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The beaten man shakes his head but doesn’t speak, and I have to wonder if that’s because his jaw is broken based on all the bruises covering his bloodied face.
“Luca,” I blurt out without thinking. “What the fuck are you doing?”
His burning gaze slowly shifts toward me, but I’m momentarily distracted by the laughter emanating from the man in the chair. His garbled voice mutters something that sounds disturbingly like, “I told you I’d see you again soon.”
Fear engulfs me once again, leaving me paralyzed and unable to act on the revenge I had imagined many times over the last several days. How if I ever saw my attacker again, I would make this man pay for touching me when he had no right to do so.
“Get the fuck out, Olivia.” Luca’s menacing tone does nothing to snap me out of my stupor.
“You,” I whisper.
My attacker tries to speak again, but Luca’s fist crashes into his face, dislodging a tooth or two that clatter onto the cold concrete floor. I can’t tear my eyes away from the man bound to the chair. I stand frozen, my mind screaming for action but my body refusing to move.
Luca’s imposing form moves to stand before me, his hands gripping my shoulders.
“Leave, Raven,” he demands. “Go back to the room and wait for me. Now.”
His fingers lift my chin, forcing me to meet his steely gaze. His other hand rests gently on my hip, devoid of the usual roughness I associate with him, and the anger I expected to see on his face is absent.
And just like that, all intentions I had when I came down here, leave me. “Are you going to kill him?” I ask.
Luca nods once, his eyes filled with an unspoken darkness.
“Why?” Confusion clouds my thoughts.
“Because he hurt you.”
There’s a pause as we both seem to process what he’s just admitted.
“And this is who I am,” he adds, gently turning me in the other direction, “but it’s not who you are. Go back to the room.”
He’s not wrong about either of those things, yet an unfamiliar part of me stirs deep within. A part I didn’t know existed until now. It yearns to stay and witness my attacker’s life fade away, to see him suffer just as I have over the past few days. I want to know that the pain I endured has been avenged, if only in a small way.
“Please, Olivia.” Luca’s voice carries a quiet plea I’d never expect to hear from him. “Just go.”
This time, I heed his words. I don’t resist. I turn and run, fleeing from the haunting memories, the monster who harmed me, the man I shouldn’t care about, and the twisted thoughts that no longer seem so dark.
As if affirming my choice, the elevator I couldn’t previously use waits for me, its doors open wide. I step inside and reach back to press the button for the fourth floor, where Luca’s room is located. This time, the doors close, promising to seal me off from the grim scene behind, but before they can, I hear the sound of a loud pop reverberating off the concrete walls. My eyes widen, knowing exactly what that sound is. A gunshot.
Did Luca just killhim? I’m not sure, and as much as I want to go back and find out, the elevator is already taking me upstairs and I’m certain the button to go back down still won’t work for me. Plus, the need to vomit is too strong to push back down.
Rushing past the landing, I forcefully open the steel door that blocks my path, barely making it to the bathroom before I collapse, embracing the toilet.
Bile roughly expels from my stomach, the acidic liquid a reflection of the meager sustenance I’ve consumed over the past few days. Once I’m done, I realize I need another shower, but this time, I can’t be bothered to undress or wait for the water to warm up. I just need to be clean, even though there isn’t a speck of dirt on me.
I step under the spray, allowing the cold water to cascade over me as I lower myself to the tiled floor. Resting my head against the wall at the corner of the shower, I close my eyes. This time, I don’t see myself. The image of that bastard tied to the chair graces my thoughts. Only he’s not alive any longer. There’s a bullet hole in the center of his forehead, and he can’t ever hurt another person again.
The steam from the now-warm shower begins to wrap around me, and for the first time in days, I feel tension start to leave my body.
I don’t have to be afraid. That man won’t come back and find me. I’m going to be okay. He didn’t win.
Suddenly, a shadow falls over me, causing me to scream. Any progress I thought I just made is shattered. But then I see Luca standing there, fresh blood staining his face and hands. His dark eyes pierce through me as if he can see into the depths of my soul.
I rise to my feet, unsure of what I’ll do, but he steps into the shower with me, staying clothed just like I am.
I reach for his face and brush my thumb over the blood on his cheek. “You killed him.”
“I did.”
