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)
I would find a way to be worthy of her.
Starting with Dante’s blood on my hands.
If he wasn’t dead already, shot by the Russians.
Fuck!
I wrenched away from Nora, breaking our kiss.
“What’s wrong?” she asked breathlessly, brow furrowed.
“He might come back anytime,” I ground out. “You can’t be down here with me. I won’t be the reason he punishes you again. I won’t allow it to happen just because I’m too fucking selfish and impulsive to stop myself from kissing you.”
She reached for me, but I edged away.
“I don’t want to leave you,” she whispered. “I need you, Luca.”
Her words were a dagger to my heart. Because I was greedy enough to want to hear her say my name like that again and again. I’d been driven half-mad in the darkness of my cell, emerging into the light only to be met with fresh horrors and humiliations at Dante’s hands. I craved to hold her, would sacrifice almost anything to keep her in my arms.
But I wouldn’t sacrifice her.
Never again.
“Go.” I bit out the command and took another step back from the bars, away from her alluring heat.
Icy air frosted my skin, and I gritted my teeth against the sudden chill. I could endure the dark solitude of my prison and the heavy shame that threatened to crush my spirit. I could endure anything to spare her from pain.
I nodded at her discarded clothes. “Get dressed, and go upstairs. Find out what’s going on. The sadistic bastard might be dead already, but I won’t risk it. I won’t risk you.”
Her brows drew together, and she swayed toward the bars. “But I want—”
“Now, Nora.” I used the deep, stern tone I knew she responded to.
She sniffled, but she picked up her clothes and quickly covered her body before turning back to me.
“We’ll make it out of here,” she promised me. “Together.”
She was so brave and beautiful that it was almost painful to look directly at her. Especially when the weight of my shame pressed down on my chest in the absence of her soothing touch.
When I simply nodded in stiff agreement, she reluctantly made her way up the stairs, feet scuffing on the stone as though her shoes were made of lead.
The lights went out, and darkness engulfed me once again.
Chapter 12
Dante
The Russians were dead. Every single man who’d dared to attack us had been eliminated. We hadn’t even left one alive to go warn the others not to fuck with me. The silence would be warning enough.
Even though my private physician had examined Nora and assured me that she was unharmed, the need to get back to her was an itch beneath my skin.
But I was strong enough to master my base impulses. I’d left my home this morning with a job to do, and I would see it through. For my wife, I’d do anything.
She wouldn’t be leaving the estate to see her sister anytime soon, but I had carried out the rest of my mission for the day. Once the doctor had seen to my own wounds, I’d headed straight for the city, hunting my quarry.
Now, I returned to her with my prize.
I found her in the library, curled up in a massive armchair with one of her beloved books. My anticipatory grin must’ve been a touch maniacal, because she shrank deeper into the cushions when she saw me.
“I have a gift for you,” I told her, snagging her small hand to tug her to her feet.
She frowned at me. “I don’t want anything from you.”
I dropped a doting kiss on the top of her head. “But I want to give you things. You’ll like this one. I promise.”
She pressed her lips together, doubt pinching her features. But she didn’t resist as I guided her out of the library and down the long corridor.
Her feet stalled out when we neared the door that led down to the basement, where Luca was caged.
“Whatever you’re thinking, I won’t like it,” she said acerbically. “I won’t like it if you use me to torment Luca, no matter what you say about giving me orgasms. It’s sick and wrong, and I won’t let you hurt him like that anymore.”
I paused and lifted a brow at her. “That’s not your decision to make, little bird. And don’t worry. I’m not going to touch Luca. Or you,” I added, since that seemed to be her issue with me.
She kept railing at me that she didn’t want me to touch her and that she hated me.
But she’d clung to me when I’d protected her from the Bratva. Her lovely eyes had widened with a burst of fear when I’d slammed the SUV door between us, and she’d been carried to safety. Had she been scared for herself? Or for me?
I shook my head ruefully.
No, she hadn’t been concerned for my safety. That was a tempting fantasy.