Maria watched in stunned fascination as she was traded from one man to the other as quickly as it took for Franco's lawyer to remotely amend the paperwork that had already been drawn up for this deal. It was a fucking miracle she hadn't exploded and started throwing things at their heads. She supposed she was either in shock or had enough of a sense of self-preservation to keep her mouth shut during the proceedings.

From the moment the contract was signed, and she was released into Nic's 'guardianship' everything felt like a haze. Nic stood, ignored Franco's extended hand, walked to Maria and took her by the arm. The elevator trip was taken in silence. When they arrived in Nic's room, she stood awkwardly by the bar while he packed a small leather bag.

She finally asked the one question that needed to be asked. "What about my brother?"

Nic looked at her, his dark eyes sweeping down her length before lifting to hold her gaze. "He's fine," Nic said shortly, zipping up his bag.

Maria really didn't want to argue with the so-called mob boss, but 'fine' wasn't good enough. "Umm, when you say fine….?"

"He's taken care of," Nic said coolly.

"So… like, when you say, 'taken care of', you don't mean in a swimming with the fishes kind of way, do you?"

Nic lifted an eyebrow at her mafia reference. "I don't explain myself, Maria."

She desperately wanted to ask him to explain more about Ruiz's situation, but he literally just told her he didn't explain himself. But what did 'taken care of' actually mean? She chewed on the inside of her lips to stop herself from harassing him for an answer. She felt positive that badgering him would be less likely to get her answers and more likely to get her hurt.

"Where are your things?" he asked.

"In my hotel room, at a place off the strip," she told him.

He strode toward her, took her arm and pulled her from the room. "Let's go."

"I can walk on my own," she snapped, tugging at her arm. He didn't let her go and he didn't say anything until he seated her in the back of a hired car and instructed her to give the driver directions.

After providing the name of the hotel, she settled, watching Nic warily. He was sitting beside her, his elbow on the windowsill, his finger tapping at his lip. She noticed he had a tattoo on his finger and asked him what it said.

He didn't look at her when he responded, "Into the dark."

"And what does that mean?" she asked, intent on gathering as much information about this man as possible.

"It means..." he finally turned towards her, his dark gaze sweeping over her. "That I will escort my enemies into death, if and when I am ready to do so. It means that I control the outcome."

His words scared her as she was sure he intended them to, but she wasn't one to back down from a challenge. "So you're some kind of mafia guy then, you kill people? You definitely enjoy kidnapping women."

Maybe confronting him was stupid, but she didn't think there was very much good going on in her current situation. She may as well see how far his boundaries were before she planned her escape.

"I wouldn't say I enjoy kidnapping women, or you, in particular. So far your company leaves much to be desired."

"Hey!" she protested. "I'm usually really awesome to be around. But you... you're kind of gloomy and dark. Why should I put any effort into pleasing you?"

"Because I'm the man that holds your life in his hands?"

She shrugged. "So was Franco and I can assure you, I didn't bother playing nice with that little worm."

Nic let out a bark of laughter that had the driver tilting his head and glancing in the rearview mirror. From what she could tell the driver was huge, big muscular arms and shoulders, lots of visible tattoos, his blond hair was cut military short and his sharp blue eyes scanned the road for more than traffic. He must be in Nic's direct employ, because he looked like nothing else other than a hired thug.

Nic turned his full attention to her, eyeing her from the top of her head down to her shoes. She wanted to cringe against her door but didn't want to show any weakness either. Having the full extent of his gaze on her was a distinctly uncomfortable sensation. Especially because she couldn't tell if he was attracted to her or just wanted her dead. After all, she was part of a scheme that ended with the loss of an entire chunk of his empire. Speaking of which...

"Why did you give up your business stuff so easily to Franco?"

His gaze lifted to meet her eyes. His own eyes were so cold it chilled her to the bone. "Why do you say easily?"

She shrugged. "Well, you don't seem angry over the loss."

"I don't get angry." Nic's response was so matter-of-fact that she believed him. Even last night when he cornered her in his hotel room, he didn't seem overtly emotional about the whole thing. He was in control every moment.

"But... you just accepted Franco's proposition, though you knew he was going to blackmail you. Why did you put yourself in that position?" She didn't understand him or his motivation.

"Perhaps I wanted to know the players involved in a plot against me before I decided to make my move."

"Keep your enemies close," Maria said, an edge of sarcasm to her voice.

"Indeed," Nic drawled and straightened in his seat. He pulled his phone out and tapped on the keys, summarily dismissing Maria and her interrogation.

Maria's stomach dropped at his words and was glad when he didn't seem to expect any kind of response from her. If what he said was true, then he was playing with all of them. She was a player in this game of blackmail too because she was his enemy.

By the time they arrived at the ramshackle motel where Maria and her brother had been staying, she was more than ready to exit the oppressive atmosphere in the car. She suspected the heavy air of menace followed Niccolo DeLuca around like a second shadow. She didn't know him well, but she was starting to realize that she was wildly out of her depth when it came to the dark Italian mobster.

"Luke will attend you," Nic said without looking up from his phone. There was a slight frown creating lines between his thick eyebrows.