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A single black brow raised. “But you’re not a man. Not anymore. You’re mine.”
He leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his arms over his chest, settling in to watch me fall. The last thing I saw before the darkness claimed me was his glittering green eyes, shining with feral triumph.
Chapter 18
Nora
My heart dropped to the floor when the door to the dungeon opened, revealing Dante’s imposing form. He shot me that maniacally pleased grin as he stepped inside. I choked on a horrified gasp when I saw who was behind him: two men dragged Luca’s bulky body between them. His head lolled forward, and his knees skimmed the tiles.
He was naked.
“Luca!” I grabbed the bars on the cage, trying to wrench them apart so I could get to my husband.
He groaned at my sharp cry, and his muscles rippled. He shook his head slightly, but he couldn’t seem to lift it.
“What did you do to him?” I demanded of Dante, my voice too high-pitched.
“He’s fine, darling. He’s just drugged. I don’t intend to kill him.”
My stomach churned. Judging by Dante’s sharp smile, he planned something worse than death for his rival.
The two men heaved Luca’s limp body onto the bed and shackled his wrists and ankles to the bedposts. Nausea stirred in my stomach. My strong husband, my savior, was a captive. He was stripped and powerless, just like me.
“Luca.” This time, his name left my lips on a broken moan.
Somehow, the nightmare had gotten so much worse. Deep in my heart, I’d expected him to save me. There hadn’t been an alternative in my mind; the prospect of remaining trapped with Dante was unbearable.
Luca stirred at the sound of my voice, and Dante slapped him hard across the face.
“My wife wants to talk to you,” he sneered.
Luca blinked slowly, eyes glassy as he struggled back to awareness. His powerful limbs twitched, and chains rattled as the cuffs held him fast. He grunted and blinked again, shaking his head slightly as though to throw off the fog of the drugs.
“Please,” I begged, turning my attention to Dante. “Let us go. You don’t have to hurt him.”
His green eyes were pitiless, spearing my heart with an icy blade. “No. I’ve waited too long for this. It’s his fault that you’re involved now. If he hadn’t stolen you away from me, you would have no part in this. He will suffer for taking what’s mine, and you will help me.”
I wanted to rail at him that I didn’t belong to him, that I never would. He was deranged and unfathomably cruel. He’d demanded my obedience when he’d humiliated me with the whip, but he hadn’t broken me. He’d known that I didn’t mean it when I said I was his wife.
I didn’t dare give voice to my defiance now. Not when Luca was completely vulnerable to Dante’s sadistic whims.
Luca came back to full awareness with a roar of pure rage. The chains rattled against the metal bedframe, and his corded muscles bulged as he fought the restraints. His ochre eyes were fixed on me, wide and wild.
I shrank deeper into the cage and covered my breasts, mortified at my nakedness. Dante had brought me low, and Luca was witnessing my humiliation.
“What have you done to her, you sick fuck?” he bellowed at our captor.
Dante simply smirked at him, watching his fruitless struggles with dark amusement.
Luca twisted in his bonds. “Let her go,” he snarled. “You have what you want. I’m right here.”
“Yes, you are,” Dante purred. “And you’re not in a position to make demands. You don’t understand yet, but Nora does. Shall I show you how obedient my wife is?”
Luca glanced around wildly, searching the room for another woman. I saw the moment he understood what Dante meant.
“She’s mine,” he growled. “Nora ismywife.”
“Not anymore,” Dante retorted. “We’re married, and as of now, you’re no longer her husband. You are no one. You are nothing.”
