Title: The Dictator
Author:  Penelope Sky
Publisher/Year:  Penelope Sky 2/19/19
Length:   196 Pages
Series:  Banker #2

Overview

The only reason I’m still alive is because of the baby growing inside me.

My baby saved my life.

Now I’m a prisoner inside Cato’s fortress. He’s pissed at me, livid every time he looks at me. He refuses to sleep with me because now I’m the enemy.

But I miss him…and he misses me.

I only slept with Cato to save my father, but now he means something to me. I care about him, and I know he cares about me. 

Can I earn his forgiveness? Can I earn his trust?

But even if I do, will he shoot me anyway?

My Thoughts

I have to say that i’m completely sucked into this series now – it’s intense still – even as we get into book 2 and while you think that there may be some resolutions, we’re left off on yet another cliff where we don’t know the direction the future will take.

As you’ll remember, at the end of the first book, Cato learns the truth about what Siena was there for – that she was playing him to get her father back. When she realizes that she can’t go through with turning him over to anyone, it’s still too late and she’s about to lose everything. Or will she?

Just like the summary says, thankfully, she thinks she’s pregnant. And when she’s forced to take a test, thankfully it comes back positive. The anger that Cato has is diminished slightly because while he’s hard and has this pact to never have a family, he actually wants this baby so that he can prove that he’s not his father. It’s a stay of life for Siena for the next nine months, and being the stubborn and strong woman that she is, she seems to think that it’s also an opportunity to make Cato realize that there’s still something real and that she made the decision at the last moment to save his life as well.

That’s the journey that we go on in this second installment. The roller coaster of Cato hating Siena but not really hating her. wanting to punish her because he feels that he needs to in order to maintain his hard reputation, as well as dealing with the fact that Bates hates her, knew she was trouble and wants Siena dead as well. The challenge of course is that we saw through the first book that both Siena and Cato affected each other in ways that no one ever imagined possible, and that it’s not just about sex with them, that there’s a deeper connection and one that’s almost impossible to walk away from.

There are moments of hope in this book, we see that Cato compromises in some places but not in others – not in the ones that matter. We see siena come to terms with her fate and make a decision to escape and we see her life for what it could be out of captivity. Landon plays a bigger role in this story – he’s turning into the family that Siena never had and that’s exactly what she needed. We also see Giovanni, Cato’s Butler take on a new and expanded role that humanizes Cato a bit more.

We also get to spend time with Cato’s mother. All because of Bates but honestly, we should just thank him even when his intentions weren’t pure. Cato’s mom adores Siena from the moment she learns that she’s going to be a grandmother, and Siena chooses to play her cards right with the mom and gets a new ally. There’s really no positive purpose for this aside from trying to make Cato see that she’s not pure evil.

The way that Ms Sky, our author writes this story is still intensely hot and passionate. There’s still all that same dirty grit to it which makes it a must read, and a book that you can’t put down (i mean, i read it in a night and while that’s not unheard of, these days it’s rare). The way that these characters interact both in and out of bed is hot. The supplemental characters build the story so much faster and with such depth that you know that there’s more to the story than what we’re getting right now too.

The themes of honor, trust, loyalty…they are still at the forefront with the huge question mark of whether there’s room for love and if there’s even a chance for it to happen for anyone here. The baby will be loved – Siena’s making sure of it, but will that be enough? i guess that’s what we’ll learn in the finale in book 3. Can’t wait to dive into it right now. Enjoy!