Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
“It’s okay to cry,” he said, comforting. “You’re so pretty when you do. I’ll always take care of you, Nora.”
Luca had told me the same thing, but he wasn’t here to save me. My longing for my husband was tinged with resentment. I shouldn’t have any soft feelings toward him. He’d kidnapped me and forced me into marriage, just like Dante had done.
My heart twisted. I was so tired of being treated like an object, a pawn.
Or worse, Dante’s pet.
Something vibrated beneath me, and Dante pulled his phone from his pocket.
“What?” The irritation that pinched his features morphed into a maniacal grin. “I’m on my way.”
He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. “I have to go.”
My stomach lurched. Luca must’ve come for me at last. And Dante looked delighted.
He thought he would beat my husband. He was certain of it.
All I could do was pray that he was wrong. Dante was arrogant and cruel; he could’ve miscalculated.
He lifted me up in his arms, and I tensed when he carried me to the large, domed cage in the corner.
“Please don’t put me in there.” I didn’t like tight spaces.
He shushed me. “You’ll be safest in here, little bird.”
He placed me in the cage and slammed the bars in my face, securing them with a padlock. My fingers wrapped around the cool metal, as though I could pry it apart.
“Don’t leave me in here,” I begged.
“Don’t worry, darling. I’ll be back soon.”
He turned and walked out of the awful room, leaving me caged and cold. Ice encased my bones, and I drew my knees up to my chest, hugging them tight.
I didn’t want Dante to come back. The only man I wanted to come for me was Luca, my real husband.
Chapter 17
Luca
The bastard had taken my wife. He would suffer before he died.
Fear for her clawed at my insides, digging in deeper than ever. It’d torn me apart for the day that’d passed since her father had betrayed me and given Nora to my enemy.
Giuseppe would pay for that soon. But my first priority was getting her safely away from the sadistic madman. Cold sweat beaded on the back of my neck at the thought of what he might’ve done to her already, in the time it’d taken me to gather my allies and make our way to his remote estate.
She’s not dead, I reminded myself. He wouldn’t have killed her. She was a valuable hostage.
As long as she was still breathing, I’d heal her from whatever he’d put her through. In the short time I’d been married to her, I’d developed a soft spot for my pretty, spirited wife. The humiliation of Dante stealing my bride chafed at me, but the fear of failing her was equal to it.
I took a breath and hefted the semiautomatic in my hands, comforted by its weight.
“Brace,” the driver warned as he accelerated the armored SUV, heading straight for the gates that guarded Dante’s home.
Gunfire ricocheted off the bulletproof car, Torrio’s men trying to take us out before we could breach the property. Our SUV was at the head of the convoy: ten armored cars filled with men who were fiercely loyal to me. I’d selected only the ones I trusted most, not daring to risk Nora’s safety by relying on someone with questionable loyalties. I was paranoid after Giuseppe’s brazen betrayal. I wouldn’t repeat the mistake and end up with a bullet in the back of my head.
The SUV punched through the gates with a terrible grating sound, the entire car lurching at the impact. The barrier gave way, and we tore down the drive, past the men who were shooting at us from the guard towers set into the imposing stone wall that surrounded the entire estate.
Dante had been ready for an assault, but he hadn’t counted on the resources I had at my disposal. The arrogant bastard probably thought everyone in the organization would turn on me when my father died and he took my wife: a symbolic seizure of my power.
But his arrogance would be his downfall. He would die screaming, and I’d have Nora back, safe in my arms.
Bile burned the back of my throat at the thought of my fragile wife in his cruel hands. I swallowed hard and shoved the dark thought away. I didn’t have room in my brain for fear now. All I could do was focus on my goal with violent intent, keeping my senses sharp.
Tires squealed as we pulled up to the house, the back of the SUV skidding around the circular driveway. I burst from the car, along with the men I trusted most in the world. Gabriele and Lorenzo were right behind me, the burly brothers’ faces set in identical grim masks.
I kept the car door open as a shield, and—unsurprisingly—more bullets slammed into it. There were guards at the front of the house, firing from the entryway before ducking back inside for cover. I whipped into the open when the bullets stopped flying for a heartbeat, pulling the trigger on my rifle. A dozen sharp reports rent the air, and someone screamed inside the house.