how I was raised, the way I see the world, and the way I see myself in it. I wanted you to be there, but in retrospect, she was right—I probably wouldn’t have answered her questions as freely with you there because my viewpoint has been really screwed up until now. It wasn’t—”
“I know.” I squeezed his hand again. “And I’m not upset about that. I promise. I get it. I’m glad talking to her yesterday helped.”
“It did, but what really helped was you opening up to me the night before. That’s what made the difference. The session with Abigail only reinforced the things you made me see.”
Those tears came rushing back, and I closed my eyes and breathed slowly through my nose. His House saw Luc as a pawn, something they could move and manipulate to their advantage. But I knew he was a deeply emotional, loyal man. One I was about to hurt profoundly.
“Talk to me, vita mia.” He placed his other hand on mine, cocooning me in the warmth of his grip. “Tell me what’s going on. I can’t handle seeing you so upset.”
“I want to, I just...” I pursed my lips. “I’m afraid you’re going to be mad.”
“At you?” He brushed a tear from my cheek I hadn’t realized had slipped free. “Impossible.”
“You’ve been plenty mad at me before.”
“Frustrated, maybe. But mad? Never.”
The teasing tone of his voice tugged at one corner of my lips, and I blinked damp lashes and looked down at our joined hands.
“Talk to me, angioletto,” he whispered. “You’re the one who said if we don’t talk about things, they’ll just continue to fester. And you were right.”
Damn him for throwing my words back at me.
I drew in one last breath and looked up at him. “It wasn’t the session yesterday. It was what happened while you were in the session.”
“What happened?” His eyes grew serious. “Did someone hurt you?”
“No,” I said quickly. “It was nothing like that. It was...” I looked down at our hands again. “While I was waiting for you, I decided to check out some of the shops in the area and in one of them...”
His fingers tightened around mine. “In one of them what?”
I exhaled and forced myself to meet his gaze. “I ran into Gio.”
For a heartbeat, he didn’t move. But I watched his eyes darken. I watched his jaw tighten beneath the sexy scruff on his skin. And I watched his entire body shift from relaxed and at ease to tense and ready to attack.
“Did he touch you?” he asked in a low voice.
“No,” I lied. “H-he just wanted to talk.”
“About what?”
The chill to his voice made my stomach contract. My heart screamed for me to be honest, to tell him what had really happened, but my head whispered if I did, things would not end well. A hurricane roared in his eyes. One that told me he would break any rule of his House to protect me. Even if it was to his own demise.
I swallowed hard, hating that I had no choice but to go through with this awful plan. “H-he wanted me to take a message to you. That was all. They—your father found Dante. They’re bringing him home. Gio said that after your”—I forced the vile word past my lips—“ritual, the Knights voted for a stay of leniency for Dante. But your father’s been obsessed with finding him. Now that he has, Gio’s afraid your father’s going to exact his own punishment on Dante. For running,” I added quickly. “I could tell Gio didn’t like having to turn to you for help, but he said that for whatever reason, you were the only one Dante seemed to listen to. He wants you to talk some sense into Dante before Dante has a chance to antagonize your father and make things worse.”
Luc stared at me without flinching. And in the silence, my heart beat hard and fast because I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Or if he could see right through my lie.
“When?”
“I’m not sure what you mea—”
“When are they bringing him back? To Tuscany?”
“Oh.” I licked my lips. “Today, I think. Gio was a little vague. I’m not sure wh—”
He let go of me and pushed back from the table.
“Where are you going?” I said as he turned for the hall.
“I need to call Marco and find out what’s going on.”
Oh shit...
I lurched to my feet. “I can do that for you. I know you don—”
He turned to face me from across the room. But it was his eyes that cut off my words. Hard, cold, as deadly as I’d ever seen them.
“Did he say anything else? How long he’s been watching us? What he’s going to do if I don’t do what he wants? Who fucking sent him?”
I swallowed hard and twisted my suddenly shaking hands in front of me. Yeah, he said he and his sick friend were going to rape me in front of you if I didn’t bring you back. Probably torture and murder me as well.
“N-no,” I heard myself say. “Nothing.”
He was silent for a moment, then said, “And why didn’t you tell me this last night?”
My hands grew damp as I searched for any excuse that would make sense. “I-I wanted to, but... Yesterday was so emotional and complicated, and I didn’t want to make things worse when you seemed to finally be feeling… better.”
It was a terrible excuse. One that made me want to vomit all over again. And it wasn’t even close to the truth. I hadn’t told him because I was a coward.
His gaze held mine. I wanted to shrink into nothing under that withering stare. Without another word, he clenched his jaw and turned for the stairs.
I didn’t try to stop him. I didn’t know what I could say that would make anything better.
All I could do was sink back into my chair, close my eyes, and pray that somehow Marco cued in to my lie before Luc grew suspicious. And that he would help me get Luc back to Italy before our world imploded around us.
Don’t miss the exciting conclusion to the House of Sin Series
The Choice - Book Six
No one escapes the House of Sin…
They tried to destroy us. I almost lost him. But our connection was too strong. Our passion, too powerful. Together, we are unbreakable.
Which means we are in more danger than ever.
The dark forces in this world will stop at nothing now to get Luc away from me. And while I’m trying to remain brave, to be the woman Luc needs so we can find a way out of this nightmare, in my heart I fear this might be the end. Because this time the threat isn’t only from them. It’s from me. In lies and secrets made to keep him safe.
In a betrayal my heart screams he will never be able to forgive.
After all this time, after everything we’ve been through, it’s finally come to this.
To living or dying in the House of Sin…
Books in the complete House of Sin Series:
THE SECRET - Book One
THE FALL - Book Two
THE BETRAYAL - Book Three
THE VOW - Book Four
THE PRICE - Book Five
THE CHOICE - Book Six
SURRENDER - A House of Sin Novella
Thank You!
Dear Reader:
Thank you for reading THE PRICE! Stay tuned for exciting conclusion to Luc and Natalie’s story in THE CHOICE, the final book in the Forbidden series.
If you enjoyed THE PRICE and any of the other books in the Forbidden series, I would appreciate it if you would help others enjoy them as well by doing one of the following:
Recommend them: Please help others find these books by recommending them to friends, readers’ groups, and discussion boards.
Review them: Tell readers what you liked or didn’t like by reviewing them at one of the major retailers, review sites, or on your blog. I appreciate all reviews whether positive or negative.
To find out what I’m working on next, you can sign up for my Newsletter here. Click to see a full list of my books. And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, or like my FB page to get exclusive excerpts, behind the scenes first looks, and upcoming series/book updates.
~Elisabeth