Lost in Italy (32 page)

Extended the phone.

“Your brother wants to talk to you.”

Chapter 17

“Ben?”

An unbelievable tide of relief swept through Ben at the sound of his baby sister’s small, hopeful, shaky whisper.  “Halli.  You okay?”

“I’m okay.”

Ben pictured her tear-filled blue eyes and his eyes squeezed tight like his heart.

“How are you?” she asked.

He’d exchanged handcuffed to the bed for tied to a chair, but kept that information to himself so the worry in her voice didn’t increase.  “I’m fine.  Where’s Rachel?”

“She’s okay, she’s here with us.”

More relief, just as profound.  The pain in his swollen right eye was nothing now that he knew both his sisters were safe.  He opened his eyes and lifted his narrowed gaze to the man who’d caused so much misery.  Alrigo’d had Zucchi give Ben another round of bruises after Rachel’s escape, but it was worth it knowing the man’s plans had been screwed yet again.  Until that bastard with claw marks on his face came in and gloated about shooting his sister.

“Is she hurt?” Ben asked Halli.

“She was shot in the leg, but we got help.  She’ll be okay.”

He took a deep breath and began speaking fast.  “Listen to me, Hal, you and Rach stay out of this now.  Don’t worry about me and don’t you dare come—”

Lapaglia pulled the phone away from Ben.

“—
anywhere near them!
”

Ben glared as the man listened to his sister’s voice on the other end of the line.  A grin spread his thin lips across his darkened face.  “Hello, Halliwell. Clever escape back in Torno,
carina
.”  He chuckled, then his grin faded fast.  “Careful, Tomlin,” Lapaglia warned with soft menace.  “Sounds like you have come to care for the girl.”

The man’s expression of pure pissed-off matched his earlier one when he’d explained why he needed Ben to speak to Halli.

When Eva had brought him breakfast shortly after their first conversation, he’d worked on charming information from her and succeeded when she’d let it slip that the movie star was the man helping Halli.  He had no clue how a guy like Trent Tomlin had become involved in this crazy situation, but would be eternally grateful for the help the man gave his sisters.

Rachel’s rescue made it at least three times Tomlin had bested Lapaglia in the past twenty-four hours.  No wonder the Italian was pissed.  Ben hoped to God he got a chance to shake Tomlin’s hand when this was over.

“You have your proof, now we make our deal,” Lapaglia said.  “We meet tonight.  On the lake.”

Ben waited to hear details of this deal and the meeting, but was distracted when Nino and Eva entered the room.  He tried to catch Eva’s eye, but beyond one glance, she coldly ignored him.  So different from the woman who’d gently washed the blood away after Zucchi finished using him as a punching bag.

Nino said something in Italian and Lapaglia turned to him with a frown.  He barked something into the phone, then held a hand over the mouth piece.  The three of them conferred softly, their speech rapid and quite heated.  Eva threw up her hands in the universal sign of frustration.  Lapaglia began to raise the phone, but Nino spoke again.

Both Alrigo and Eva went still.  Lapaglia’s face registered interest; Eva’s surprise.  After a few more exchanges, Lapaglia cut a hand through the air and lifted Ben’s phone to speak in his heavily accented English once more.

“I have determined your offer is inadequate.  If Halliwell wishes to see her brother alive again, I will not only require the video, but additionally, a sum of one million US dollars.  Cash.”

Ben’s draw dropped in shock. 
A million dollars?
  “We don’t have that kind of money!” he protested.

Lapaglia ignored him, concentrating on the phone in his hand.  After a moment, his grin made another appearance.  “That is precisely what Benjamin just advised.  But
you
, my friend, have sufficient funds to make the deal.”

Again Ben sat in amazement.  He actually expected Trent Tomlin to pay a million dollars for a complete stranger?  The man may have been nice so far, but nobody would be willing to help out
that
much.

So what then, with no one to pay?  His parents were in prison.  He had no rich friends, and no one besides his sisters would value his life that high.  They certainly couldn’t hope to come up with the money.  Lapaglia’s next words made him wonder if he’d read his mind.

“You may not believe Benjamin is worth more than a short video of questionable evidence, but I am positive Halliwell would agree with the value I have put on his head.”

A video?
  That’s what this was all about?  Ben thought of Halli filming at the lake.  She must’ve seen something other than swans after he and Rachel drove off without her.  How many times more would he wish he could go back in time and change that monumental mistake?

Lapaglia grunted into the phone.  “Then we have nothing more to discuss and I have no further use for him.”

Ben didn’t think it possible, but his muscles tensed even more when the man’s hand moved to rest on his weapon.  He’d known Trent Tomlin wouldn’t agree to pay.

Eva moved forward.  Ben noted her expression of protest with surprise.  Lapaglia’s gaze narrowed on her and her step faltered, then stopped.

Into the phone, he said, “You screw with my business, I require compensation.”  He turned to the window.  “Do not play me for a fool.  We both know you can get the money.”

Ben couldn’t see his face, but the undercurrent of steel in the man’s voice didn’t bode well for him.  He wished to hell he could hear the other half of the conversation, but Lapaglia’s words made it clear Tomlin was stalling.

“I think not.  You have twenty-four hours.”  Quiet fell in the room.  Lapaglia moved aside the curtain to look at the lake.  He made a humming noise deep in his throat.  “No.  However…to prove I am a reasonable man, I will give you until five p.m. tomorrow before I call with additional instructions.”

He flipped the phone shut and pivoted toward Ben.  “It appears all of you lucked out when the superstar showed up.”

Ben drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair he was tied to.  “Yeah, there’s my silver lining.”

The phone rang in Lapaglia’s hand.  He ignored Ben’s sarcasm and checked the display.  With a chilling smile, he headed for the door, hand at his side.  Just when Ben thought he’d let the call go, he answered.  He narrowed his eyes after a moment.

“
Si
, I will have my men retreat, but…I have no further control over
la Polizia
.  Furthermore, a word of warning…my connections are many.  You do this alone.  If you seek assistance, I
will
know, and then neither one of us will have use for your money.”

Another pause, and then the Italian chuckled.  “You insist I will pay, but your brother committed suicide, remember?  It is no fault of mine he was weak.”

He disconnected the call with a downward slap of the phone against his palm.  As if snapping the phone shut flipped a switch, he began an angry tirade in Italian as Nino followed him from the room.

Lapaglia’s last comment finally gave Ben another clue as to Trent Tomlin’s connection.  Had the Italian been involved in Sean Tomlin’s suicide that’d been all over the news a few months ago?  The possibility wasn’t a stretch; Ben wouldn’t put anything past the bastard.

Eva moved to stand in front of him.  It was just the two of them in the room now, not that he’d complain.  She was something else.  And a hell of a lot easier on his swollen eye than Zucchi.  His hands were losing feeling from lack of circulation and he rotated them as best he could within his bindings.  He was rewarded with a slight tingling in his fingertips.

“So…will you get a cut of that million dollar ransom he just demanded?”

His question caught her off guard.  Confusion and uncertainty clouded her eyes, but she recovered with determined, “
Si
.”

“Damn.  I was still kinda hoping you’d help me.”

“I have helped.”

He gave a short laugh.  “Oh, right, I’m sorry.  Thanks for that ice pack so my eye won’t be so swollen when they kill me.  All the easier to stare down the barrel of the gun with.”

“Sarcasm is unattractive.”

Ben tipped his chin.  “I apologize again.  Maybe our problem is that the definition of
help
has gotten lost in translation.”

“When Mr. Tomlin pays, you will be free.”

Ben laughed at her choice of words.  “
If
Tomlin pays a million dollars for a complete stranger he’s never even met.  Tell me Eva, after all I’ve seen, all I’ve heard, what’s the likelihood I’m still going to get out of this alive?”

She turned around to straighten one of the pillows on the bed, but the brief glimpse of her expression gave him an answer without a single word passing her lips.  The ball in his stomach knotted tighter.

“Help me.”

The pillow received a thorough fluffing.  She thumped the pillow once more and then faced him with her arms crossed under her breasts.  He struggled to keep his gaze on her face.

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

Looked like he’d have to approach this a different way.  “Are you cooking?”

“
Si
.”

He curved his sore mouth in a slow smile.  “Then yes, I’m hungry.”

Her head tilted.  She returned his smile with a dazzling one of her own.  “I bet that works when you are not black and blue.”

“You mean it’s not working now?”

She rolled her eyes, but his vision wasn’t so bad that he missed a promising flicker in her eyes just before she turned for the door.  If he could just get her on his side, he might have a fighting chance here.  He pitched his voice low and husky.  “Eva.”

She paused.  Pivoted on those toned, sexy legs.

“I can’t feel my fingers anymore.”

Her gaze dropped to the rope securing his hands to the arms of the chair.  He wiggled his fingers again to ease the pressure and gain sympathy.  The resulting grimace was completely genuine.  After a glance at the door, she sighed and returned to his side.

She leaned over to begin loosening the ties on his right wrist.  He kept still, hoping she wouldn’t notice his muscles tensed in a play for additional movement within the bindings.  A spicy exotic scent that completely fit her enveloped his senses.  He drew it into his lungs.

Tough but feminine.  Sizzling yet aloof.  Erotic and innocent.

Seeking to ground his wavering focus, he said softly, “If it’s about the money, I can pay you.”

She raised her gaze to his.  His heart thumped in his chest.

“You said you do not have the money.”

“Not a million dollars, but what I can get you won’t have to share with the other bastards.”

Her eyebrows lifted.  “Other bastards?  Meaning I am one, too?”

Crap
.  “I didn’t mean it like—”

“It is not about the money.”  With that brief statement, she shifted to his other side, now standing directly in front of him, practically between his legs.

Her attention focused on his left hand, he discreetly tested his right.  Unbelievably, his plan worked.  With very little effort, his hand slid free.  Before she could do more than begin to turn her head, he’d fisted his hand in her long hair and drew her close.  She braced one hand on his left forearm, the other on the right arm of the chair.  He clamped his legs together on hers, holding her captive.

He stared into her brown eyes, only inches from his.  Flecks of glittering gold mesmerized him.

“If not the money, then what?  Why are you with these guys?”

Her attention dropped down to his lips.  When her lashes lifted again, no fear registered in the depths of her eyes, despite her vulnerable position.  Irritation poked his ego.  She may imagine herself relatively safe with his one hand still restrained, but he didn’t doubt his superior strength would secure his freedom.

“Why else does a woman stay with a man if not for money?” she countered in a low, throaty whisper.

Heat sufficed his body in a split second, though he recognized the fact that she was playing him as much as he played her.

“In that case…”  He deliberately focused on her exposed cleavage.  “I’m more than willing to pay for your assistance in any manner you desire.”

“Yes?”  A slow sensuous glide of her pink tongue wet her lips.

Ben bit back a groan.  “Hell yes.”

Then the most unexpected thing happened.  She leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his.  A warning bell rang somewhere in the distant recesses of his mind.

Do not respond.

He closed his eyes to focus.  She angled her head and slid her tongue between his lips, into his mouth.  With his senses in a heightened state of awareness since realizing Halli was missing, every nuance of the woman in front of him was magnified.  His tactical error registered too late for him to recover.