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I’d been in this house for weeks, and I didn’t even know it had a basement, but the place felt ominous, and I could guess what happened down here.
The men who had been dragging my brother passed me at the bottom of the stairs without a word. I didn’t even see their faces, too focused on the blood on their clothes. Panic laced my veins, and I stumbled forward.
Gio stepped out of a doorway at the end of the corridor, closing it behind him with a soft click.
I needed to see Luca, but the moment I tried to move around him, Gio blocked my path, grasping my shoulders.
“He’s fine, Emilia.”
“Someone tried to shoot him, Gio! Your men are covered in blood.”
“Hey.” He cupped my face and pulled my gaze up to his. Calm, collected, controlled.
I took a deep breath, allowing some of his steadiness to leach into me.
“He got clipped in the arm. It’s a scratch. The blood is from The Outfit men they killed and disposed of. Okay?”
I inhaled a deep breath and nodded. Gio pressed his lips to my forehead before wrapping his arms around me. He always felt like a source of oxygen to starved lungs.
“Why is he unconscious?”
“Luca doesn’t exactly appreciate his captivity, nor our protection, and he’s a big bastard.” His breath trickled over my scalp as he huffed a short laugh. “He’s sedated.”
“Are you going to kill him?”
He gripped my jaw, forcing me into silence as he met my gaze. “What did I promise you, Emilia?”
“You promised you wouldn’t kill him,” I whispered, a single tear managing to escape and trickle down my cheek. I was worried for Luca, but more than that, I was terrified Gio would break that promise and, in doing so, break me. It had only been twenty-four hours since he’d put that ring on my finger, but I’d allowed myself to hope, to want this, to believe that he cared about me.
“I don’t give a fuck about Luca Donato.” His breath washed over my face until I could almost taste the hint of mint on my tongue. “But there’s very little I wouldn’t do for you, piccola. I made you a promise, and your forgiveness hinged upon it. So, consider Luca Donato gold fucking plated as far as I’m concerned.” His gaze dropped to my mouth, thumb dragging over my bottom lip.
“And if he doesn’t agree?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” His brows pinched together, and I didn’t like the doubt that flickered in his eyes.
“Will you torture him?” I whispered. “For Sergio’s location?”
He shook his head. “Like I said, I made you a promise, but even if I hadn’t, any information Luca knew would no longer be relevant. Sergio isn’t stupid.” His thumb swept along my jaw softly. “Perhaps Sergio turning on him will make Luca re-evaluate who the enemy really is.”
I nodded, trying not to think about the what-ifs and maybes. Gio could promise me the world, but I didn’t think Nero Verdi was a man who ran his mafia based on the whims of Gio’s new wife.
“Can I see him?” I asked.
“He’s still out cold. The drugs will wear off in a few hours.” Taking my hand, Gio pulled me toward the stairs. “Come on. I’ll make you lunch.”
“I already ate.”
He glanced over his shoulder at me as I followed him up the steps. “What did you eat?”
It felt like a trick question. “A bagel.”
“With what?”
I narrowed my eyes on his muscular back. “Nutella.”
He shook his head and mumbled something under his breath.
We stepped onto the landing, and he closed the basement door with a resounding click before producing a key from his pocket and locking it. “I’ll make you actual food.”
“You’re a feeder. You have a problem.”
He grabbed my waist and turned us until my shoulder blades pressed to the door. “You look thin, piccola.” He grabbed my hips, his nose trailing up the side of my throat. “I like having something to hold onto while I fuck this sweet body.” His lips brushed my skin, and I swallowed roughly.
The feel of his hands on me, his lips, his hard body…I always wanted more.
He laughed into my throat before stepping away. “Food first, amore mio.”
21
EMILIA
It was the next afternoon before Gio allowed me to step inside the cell Luca was being held in. And it was very much a cell. The cinder block walls were bleak and depressing, and there were no windows or furniture aside from a single bed pushed up against the far wall.
The dim light hummed over Luca’s colossal form slumped on the small mattress. He looked like a chained beast with his back against the wall, arm outstretched and cuffed to the metal headboard. That was the only way Gio would allow me in here without him, with my brother leashed like some rabid dog.
