I frown. “How do you know?”
She pushes herself off the cabinet and folds her arms. “All I’d ever heard him talk about was you. Even when he was planning the wedding with Jasmine, he couldn’t stop talking about the fact that he was never going to stop looking for you.”
I’m stunned by what she says, so much so that I don’t know how to respond.
“Well anyway, if you need me, just call my name. I’m sure one of Luca’s men will hear you as the house is never unguarded.”
Damn. There goes my plan to escape when I’m finally out of this damn rope.
“Thanks for the food. And the talking. I appreciate it,” I say. “Makes me feel less insane.”
“Glad I could help,” she says, and she walks off before I can ask her to please hand me the knife so I can cut myself out of this mess.
She probably wouldn’t have given it to me anyway.
Luca’s rule is law, and people who work for him obey or get the boot.
And who knows what happens to them after that. I’m sure a mobster wouldn’t let someone walk off to go and tell the world what goes on behind closed doors. Our families only succeeded in becoming so powerful because we hid from the public eye for so long.
In fact, he’s out there right now, trying to find the one person I hoped to never involve.
Poor Nick.
My stomach twists from the thought of seeing him hurt.
I shouldn’t have said his name or implicated him.
Now Luca wants nothing more than to destroy him for even looking at me.
All because I had to tell that lie so Luca would stop.
Even though he didn’t until I’d already come ten times.
Fuck.
Sudden stomping in another room pulls me from my thoughts. I recognize the walk. It definitely isn’t a guard. It’s him.
My heart beats faster and faster as he approaches, and I brace myself against the ceiling, hoping I can dish out some kind of jab with my foot even though any kind of movement makes me twirl around.
BANG!
The door is kicked open and thrust into the wall, and Luca stands in the doorway with a sinister look on his face. The smile that slowly creeps onto his lips makes me gulp.
“Miss me, bunny?” he says, his voice so dark it makes goose bumps erupt on my skin.
Chapter 13
Jill
* * *
Heat washes over my body as he closes the door and stalks toward me, licking his lips achingly slow. I don’t know why I focus on it as much as I do.
But I have to keep my thoughts from swaying. He left me hanging here just to go and hurt Nick. But Nick is innocent and doesn’t deserve his wrath. It’s all my fault.
“Please tell me you didn’t hurt him,” I say.
Luca smiles wickedly. “Shouldn’t have sent me to that fucker if you were that worried about him.” He tips up my chin. “But don’t worry, bunny. I kept Nick alive.”
The adrenaline surging through my body becomes a little less volatile, but I’m not any less worried. “Where is he?”
“Back where he belongs,” Luca answers.
My eyes widen. “You let him go?”
“Of course.” The smile on his face deepens. “I keep enemies like Easton Van Buren close.”
I swallow. So he knows.
“But don’t worry …” He makes a fist. “I’ll make them all pay for hiding you from us.”
I panic. “Please don’t.” I shake my head. “They were only trying to help me.”
Luca grabs the ropes, dragging me closer. “And here my father was, thinking he could trust Van Buren.”
“They’re good people, Luca,” I reply. “Please, don’t hurt them. They have nothing to do with our family feud.”
“Family feud?” He laughs. “You think that’s what this is?” He hovers right in front of my face, looking me dead in the eyes. “No, bunny. This is war.”
I jerk around in the ropes, but it’s no use. Every time I try to free myself, all it does is bury the rope further into my skin. Fuck.
“Give up, Jill.”
“Just because you put a ring on my finger and a collar around my neck does not mean I’ll stop trying to get away from you.”
“Hate me that much?” he says with a denigrating tone. “Aw, I’m almost offended.” He plants a hand on my chest and stills my body while staring deep into my eyes. “If I didn’t know it was a lie.”
I swallow away the lump in my throat. I still can’t get used to feeling his hands on my naked skin, and the way my body responds to his touch is insufferable.
“Just like I know you lied to me about Nick.”
Luca’s hand slides down my chest between my breasts, making me painfully aware just how little control I have … not just over what happens but also over my own damn body.