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Giana.I longed to hug her and promise her that I was okay.
It would be a lie, but it would ease the worry that must have plagued her every day since Dante had kidnapped me. Concern for her tightened my chest. I had no idea what my father might’ve done to her in my absence. I’d always been her protector. She might be suffering without me to shield her.
“We’re going to your father’s house,” Dante continued, “but I won’t allow him to be in the same room as you. His home is well guarded. You’ll be safe there.”
I’d never been safe in that house, but I would risk a beating if it meant I could see Giana.
Why?Why would he allow me out of my cage to see my beloved sister? This must be some sort of trick, another sadistic game.
He seemed to read the doubt in my eyes. “I know you’re unhappy here,” he said. “That will change with time. I’ll earn your trust. You’ll believe me one day,” he added when I flinched. “I don’t want you to be miserable, and I know you love your sister. I won’t keep you from her.”
He urged me to get dressed, and I complied with hesitant movements. I still didn’t trust him. He was a monster out of my worst nightmares.
But he hadn’t lied to me yet, and if he said he was taking me to see Giana, I dared to hope that it might be true.
Once I wore my comfortable blouse and jeans, he approached me with a bulky vest. I shrank back, uncertain.
He didn’t pull away in the face of my concern; he simply fitted the vest around my chest. “This is Kevlar,” he explained. “You’ll wear it until we’re back on the estate. No one is going to hurt you, Nora. Not while I’m breathing.”
He put on his own vest and took me by the hand, leading me out of our bedroom. When we stepped through the front doors and out into the crisp fall air, we found three armored SUVs waiting for us. Dante directed me toward the one in the middle of the convoy. I couldn’t see through the dark tinted windows, but I knew a handful of men would already be in the other vehicles, Dante’s guards. He really was intent on protecting me.
I shook the thought away. He wanted to possess me completely, so he clearly didn’t want to see me dead. He had darker plans for me. As long as I was alive, he could use me to torment Luca.
I yanked my hand from his and stalked the last few steps toward the SUV. He opened the door for me without commenting on my sudden prickly demeanor. I only had a few seconds to draw in a deep, calming breath before he’d circled the vehicle to get in on the other side.
He reached over me and buckled my seatbelt, his hands lingering at my waist. I stiffened and turned my face away.
He sighed and secured his own seatbelt when the convoy started moving. I watched the mansion disappear, then looked out at the woods as we wound our way down the long drive. The terrible night when he’d chased me through those woods played through my mind, and a light shiver raced over my skin.
He snagged my hand and squeezed it in what was meant to be a pulse of comfort. But I found no reassurance in the monster’s touch as I recalled the way he’d ruthlessly hunted me down and then bound me cruelly beneath the moonlight.
“Would you like to play the piano when we return home tonight?” he asked, voice rich with warmth, as though he was completely unbothered by my hostility.
I gritted my teeth and didn’t respond. I didn’t feel like making small talk with my captor.
“The piano has been untouched since I lost my mother, but I had it tuned for you,” he continued, rubbing his thumb over my palm. “I’d love to hear you play.”
“I don’t feel like it,” I responded tersely, taking a tiny hit of vindictive pleasure in denying him. I played the piano to calm my mind, not to perform for others. Especially not for him. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
I thought of how Luca had commanded me to dance for him when he’d gifted me with the ballet studio at our home. Longing tugged at my heart. Yes, I could’ve made a home with him there. We were meant to be a family.
I straightened my spine. Once we were free and Dante was dead, we would fulfil that dream.
The monster caressed my hand again. “It doesn’t have to be this way between us,” he said for what felt like the dozenth time. He kept trying to tell me that I could make a home withhim, not Luca.
He was insane.
“As long as you’re torturing Luca and me, it can’t be any other way,” I shot back.
Some part of me registered that I no longer feared a beating if I spoke out against him. Dante hurt me for his own pleasure, but he didn’t lash out in anger.
His jaw firmed. “I’m only torturing Luca,” he insisted. “I’m giving you what you secretly desire. You just don’t want to accept that. Luca deserves to suffer. He—”
Pain exploded through my skull as something smashed into my head. I reeled to the side, and my seatbelt burned my chest, driving the air from my lungs. The world spun, and I floated a few inches above my seat before the belt caught me, digging deeper between my breasts and crushing down on my sternum.
Metal screeched, and my brain rattled at one final impact.
“Nora!” Dante’s voice was faint beneath the ringing in my ears.
