Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 22760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Glancing around the room, I see a large table against one wall with tools scattered across it. Blood can be seen on some of the tools. There are chairs nearby with restraints next to them, but that’s not what has fear rippling through my body.
No, it's the beds that are solely equipped with mattresses. All of them are stained. I have to fight the urge to vomit when I see bed posts are adorned with the same type of restraints.
“I’ll let you pick which bed you want.” Antonio gives me a shove and releases his hold on me. “But first you need to strip.”
Chapter Fifteen
LUCA
I can hear the men in the room with her, and I grip my gun tighter. As much as I want to take aim and kill them both, I need to do this as quietly as possible. Marco is on his way down here, and there are a dozen men on the property. Renzo Benecci is dead, and there’s no one that’s going to stop Marco from taking command. If he somehow alerts them that I’ve turned against him, then it could put Nolia in danger.
Deciding that I can’t use my gun, I tuck it behind my back. I watch the men from a hidden door that leads to the room of horrors. When one of them shoves Nolia toward the bed and tells her to take off her clothes, rage explodes inside of me.
My hands are shaking with barely controlled anger as I silently slide open the door and move behind them. Nolia doesn’t see me yet; she’s too busy staring at the mattresses in front of her as I make my way to the table. The first thing I grab is a dirty butcher knife and grip it tightly. Then I reach for the hammer with my other hand, and a calm settles over me.
The two guards have guns, but the one talking to Nolia passes his to the other one. Deciding to keep the noise to a minimum, I turn to the one holding the guns and make my move.
Nolia’s gasp of surprise is the only sound in the room when I bring the hammer down on top of the guard's skull. There’s a sickening crack before he collapses to the ground and blood pours out of his head.
“What the—”
The second guard doesn't get a chance to finish his sentence before I whip my hand across his neck and slice it open. There’s a gurgling noise as he reaches for his neck and then slumps to the floor. I step over his body as I drop the knife, and then Nolia and I are crashing into each other.
“Luca,” Nolia sobs as I squeeze her impossibly close.
“Are you all right?” I do a quick check, but she’s already nodding.
“Yes, I’m okay. Listen, we have to warn Pru and Vitaly. My father—”
“I know, I’ve told them. They’re safe.” I’m not sure if that’s a lie, but it’s what I hope is true. “Let’s get out of here and we can talk.”
“Why would you leave when all the fun is about to begin?” Marco’s voice comes from behind me, and I turn to see him standing in the entrance of the basement with a gun pointed at me. “I should have known I couldn’t trust you.” He shakes his head in disgust. “You were never one of us.”
“And I never will be.” I push Nolia behind me as I use my body to shield her. “Vitaly will send his army in here.” I nod to Renzo’s body tied to the chair. “You don’t have enough of his men left to protect you.”
“They’ll never breach the walls,” he scoffs, like it’s a ridiculous thought.
“You don’t think his wife told him how to sneak in undetected?” I say, and Marco’s eyes narrow. “You and Renzo never figured out how Pru was able to escape, did you?” Nolia’s fingers tighten on my back, but Marco doesn’t know she was the one that helped Pru sneak out in the trunk of her car. All I need to do is make Marco believe that there’s a way in and out of here that he doesn’t know about. That it’s likely Pru knows of a secret entrance and Vitaly is going to use it to enter this fortress.
Marco’s brows furrow as he begins to calculate this scenario he didn’t plan for. “It doesn't matter,” he says, but it’s clear he’s worried.
“Are you willing to bet your life on it?” I look over at Renzo. “You saw what he did to the last man that disrespected his wife. What do you think he will do to the man who tried to rape and torture her sister?” Nolia might not be related by blood to Pru, but there is no stronger bond than the one they share.