Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 40015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
I bit my lip and snuggled closer to Luca, guilt turning my stomach. What about my sin against him? Yesterday, I’d kissed his worst enemy, his tormentor. I’d allowed Dante to touch me, to make me come in ways that Luca hadn’t dared since I’d been rescued from the Russians. Luca held me and comforted me, but he’d been so gentle with me. Dante had known that I needed to be handled more roughly, to be forced to orgasm in order to break through the barriers of fear that’d been instilled by my trauma.
“It’s okay, kitten,” Luca rumbled, tracing the line of my lip where it was trapped between my teeth. “Giana will be fine. She’ll be here soon.” His jaw firmed. “Although I’d prefer to have her almost anywhere else. Having her here will only give Dante more leverage against us, another person to threaten in order to control us.”
I shuddered, but I knew Dante would never harm my sister or use her against me. The repulsed reaction was borne from fear that the men would resume their feud as soon as all the threats against me were handled. Dante might torture Luca again, and Luca would try to kill Dante.
I couldn’t bear the thought of either of them in pain, or worse, dead. I couldn’t lose either of them.
And that traitorous feeling ate at my soul. I belonged to Luca, and my loyalty should lie with him and him alone.
My husband stroked my hair back from my cheek, soothing me. He’d misread the reasoning behind my distress.
“Don’t worry, Nora. I’m going to get us out of here. And when I do, we’ll take Giana with us. Dante will be dead, and we’ll all be free.”
“He saved my life,” I said hesitantly. “And he spared yours.”
Luca grimaced and pulled me closer to his chest. “You don’t owe that sick bastard anything. I’ll handle it, Nora. I swear. I’ll rip out his heart and give it to you, so you’ll know he can never hurt you again.”
I recoiled before I could think better of it. “I don’t want that.”
Luca’s fierce expression softened, and he resumed stroking me. “I’m sorry, kitten. I won’t make you watch if you don’t want to see the blood. I’ll take care of everything. I’ll take care of you.”
“That’s not what I mean. I…”
I trailed off, and his brow furrowed.
“Talk to me,” he urged. “You can tell me anything. Just tell me what you want, and I’ll do it for you.”
“I don’t want you to kill Dante,” I whispered, hardly daring to say the words aloud.
I knew what I was asking was impossible, just as Dante claimed it was impossible for him to ever release Luca. He would have his revenge, and nothing I said would change that.
Luca’s stony features hardened to granite. “Don’t ask that of me. After everything he’s done to you. I’ll make him scream before he dies.”
The corners of my eyes stung, but I tipped my chin back in challenge. “He’s different now. You’ve seen how he’s been since…” I stumbled over the memories of what I’d suffered. “He cares about me, Luca.”
My husband gnashed his teeth, and his corded arms flexed around me. “He just wants you for himself. It’s another sick game, another manipulation. That’s not kindness, Nora. It’s not love. I love you. You’re mine.”
My heart skipped a beat, then squeezed tightly to the point of pain. Dante had promised that I was his, not Luca’s. He’d sworn that all he wanted was my happiness and safety.
And I believed him.
“He apologized,” I said quietly. “He wants to atone for what he put me through.”
“There are no words that could ever erase what he did!” Luca barked, his handsome face darkening with rage even as he held me with tenderness.
No. Words would never be enough. But Dante was a man of action. He proved himself through deeds, not flowery promises. He’d vowed that he would make things right, and I knew he’d do everything in his power to follow through.
“And even if that sadistic sociopath somehow feels something like guilt for what he did to you, he will never let you go,” Luca seethed. “We’ll always be his prisoners unless I kill him. That’s the only way this nightmare ends.”
Luca would never stop trying to murder Dante as long as he was a captive, and Dante would never release Luca because of his vendetta.
But if there was some way for them to make peace…
“He says that you killed his brother,” I pressed despite Luca’s volatility. He would never lash out at me, no matter how righteously enraged he became. “He hates you for that.”
Luca’s entire body tensed. “That’s not how it happened. Yes, I’m responsible for Francesco’s death, but I—”
The bedroom door banged open, and I yelped in alarm.
My burst of fear immediately morphed into a sob of relief when I saw my sister standing in the open doorway, Dante hovering protectively behind her.