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Sunlight streaming from somewhere behind me shines off his tan skin. It filters through steel-gray irises and gleams from his gleaming black hair. Dressed in a tailored suit with a red tie, he exudes complex power and authority.
He grins, displaying a row of perfect white teeth and one deep dimple on his clean shaven cheek.
“How do you feel?” he asks, still touching me like he knows me.
For a moment, I’m stunned into silence by his beauty. That is, until the events leading up to now begin to flitter through my mind. Waking to a sadly empty bed. Showering and getting ready for the day, then padding down to the kitchen in search of something to eat.
There was a noise in the library as I passed.
“Luca?” I called out, sliding the doors open wide and being surprised to see not Luca, but his uncle. “Mr. Sinacore. I wasn’t aware you’d be stopping in today.”
He quickly slammed the desk drawer he’d been shuffling through, and though he adopted a casual expression, his agitation was palpable.
“How lovely to see you, Carina.” He tugged a handkerchief from his shirt pocket and wiped at the sweat on his brow. “I hope I didn’t startle you.”
Thrown off by the amicable greeting, especially after the way our last encounter ended, I frowned. Something wasn’t right. “You didn’t startle me. I was just on my way to get breakfast.”
He shifted the hand that was still resting on the drawer pull.
“Is there something I can help you find?”
Cocking his head, he said, “Luca said he was leaving some documents for me.”
I shrugged. “He didn’t mention it to me.”
“I didn’t think he would. But perhaps you’ve seen them. They’re in reference to the Ferryman.”
A chill ran up my spine at the mention of the Ferryman. Anything to do with Stephen or Gideon Black that needed to be shared already had been.
So then why was Ray here now, asking for something he would have already received? Unless he was searching for something beyond what was discussed at the meeting.
“I’m sorry, I haven’t seen anything,” I said. “But if you’d like to wait, he should return shortly. He can give you whatever you need, I’m sure.”
His lips pulled into a hard, thin line. “I didn’t just come for that.”
He leaned back, bringing his arm up from the drawer and setting his hand on the desk.
And in it, I realized, he held a gun.
“What else?” I took a step back, but stopped when he clicked back on the hammer.
“You.”
Me? Why the fuck would he want me? I wasn’t going to wait to find out.
I spun on my heel, ready to run, but hit a hard wall. No. It wasn’t a wall. It was a man. A well-dressed, beautiful man with the face of an angel. I bounced off him and fell back, my ass slamming onto the floor. I didn’t have a chance to scramble to my feet. Instead, I was dragged up by Ray’s beefy arm wrapped around my neck.
The last thing I saw before a wet cloth was placed over my nose was the angel-faced man coming toward us as he said, “Hello, Carina.”
I clawed and kicked as I tried to free myself, all the while holding my breath, aware that inhaling would be a grave mistake. My lungs burned, and my eyes watered until my body betrayed me and forced me to suck in air. Just a tiny bit. But it was enough.
The world went dark, and the next thing I knew, I was here.
“You were there,” I whisper. “In the study. With Luca’s uncle.”
“I was. And I must apologize. He was much rougher than I’d hoped.” He lowers his fingers from my cheek to my throat. “Skin this lovely should never be bruised.”
“Did you see the way the bitch clawed my arms?”
