"Are you sure you want to test me, Clara?" Lorenzo asked. His gaze was intense and intimidating but she refused to look away.

"If you already know my name why ask?" Clara asked irritated. It was him who was testing her not the other way around.

"Oh, I just wanted to know if I can trust you. Unfortunately, you failed that test. Clara is a very sweet name and it's a shame that you were trying to hide it. I wonder what else are you trying to hide from me" Lorenzo wondered, Clara's hands clenched into fists.

"What do you want to know? Just be specific with your questions and let's get over with it" She asked, looking away. She had no choice but to entertain him with some answers.

"I want to know why a woman who just two months ago had worked at the cybersecurity company has decided to quit her job as a software developer and started working as a waitress in my nightclub"

Shit. How much did he know about her?

"I get easily bored so I needed a change of scenery" Clara at this point would just come up with anything. She didn't care what he thinks of her.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Clara" he warned.

"I have no idea what are you talking about" Clara decided to play dumb.

Lorenzo sighed and shook his head "What am I supposed to do with you?"

"Release me" she responded simply.

"I might. If you tell me the truth. If you won't, this night is going to end badly for you" he warned.

"Okay, okay fine" Clara sighted and she quickly came out with a lie and the lie worked the best when it was mixed with a truth "I was trying to access knowledge about Desmond's business, who's better to ask than his former employee? I learned that Loretta tried to testify against him I wanted to find out what can she tell me"

"And why is that?"

"I have damming evidence regarding Laffan's business but I hoped to learn something more about him and the way he recruits from Loretta"

"What for? Why do you need that knowledge? Are you playing a private detective or something?"

Clara snorted. "No. I smelled the chance for quick cash. With what I got I could blackmail Laffan into giving me money for my silence"

"'Money? Why do you need money for?"

"Why do people need money?" Clara asked a rhetorical question and shrugged her shoulders "To enjoy life of course"

"How cynical" Lorenzo commented dryly.

"You accuse me of cynicism when you keep a captive in a dungeon under your nightclub?" Clara's eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"And you don't think you deserve to be here after what you just told me?" Lorenzo asked feigning surprise. "Never mind don't answer that. Things you're saying don't make much of a sense anyway. Money? Why would a person with a job like yours need money? Why take the risk, quitting your job just to go chase after a criminal"

"I told you I needed quick cash and my motivations are irrelevant. Are you planning to release me or not?"

He didn't believe her. Of course, he didn't.

His eyes hardened and became dark. The atmosphere wasn't so pleasant anymore. "You endangered Loretta's life by questioning her and she happens to be under the protection of my family. I can't just let you go"

Wait. He questioned her because of Loretta but he didn't mention Laffan once. He didn't care about him. He didn't care what she knows about him. Shouldn't he call him, inform him that someone wants to get him? What if he didn't because they didn't have any sort of relationship? But if they didn't how come Loretta was in this club?

"You're not working with Laffan? I assumed that..." if he's not working with him then why can't he let her go? What's going to happen to her? Clara could feel terror rising in her chest.

"Laffan has no allies here. He was politely informed to leave Loretta alone and he did"

That answer made Clara shiver.

The man who was standing in front of her was capable of ordering Laffan around? That's power. Clara realized that she needs to be very careful with her words because Lorenzo was dangerous. More dangerous than she already suspected.

Clara wasn't stupid. She was sure that Lorenzo Vincenti was part of the Sicilian mafia that was running this city. She has wrongfully assumed that he was at least on friendly terms with Laffan but why did she? Just because they were both criminals? It didn't mean they must like each other and considering Lorenzo's behavior he was very much disgusted with Laffan.

"Listen. I am very sorry for causing trouble I really didn't mean to hurt Loretta or anyone" she said carefully choosing her words, fear was now visible in her eyes.

"You didn't? I thought you wanted money from the guy who sells girls in poverty for profit" Lorenzo said, his voice cold as ice.

Shit. This is not going to end well.

"It's just business," she said quietly and the temperature in the room dropped by several degrees.

"For the record, that figlio di puttana would never pay you. He would kill you the moment you send your demands because police in this city are corrupted to the core" He explained casually.

As he was speaking Clara felt more and more terror. Not only were his words said in a cruel, emotionless voice but his actions were even worse. At some point when talking he circled down the desk and used the key to open the desk's drawer. From there he picked up the black, small but heavy object that happened to be a gun. With terror, she watched him slowly attach a silencer to the weapon.

"W-what are y-you doing?"

"This? Ah. I just want to make sure my ears don't fall off the guns can be quite noisy especially in the room where the walls are soundproofed"

Oh, God.