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"Did they say anything on the ride over here?" Antonio queried as we rode the elevator down to the basement.
I shook my head. "Annaleise can barely speak because her throat is still healing. Allegro was too coked up."
"Fucking asshole," Antonio cursed, and I agreed with him.
"Seems the two of them have been having an affair for a few months. Annaleise was using him to get to you. She planned to blackmail you."
"To what end?" He barked out a laugh. "Did she think I would sleep with her if she blackmailed me?"
I shrugged. "She's a couple apples short of a full bunch, so who knows what she was thinking."
"There is something off about this whole thing." Antonio contemplated the situation. Knowing him as I did, his mind would be going through every possible scenario, trying to figure out the end goal.
But, some things didn’t have logical explanations.
Passions ruled people. Love and hate. Lust and vengeance. Logic was rarely found in those emotions.
Antonio had lived his life with the singular driving purpose of getting Alexis back. Despite love ruling him, he shut down his emotions, or his grief would destroy him.
Getting him to understand that Annaleise was just batshit crazy would be difficult. Maybe once he spoke to her, he'd see.
41
ALEXIS
Ashiver ran down my spine as we exited the elevator. The basement was damp, and a draft blew across my skin, making goosebumps rise along my flesh. This place gave me the creeps. The tang of copper filled the air. I knew the scent was blood.
Violent acts had taken place here. Many of them likely performed by the three men currently surrounding me.
I wouldn't let myself think of that right now. What mattered was they'd never harm an innocent.
Was that why Miko was so quiet? Did he think I would look at him differently if I knew what they had to do to survive?
I reached out and grasped his hand, entwining our fingers and squeezing. I glanced up at him, smiling at him. I hoped that he knew I would never think differently of him. Now wasn't the time to say anything, but I'd make sure he knew everything later.
I loved these men with a desperation that bordered on obsessiveness. We fit together. We completed each other.
They were my everything, and nothing would ever change that.
"You doin' okay, boss man?" Luca asked as Antonio walked through to the cell area.
"Better every day." He smiled, despite the pain I knew he felt. "Soon, I won't even need these stupid things." He gestured to the crutches.
A string of Italian curses echoed in the dank space. That must be Allegro.
"You son of a whore, let me out of here right now." Allegro thumped his cuffed hands on the desk, the clang of metal on metal, setting my teeth on edge. The man's accent was thicker than Antonio's, and he slurred his words as if he were high or drunk.
"That's no way to talk in the presence of a lady." Luca clucked his tongue. He swung the cell door open, and filed in with Antonio and Miko behind him.
Cormac and I stayed further back. I wanted to be present for my mates, but I had no desire to get blood all over me.
"Lady? Fuck you, bitch." He spat at me.
Before taking another breath, Miko slammed his face into the table. Blood splattered across the surface, and Allegro howled in pain. "Don't talk to my mate like that unless you want to die a very slow, painful death."
I had the distinct feeling that he would die a slow and painful death regardless of how he spoke to me.
Allegro cried out as blood dripped down his nose and coated his mouth. "You stupid whore, you're going to pay for that."
