LORENZO
Two days.
Three nights.
That was how long we’d been here, trapped inside Paolo’s hell. He’d created a cycle I wasn’t sure was going to end. For hours he’d hurt me in any way he wanted, then he’d leave, appearing again just as my body was starting to rest. The only positive was that he’d concentrated on me, leaving Aida out of it after he’d ripped her back to shreds.
Each time he disappeared for a few hours, I was sure it would be our chance to break free, to get away from him, but he knew what he was doing. He never left us alone, always placing guards on the two exits that I’d been tracking. There weren’t any cameras that I could see, no cars coming and going. It was locked up tight, just like I’d expected.
Except…there was a fundamental flaw in his plan. He wasn’t a native, but his guards were. I recognized each and every one of them as people who had crossed me before. All of them had a missing limb, and I wondered how Paolo had managed to find them. It had taken hours of watching Aida passed out for me to finally realize that this wasn’t a quick, off-the-cuff thing.
Veev had been in my life for years, trying to get closer and closer to me, and if it hadn’t been for Aida, she’d be in that position now. She’d been his inside person, the one who was able to relay all of the information back to him.
I glanced at Aida, my stomach churning at how at peace but also in pain she looked. Part of me was glad her body was passing out and protecting her because it meant she didn’t have to witness what Paolo had been doing to me. He’d gotten bored of her and paid extra special attention to me, and that was exactly how I wanted it. The more his eyes were turned to me, the less she had to suffer.
The door squeaked open, and the bodyguard stood to attention. They were starting to tire of their jobs, a clear sign that the
y had no loyalty to Paolo. He paid them to do the work only true loyalty could take care of.
Paolo stepped inside the warehouse, the sunlight blaring in behind him, and I knew from the moment Paolo had landed in the States, this had been his plan. Aida hadn’t, though. She’d just been a wrench thrown in the works.
A wrench he’d used against me.
A wrench he was going to regret.
He clapped his hands, causing Aida’s head to snap up. Her face screwed up, a groan ripping from the back of her throat. I couldn’t see her back from here, but I had no doubt the longer she sat there with it trying to heal, the worse it would get. It made getting out of here even more of a priority. I just had to work out how. I’d gone over and over scenarios in my head, tried to figure out if someone would find where we were, but I knew it was down to me. I had to get us out of this. I had to end Paolo’s reign of terror before it was too late.
“Time for round…” He paused, halting in the middle of the warehouse and tilting his head up to the leaky roof. It had rained over the last few hours, leaving behind wet patches on the concrete. “Huh.” He shrugged, then continued forward. “I’ve lost count.” He halted next to Aida, winking down at her. “Shall we have some more fun?” He knelt down next to her, slipping his hand up her leg and to her knee. All I could think about was chopping it off. My mouth salivated at the thought, my brain working overtime on all of the ways I would destroy him for hurting her.
She narrowed her eyes on him, her feistiness pushing through, but she didn’t answer. She stayed silent, having worked out that it didn’t matter what you said to him, nothing made a difference to what he was going to do.
He reached up, lightning quick, and grabbed her face in his hand, squeezing so hard that her lips puckered at the force. “Answer me.”
Her gaze flicked over to me, a question in her eyes. I shook my head, pulling at the binds on my wrists some more and feeling something tugging at them. I thought I’d had my opportunity to escape when he’d changed the way I’d been tied up, but he knew exactly what to do to keep me under control. A gun pressed to Aida’s head had done the trick, but he’d made a mistake coming back into the room this time.
I was focused on the fact that he’d come back in here in only a shirt and slacks. His jacket was gone, and so was his holster he kept his gun in. He’d been too focused on getting back in here sooner than he should have, and now he’d opened everything up. Now he’d signed his own death warrant. Only one guard stood at the door, a guard who had been standing there for at least fifteen hours. He hadn’t been there the first time Paolo had hurt Aida, and from the way the guard was slowly moving forward, he didn’t like what Paolo was doing.
I slowly moved my attention to the guard who was halfway to us, and when his gaze met mine, I frowned. He’d been the soldier who’d tried to steal from me on our wedding day, the one who had been brought to me for punishment. He blinked, darting his gaze left and right, but there were only the four of us in here.
Paolo stood, and the soldier froze to the spot. I tried to keep my attention on him, silently asking what he was doing, but I couldn’t focus on him when I needed to make sure Aida was okay.
“Disrespectful!” Paolo spat, raising his hand and slapping her across the face. Her head whipped to the side, a bright red handprint marking her skin. “I’ll teach you how to respect a man.” He grabbed her neck, squeezing her delicate skin, just as his other hand tore her dress, exposing her. The ropes binding her stomach kept the rest of the material in place, but it didn’t stop him from accessing her naked chest.
Aida’s gaze snapped to mine again, tears shining in her eyes, then she glanced next to me, her frown intensifying as she tried to breathe against Paolo’s grip around her neck. I fought at the binds around my wrists. I straightened my back, the bindings stretching taut, then turned my wrist as far as I could, feeling to the end of the rope. It whispered over my fingertip, and I stretched as far as I could, grasping on to it and feeling a breath of relief wash through me. I tugged at it, but nothing happened. Nothing released. I was frantic, trying to get the fuckin’ ropes off and to Aida before Paolo did something to her that I wasn’t sure she’d be able to come back from. She was one of the strongest women I knew, but that didn’t mean she could take his torture over and over again.
She gasped, her face turning purple. Paolo laughed, pawing at her chest and making her squirm. Each of her movements had her crying out in pain. I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t take him touching her. I was going to combust if I didn’t—
A hand landed on mine, and I jumped, about to ask what the fuck was going on, but a voice said, “Shhh.” The guard. What was he doing? I turned just enough to see his face crouched behind me. His one hand pulled on the ropes, but it was no use. He couldn’t get them undone either.
I glanced at Aida out of the corner of my eyes and saw Paolo move back a step. We both paused, waiting to see what he would do, and when the sound of his zipper ricocheted in the warehouse, panic set in.
“I can’t get it,” the guard grumbled, keeping his voice low enough so only I could hear him.
I whipped my head around, trying not to watch what Paolo was doing. He bent at the waist, his focus entirely on Aida. Her gaze veered to me, a small frown working its way between her brows. I shook my head, trying to silently tell her not to say a word. The longer he was preoccupied with her, the more time it would allow me to do what I needed to.
“Knife,” I whispered, staring at the tools Paolo had laid out next to me days ago.
The guard slid over to it, not moving from behind me, and grabbed the knife. He pushed it between my hands, the sharp edge slicing at my skin. I gritted my teeth together, finally focusing on Aida again. I wasn’t overthinking the fact that the man who had been with the undercover FBI agent and had begged for me not to hurt him was now trying to set me free. I didn’t think about the way he rushed to saw through my bindings. He was helping me—helping us—and if we made it out of here alive, I’d make sure he was rewarded.