Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38723 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38723 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
“Luca!” The familiar masculine voice emanated from the speaker, dragging my attention away from the awful scene before me.
Another nightmarish image filled the phone screen: Gabriele was strung up by his wrists, angry red welts burned into his bare chest.
My heart dropped to the floor.
No. I’d ordered my friends to retreat. Lorenzo had been bleeding, but they should’ve been safe.
“I have your friends. I captured them when they were trying to flee my estate. They were abandoning you.” Dante spoke the horrific declaration with relish. “Disobey me, and I’ll torture them. Try to fight me, and I’ll kill one of them.”
Hatred was acid in my veins, searing my insides. I tore my attention from the horrific image of Gabriele’s suffering and glowered at my enemy,
“You’re a dead man.” My voice shook with the force of my impotent rage.
His delighted grin was sharp enough to cut. “If I die, they both die. My men have orders to kill them if they don’t hear from me every hour. You’ll never find them in time.”
“Where is Lorenzo?” I hated how hoarse the demand sounded. Fear for my friends choked me.
“Show him.” Dante’s voice raised on the command, addressing whoever was holding the phone directed at Gabriele.
The camera angle shifted, panning quickly across what appeared to be a cramped concrete room. Lorenzo laid motionless on a cot, a bandage around his neck.
“I’ll keep him alive as long as you behave,” Dante told me, voice lilting with triumph.
My arms flexed with unspent aggression, violence roiling just beneath the surface of my skin.
I couldn’t attack him without risking Nora. And if I did manage to kill him, my friends would die.
“Now, put the phone down and come with me.”
All my muscles locked up tight, my pride refusing to bend to his command.
“Kill the injured one.” Dante issued the execution order almost lazily.
The camera angle shifted again. Whoever was holding the phone was stalking toward Lorenzo. Gabriele screamed his brother’s name.
“No!” I bellowed.
“Wait.” My enemy’s voice cracked through the room like a whip.
My friends’ torturer stopped his advance.
“I gave you an order,” Dante prompted me.
A snarl ripped from my chest as I forced my fingers to unfurl, dropping the phone. It clattered to the floor, and the screen went black.
Moving as fast as a striking viper, Dante grabbed the weapon I’d surrendered when I’d chosen Nora’s life over his death. Then he shifted the aim of the gun that’d been pointed at her head, training it squarely on my chest instead.
He pulled the trigger. I flinched, and the gun clicked.
Empty. The chamber had been empty.
His low laugh grated down my spine. He kissed my wife again.
“Sorry if I scared you, darling. You were never in any danger.” He turned his attention to me, hefting the loaded gun I’d stolen from his guards. “I think I’ll hold on to this. It’s kinder not to tempt you.”
I snarled in wordless fury. He knew I wouldn’t dare attack him now. Not when it would cost Lorenzo’s and Gabriele’s lives.
He waved the gun at me. “That’s enough of your caveman posturing. Come with me.”
He stepped toward me, but Nora’s dainty hand snagged his shoulder.
“Where are you taking him?” she demanded.
He shrugged her off, keeping his full focus on me. His green eyes were bright with delight. “To his new accommodations. Don’t worry, little bird. He won’t be harmed. It’s his friends he should be concerned about.”
He took another step, and she grabbed him again. A small frown cracked his maniacal smile.
“Stay here, pet.” The warning in his silky tone was clear. “Or you’ll get a lesson in obedience too.”
My fists clenched with the need to defend her. “It’s okay, Nora,” I forced out through gritted teeth. “I’ll go with him.”
Her eyes met mine over his shoulder, wide with horror. She was still so innocent. In my bloody lifetime, I’d seen things that’d made hardened criminals shudder, and even I was completely shredded by Dante’s mindfucks. Nora didn’t deserve any of this.
I would protect her in any way I could.
“I’ll get you out of here,” I vowed, looking only at her. “I’ll take you away from him.”
Pain exploded through my skull, and the world flickered black. Nora screamed my name. I blinked hard and found myself sprawled on the floor. Something warm and wet trickled through my hair.
The bastard had hit me with his gun.
He stood over me, lips peeled back from his teeth in a feral snarl. “Do not talk to my wife. Don’t look at her. You are less than nothing to her.” His boot drove into my gut to make his point. My insides writhed, and I doubled over in agony.
“Stop it!” Nora shrieked. “Dante, stop!”
He turned away from me to face her. His entire demeanor changed as though a switch had been flipped. The possessive rage melted from his features, and he caressed her cheek in a parody of tenderness. She stiffened, but she didn’t flinch away from him. Her chin tipped back in defiant challenge.