Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
When the three of them split, they revealed Sal, who was holding a chain in his hand that led to a man who no longer looked human. He was just skin and bones, covered in dirt, burns, and both new and old wounds.
She and the Lucianos stared at him with the feeling they knew him, but his matted hair and disfigured eyes made it hard for them to tell who it was, until it hit them all at once.
“Holy fuck.” The men all took a step back.
She thought she was going to throw up from looking at him, seeing the finger that had once held his gold horseshoe ring was now gone …
She knew exactly who had made him this way.
When Sal pushed the tortured man down to his knees, Chloe’s breath froze with her body, not thinking it was possible to feel any number than she had felt before his blue-green eyes met hers.
Lucca …?
Her eyes roved over him, never before seeing him like this. Lucca’s hair and beard had been trimmed, and every part of the suit he wore was as black as night. His rough appearance now gone, in its place was something more menacing, frightening, and deadly. This was the darkness in its true form. The boogieman.
I’m going to save you, darlin’, his voice whispered through her mind as their eyes locked. Everything will be okay.
The feeling they shared grew stronger, wrapping around her and protecting her. She had waited four long years for this moment, for the moment she would finally feel … saved.
Forty-Two
A Power That Went Beyond This World or Any Other
Only one gun was held on the Caruso side, and it was in the hand of Lucca as he pointed it down upon the tortured man’s skull.
Chloe held her eyes to Lucca’s, too scared to look away from him, feeling safer with her gaze on his.
“Where’s Dante?” Lucifer spat from behind her.
Three men came from behind other suits; the same vision as Nero, Vincent, and Amo, except older. Dante stood between Vinny and Enzo, the three men protected by their sons and the other suits.
“I’m willing to give you one chance, Luciano,” Dante spoke with authority and confidence. “Trade me your man for the girl. No blood has to be shed.” His eyes went over all their sons, and then their families. “We both have a lot to lose here.”
“When did you become such a bitch, Dante?” Lucifer snickered. “I put the hit out on your wife, had her killed, and you are willing to let me walk away? You are a disgrace to this city.”
I’m so sorry. Staring into Lucca’s eyes, her heart broke for him. The man who had stolen her soul was responsible for stealing his mother’s.
The feeling and bond between them made more sense.
Dante flexed his jaw, taking a step forward, his voice becoming more powerful as he said, “The girl for your man, Luciano.”
Lucifer put his hands on Chloe’s shoulders, squeezing her harshly. “What do you want with her? She is nothing to you, nor does she belong to any Caruso.” He moved one of his hands, running a finger down the scar across her eye. “She has my mark. She belongs to me and me alone.”
The devil’s touch scorched her, but her eyes still didn’t waiver, finding strength in the blue-green eyes that didn’t move from hers.
“You took her from my home, my protection, and from my son.” Dante paused, his ice-blue eyes growing colder. “She belongs to Lucca.”
A creeping fear pulsing off the Luciano men filled the air the second he said Lucca’s name. They had all taken a step away from her, not wanting to be near her. The only ones who hadn’t moved were Lucifer and the twins.
“No! She’s mine!” Lucifer screamed.
“Chloe is mine,” a low, lethal voice filled the space, hitting the ears of every living thing in here until their blood ran cold, whispering over and over in all their minds. “Give her to me now, or I will blow his fucking brains out.” He pushed the barrel of the gun against the man’s head while the man kneeled, unmoving.
“There’s not much of him left. He’s better off dead.” Lucifer laughed. “He serves no purpose to me anymore if he can’t hold her precious body dow—”
POP.
Lucca had pulled the trigger, and the body fell forward to the floor.
Keep them to me, his eyes told her when she jumped from the noise.
“Kill them!” Lucifer demanded.
The room went silent. Lucifer’s men looked around at each other, trying to decide what to do.
“What are you doing? Kill them!” Lucifer crazily screamed again, pulling his hands off of Chloe to back up and look around at his men. When he did, the twins stepped closer to her.
Lucifer’s son, who stood in the front, hadn’t yet moved. He had simply kept his eyes on Dante. But now he finally moved them to Lucca’s.