My pulse kicks up a notch at the name, and a chill runs down my spine when the bound man lifts his eyes to mine. Long, matted black hair covers most of his face, but there’snomistaking those eyes.
Eyes identical to the man I love.
Alessio Carusoisn’tdead!
Nico laughs darkly, bidding his ‘guest’ farewell with a dark, “Domani alla stessa ora, Fantasma.”
I give no outward reaction as Nico refocuses on me, rising to stand, before he slowly walks closer. Luca slips back outside with Alessio in tow as he reaches me, his hand coming up between us to hold my chin between his thumb and index finger.
He twists my head from side to side, as though inspecting his property, all while I regard him with a blank stare.
“You look far too well cared for.” His eyes lock with mine. “You can’t expect me to believe that Caruso filth didn’t have a taste of your spectacular cunt, can you?”
I arch an eyebrow, allowing my lips to curve upward in pure malice. I can almost feel Rafe sending me the strength to be the woman I know myself to be now as I shrug nonchalantly.
“I mean, Iwasexpecting you to be as dumb as you look?—”
He draws back to strike me, the flat of his palm descending toward my cheek when I block with my right arm and bring my left fist up to connect sharply with Nico’s side.
Just like Sasquatch taught me.
Sucking in a pained breath, his other hand flies out. I yank my head back just in time so that only the tips of his fingers brush off my cheek.
I take a step back, watching him through slitted eyes as he stands to his full height, brings his hands up to chest level, and begins to clap slowly.
“Well done, baby girl. Well fucking done.”
My forehead creases in a mixture of shock and confusion as Nico turns to pour himself a glass of red wine from the spread on the table. He turns back to me and raises it in salutation.
“I don’t know where you got the claws, but the thought of clipping them has given me the biggest fucking hard-on of my damn life.”
His eyes flick over me from head to toe before he palms his dick through his pants. “I think I’ll fuck your face before passing you around to mySoldati.”
Pure fear trickles throughout my whole being, though I keep my face impassive as Nico chuckles. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’ll do. A fitting punishment for giving thatfiglio di puttanaa taste ofmypretty cunt, don’t you think, baby girl?”
Judging from the incensed look in his eyes, and despite the fact he’s always kept me for himself in the past, I have absolutelyzerodoubt that he means what he says.
My hand darts out, plucking a wineglass from the table, and smashing it off the edge of the hardwood. I brandish the long splintered stem of the glass before me, and lower my knees into a fighter’s stance.
“Over my dead body, Domenico Conti.” I tip my chin higher as his lip curls in derision. “Touch me, and Iswear, you’re a fucking dead man.”
RAFE
“This place has been abandonedsince my father banned human trafficking.”
The caves beneath a centuries old derelict castle had made the perfect base to move the flesh trade, something that’s entirely fitting with Conti being somewhere nearby.
I shoot a questioning look at Santino, who just rolls his eyes. “Well, wouldn’t that make it the perfect place to…I dunno. Umm…Hide?”
He walks ahead, muttering to himself about working with idiots as I huff an impatient sigh. We’ve been walking for what feels like hours through dark caves along the Sicilian shoreline. I glance at my wristwatch, realizing it’s scarcely been twenty minutes since we left the SUVs on the beach.
While I’d be furious to learn Conti had been under my nose the entire time, I’d had to admit that it made sense.
And Salvatore, that double-crossing motherfucker, feeding me false information about Tuscany, would feel my wrath just as soon as I’d gotten myStellinaand my sister back safely.
“There’s a door built into the cave wall just ahead. My father was adamant that I wouldn’t miss it.”
Santino moves more slowly now, leading our combined forces deeper into the caves. He stops abruptly, and I hold up a stalling hand. The entire troupe freezes, and a deathly silence fills the space until Santino raises his leg to kick at the cave wall.
