My captor twitches, and with a grunt, he dumps me on the floor. I wince as I fall heavily onto my bad ankle.
I turn to run, but two sets of arms wrestle me into the chair, tying up my bound hands and feet.
When they step back, wearing a matching pair of smug expressions, I’m entirely motionless.
“You think this will hold me forever?” My voice sounds hoarse from all the screaming. “I’ll fucking kill you before he even gets here.”
But they both turn away, seemingly content with a job well done.
“Now, now, Cas. There’s no need to be like that.”
My blood runs cold.
A figure emerges from the shadows. His hair is unkept, stubble overgrown, and his eyes bloodshot and wild as he snorts something from the back of his thumb.
“You bastard.”
Claudio shakes his head too rapidly. “Now, now. You can’t speak to me like that.”
He walks directly over to me, steps clicking against the stark, concrete floor. Every inch closer feels like a hand tightening around my throat.
“Stay the fuck away from me.”
But he ignores me. “After everything I’ve done for you, you still don’t treat me with any respect.”
I spit at his feet.
Slap.
My vision blurs as I try to breathe through the pain of my throbbing cheek. Claudio has the audacity to shake his hand as if somehow I’d hurthim.
“That ends today.”
Two fingers gently tilt my chin up. I shake them away with a thrash of my head. But Claudio grabs my chin instead, forcing me to look at him.
“You should be thanking me, baby. I’m saving you.” His breath reeks, and I try not to choke.
“You shoved me into the trunk of a fucking car.”
His eyes darken. “A necessary precaution. After our last encounter, I was sure that Moretti had turned you against me. But you don’t have to worry about him anymore.”
The gunshots echo through my mind once again.
No. Claudio wasn’t smart enough for this. He couldn’t have pulled something like that off.
And yet he’s there, standing before me with that smug little smile that makes my heart ice-cold with fear.
“What have you done?” My voice wobbles as I speak.
“You think I was going to let thatbastardtake you away from me? After all the trouble I went to just to bring you here?” His laugh is low and cruel. “You’remine,Cassandra Bellini.”
“You handed me over to him! You signed that contract!”
Claudio’s growl is the only warning I get before he slaps me again.
“I did what I had to. Let him think that he could control me. But none of that matters anymore, baby. He’s gone, and we can be together again.”
I take my time to recover, letting my hair fall over my face as I try to manage the grief boiling up inside me.
