“Nah-ah, baby.” He beeped my nose. “We’ll get to that when your boyfriend arrives. Assuming he figures it out.” Isaac winked at me, but my head was too busy swimming with confusion.
What the hell was happening?
Isaac wasn’t the guy coming after the Marchetti, he couldn’t be. He was just a regular guy who worked out at the same gym as Luca.
Except he wasn’t.
Because I was tied to a chair and Luca was on the floor, slumped against the wall and barely conscious.
“What do you want?” I shrieked, fear drenching my words. My hands and feet strained against their bindings, but it was futile. They were too tight, the cable ties cutting into my skin.
“Please, just let us go.”
“Aww, now I know you’re not one of those girls… a damsel in distress. From what I’ve seen you like it rough.”
Bile crawled up my throat and I swallowed hard, breathing through my nose. He’d been watching me… watching me with Enzo.
Who the hell was this guy?
“Do you like cold-blooded killers, baby?” He pulled a knife out from behind his back. “Do you like a little pain?”
My breath caught in my throat as he pushed the tip of the blade against my clavicle. Featherlight, Isaac traced the knife over my skin, following the hollow of my collarbone.
“Please,” it was a ragged plea as I tried not to move even a millimeter.
“How I’d love to slice you open and see what you’re really made of.” There was a wicked glint in his eye, an honesty that made my stomach wash with fear. “But the fun is only just getting started.”
A chill ran down my spine at the threat in his voice.
“Enzo won’t let you get away with this,” I spat, letting my emotions get the better of me.
“Oh, baby,” he flashed me a wolfish grin, before standing, “I’m counting on it.”
Isaac left us after that. Left us cold and alone and scared. Luca was in and out of consciousness. I couldn’t see any blood or contusions, but the flickering strip lighting made it difficult to see right into the darkened corners of the room.
“Luca, are you awake?” I whispered, every muscle in my body heavy and sore. I had no idea how long we’d been here. It could have been a couple of hours, it could have been an entire day. Time was nothing. But for every minute that passed, my hope faded.
What if Enzo didn’t come?
What if he and his family couldn’t find us?
Couldn’t find me.
What if he did?
I wasn’t foolish, I knew this would only affirm Enzo’s resistance to be with me. He would take one look at me tied to this chair, dehydrated and confused, and vow to never put me in this situation again.
So as much as I wanted him to appear in the doorway, to come and save us, part of me—the naïve part of me that was just a girl in love with a guy—didn’t want it to be him. Because I knew what it meant…
And I knew it was the end of us before we’d even really gotten started.
Emotion rushed up my throat, stinging the backs of my eyes. I was a good person, or at least, I tried to be. I took my vitamins and gave to charity and helped old ladies across the street. I tried to treat people the way I hoped to be treated, kind and with compassion. I often saw past people’s walls and didn’t judge someone for the lifestyle they chose. But I knew that bad things happened to good people all the time. So even though I was scared and hurting, I didn’t have the capacity to blame Enzo or his family for this. The same way I hadn’t blamed Nicco and Arianne when Scott Fascini took me.
A strangled laugh spilled from my lips. What were the chances that I would find myself here again? I guess when you kept company with the mafia, anything was possible.
I sucked in a shaky breath. Enzo would find us, he would. I could imagine him now, on a rampage through Verona, burning buildings to the ground and ploughing through anyone who dared to stand in his way. His anger was always there, under the surface, only made worse since his father’s death.
God. I’d never gotten the chance to tell him how sorry I was for what he’d had to do. I hadn’t wanted him to pull away, not when he was finally letting me in, so I’d kept his secret.