sex with me.”

“Not if you don’t want to.” I had plenty of women who wanted to have sex with me. Either they saw me as one of the DiNardos and wanted closeness to my cousins or uncles, or they just saw my size, saw a fighter with muscles and wanted to ride the beast. “Stay here. Be good.”

She was silent as I made my way out the door and locked it behind me.

I hoped I didn’t find her on her side when I got back. I didn’t think Hailey would like it if I actually let a woman sleep on the floor like that.

Ivy

I stared at the door as he closed it behind him, wondering if this was some kind of trick.

A hundred different ways he could torture me flew through my head. He could bring back just enough food for himself and make me watch him eat it. He could make me do whatever he wanted, in exchange for food. Don DiNardo had done that and worse. Sometimes he didn’t even give me the food when I performed. Sometimes he’d just thrown it on the floor and forced me to eat it from there.