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 took it from him and, in one swift movement, buried it in Alberto’s gut. A bloody choking sound bubbled in his throat as I dragged the knife upward, shredding his insides until I twisted the blade in his heart.
He jerked once, and then his dead weight dropped into his shackled wrists.
I looked back at Luca. His chest rose and fell on rapid, heaving breaths, as though he’d run a mile. His white shirt was red and wet, and drops of blood had sprayed his face with crimson. I felt the warmth of Alberto’s blood on my own face, and I shot Luca a savage grin.
“Shall we go tell Nora what we’ve done for her?” I asked, my voice rumbling with my desire for her.
Luca nodded in agreement, his jaw tight. I’d been overtaken by my bloodlust, but he seemed to have gone completely feral, as mute as a beast.
He started to wipe his bloody hands on his pants, as though that would be enough to clean them before going to Nora.
“No,” I said sharply. “Let her see. She’ll want to know that he suffered for what he did to her.”
I started striding for the stairs, forgetting the dead man behind me. All that existed was my need to get to Nora and my delicious control over the hulking, powerful man who shadowed my steps without question.
They were both mine. It was time for my wife to admit it.
Chapter 13
Nora
I paced across the bedroom, wringing my hands. I’d been doing this for over an hour, unable to distract myself with reading. The terrible, confusing events of the day played through my mind on a loop: Dante, offering to take me to see my beloved sister; Dante, saving my life; Dante, promising to permanently protect me from Alberto’s sick advances.
And my kiss with Luca. He’d vowed to kill our captor.
My fingers twisted into knots, and I pressed my fists against my racing heart.
I knew what was happening to Alberto in the basement. I didn’t have the stomach to witness torture, but guilt didn’t nip at me as I thought of my cousin’s suffering. He’d made me suffer in terrible ways over the years. He’d assaulted me at my wedding reception.
For the first time in my life, I would be safe from him.
I shook my head. I shouldn’t feel remotely safe in Dante’s home. The monster relished tormenting Luca and me. No matter how vehemently he insisted that Luca was the only one being tortured, he was wrong. I felt Luca’s pain deep in my soul, my heart aching for my husband’s suffering.
Still, Dante had taken a bullet for me. He’d saved me from the Russians.
I owed him a life debt.
I couldn’t be responsible for killing him, no matter how fiercely I’d desired his death during my captivity.
But I wasn’t sure how Luca and I could ever be free as long as Dante was breathing.
He felt some affection for me. That’d become clear when he’d chosen to take me to see Giana in an effort to make me happy. And he often touched me with tenderness, even if it did come with a touch of pain as well.
Maybe I could reason with him. I could leverage his affection if I stopped being so antagonistic towards him. I might be able to find a way to convince him to make peace with Luca.
My spine straightened with the strength of my resolve. Yes, I could be less prickly with our captor if that would win our freedom. I’d promised Luca that I would find a way to save us, and this was the best way I knew how. I’d never had a chance at physically besting Dante, but I could manipulate him.
The bedroom door burst open and hit the wall with a bang, and I whirled with a soft cry. My alarm sharpened to panic when I saw the blood that soaked my husband’s shirt.
“Luca!” I gasped, racing toward him to somehow keep him from bleeding out.
“It’s Alberto’s blood,” Dante said, his arm snagging my waist and dragging me away from Luca so that he could pin me to his powerful body. His emerald eyes blazed as he hungrily stared into my soul. “I invited Luca to help me torture him. Your cousin will never touch you again. It’s done.”
I glanced at Luca, my mind churning. I didn’t understand why Dante would’ve allowed him to wield a weapon, much less steal the pleasure of torturing my assailant.
“You killed Alberto?” I asked my husband.
Dante grasped my jaw, his touch a little rougher than usual as he wrenched my gaze back to his. “I killed him.” A hint of a growl roughened his savage declaration. “Luca made him scream first.”
Before I could fully process what was happening, both men closed in on me, their heat surrounding me. Luca’s broad frame pressed against my back, pushing me deeper into Dante’s arms. My husband’s hands roved over me, leaving crimson smears on my skin. There was something feral in the way they were handling me, and trepidation shivered through me. I tried to ease away from them, but there was nowhere for me to go; I was trapped between them, captive to their possessive, grasping hands.