Born in Blood Collection Volume 1 - Cora Reilly Page 0,81

look, but then she slipped away and Cesare followed at a safe distance.

I put my head in my palm, taking a deep breath. An arm bumped against mine, startling me. I drew back as a man with long blond hair leaned against the counter beside me. He reached past me for a straw. His jacket brushed my breast and I leaned even further back, glancing away, uncomfortable with the look he was giving me.

“What’s your name?” he shouted.

I tried to ignore him. Something about him was seriously giving me the creeps. I took a sip from my drink and tried to pretend I was busy searching for someone. The man kept leering at me with an ugly smile on his unshaven face. “Are you waiting for someone?”

I turned away, really trying to ignore him and not make a big deal out of this. If I started freaking out, Romero would come over and make a scene. Maybe he was already on his way. My vision started to blur and my stomach gave a lurch. I took another sip from my drink but it didn’t help. I slid off the stool, but my legs were shaky and I felt dizzy. I grabbed the counter behind me. Suddenly, the man’s mouth was at my ear, his stale-cigarette breath on my face. “I’m going to fuck your tight ass. I’ll make you scream, bitch.” His grip on my arm was crushing as he tried to drag me away from the bar. My eyes found Romero, who was steering toward me, hand under his jacket where his gun and knife were. Impatient with our slow progress, my attacker wrapped an arm around me like a loving boyfriend ready to help his drunk girlfriend out of the club. “I’ll fuck you like an animal. I’ll fuck you bloody, cunt,” he rasped into my ear. I stared at him, my limbs heavy, my mouth filled with cotton. I’d heard those exact words not too long ago.

I forced my lips into a smile. “You are a dead man.”

Confusion flickered across the man’s face a second before it contorted in agony. He released me and my legs gave way, but Cesare caught me, his arm replacing that of the man. My eyes darted around for Gianna. She hovered beside Cesare, face drawn in worry. Romero was close behind my attacker, his knife buried in the man’s upper thigh. “You will follow us. If you try to run, you’ll die.”

“Take her drink,” Cesare said to Gianna. “But don’t drink.”

Cesare half carried me toward the back of the club and down a flight of stairs. He shouldered open a door and we walked into a sort of office. Matteo rose from his chair. “What’s going on?”

“Probably roofies,” Romero said, giving the man he was holding a good shake.

“I’ll get Luca,” Matteo said with a twisted smile. He walked through another door and a moment later Luca stalked into the room, as tall and impressive as ever. I hung in Cesare’s grasp, my face half-pressed against his chest. Luca’s eyes narrowed, then flitted between me and my attacker.

“What happened?” he snarled.

Suddenly he was in front of me, lifting me into his arms. My head lolled against his chest as I gazed up at him. He put me down on the couch. Gianna knelt beside me, gripping my hand. “What’s happening to her?” she cried.

“Roofies,” Romero said again. “This sick fuck was trying to drag her outside.”

Luca drew himself up before my attacker. “You put roofies in my wife’s drink, Rick?”

Luca knew that man? Confusion flickered in my hazy mind.

“Wife! I didn’t know she was yours. I didn’t. I swear!” The man’s lower lip was trembling.

Luca pushed away Romero’s hand and curled his fingers around the handle of the knife still buried in Rick’s leg. He twisted and the man screamed. Romero held him upright by the arms. “What did you plan to do to her once you had her outside?”

“Nothing!” the man cried.

“Nothing? So if my men hadn’t stopped you, you would have just dropped her off at a hospital?” Luca’s voice was pleasant, calm, his face devoid of emotion.

Gianna’s grip on my hand was painful. I swallowed and cleared my throat. “I’ll fuck your tight ass,” I whispered.

Luca’s head whirled around, then he was at my side, his face so close to mine, I could have kissed him. Maybe it was the roofies, but I really wanted to kiss him senseless in that moment, wanted to rip his shirt off,