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“Look at me,” Luca said through clenched teeth. “Look at what you did.”
I glanced up at the knife wound over his heart. It stood out against the rest of his scars, fresh blood glistening his skin crimson.
“No,” I cried out. “No, I couldn’t. I would never hurt you.”
His jaw ticked. “But you did.”
“You’re not real,” I whispered.
“I’m real, baby,” he growled, hunching down in front of me, sliding his warm fingers beneath my chin. “Just do it already. Plunge the knife through my heart.”
A sob escaped my throat. “No.”
Blood rushed through my veins, going straight to my head. I drew a breath from between my teeth, attempting to still my racing heart. “Are you going to kill me?”
Luca laughed. “No, baby girl. You’re the one who’s killing me.”
My legs wobbled, unable to hold my weight anymore, and I fell sideways onto the pavement. Someone grabbed my elbow, lifted me from the ground, and hooked their arm around me. Luca muttered something, his words muffled over the ringing in my ears. My pulse pounded with the same ferocity as the beating at the base of my skull.
“I got you,” Marcello whispered in my ear.
My eyes shot open, heart thumping in my chest from the worst nightmare of my life. It was a combination of that awful night with The Serpents five years ago… and something much worse. Was I really killing Luca by spending so much time with Marcello?
Not like he ever seemed to give a damn about me before. Until recently, we barely even spoke. A surge of emotions ripped into my chest as I stared up at the ceiling of the dark room.
Pressing my palm to the mattress, I pushed myself up and slid off the bed. I clutched my chest, trying to still my rapid heartbeat. It hurt just to breathe, the ache so intense it felt like I’d stabbed myself with the knife.
In and out.
Breathe.
Five, four, three, two, one…
My head pounded as if there were a drum beating inside it, working in unison with my heart. The dream felt so real. Too real for my liking. Tears streamed down my face.
It hurt so fucking much I wanted to carve out the pain with a knife to make it stop. I rushed out of my bedroom, surprised the hallway was empty. This was the first time one of the guards wasn’t posted in front of my room. Someone was always on duty, even when I slept. Luca made sure his men watched me at all times.
Was he letting me go?
Testing me?
I bolted down the hallway, headed toward the stairwell at the back of the house. There were staircases everywhere in the mansion. It was easy to get lost in this prison on the bay. Taking my time, I used the railing for support and tip-toed down the stairs. When my bare feet hit the ground floor, a chill rolled down my arms. I should have worn shoes.
Oh, well.
It was too late.
I walked into the Butler’s kitchen in the dark and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. A sliver of moonlight shone through the windows. Following the light across the room, I made my way toward the main hallway, sipping from the bottle.
I turned left out of the kitchen. The hallways were lit, but the rest of the rooms were pitch black. I hated the dark and what it represented.
The nightmares.
Locked doors.
No escape.
Navigating the house in the daytime was hard enough. They had more rooms than a medieval castle, a never-ending set of doors and mysteries to uncover. I passed the sitting room, where loud rap music blared from speakers.
