But he didn’t understand what had happened with Cora. He didn’t understand because he’d never felt it—Hedeon had never been close to anyone in his life. He’d had women, plenty of women, but I’d never seen him keep one around for more than a few days, a week at most, before moving on to something else. He didn’t do attachments, didn’t do emotions, and there was no way he’d understand that sort of thing in someone else.
I couldn’t expect sympathy from him, and so I’d take care of this myself.
“Goodbye, Hedeon,” I said, and for a second I wondered if it would be for the last time.
He said nothing as I strode out that door and to my car. I sat behind the wheel breathing hard, trying to stay calm. I felt like I’d walked out on the crew and that there would be no going back.
That was probably true. If I went through with this—Hedeon would never let me return.
I put the car in gear and pulled out, face set, sure that I was making the right choice, even if it meant leaving my old life behind.20CoraHalfway to the mansion, Dante shoved a black bag over my head.
I struggled at first until Dante pinned me down. “Keep fighting and it’ll be worse,” he growled, and I gave up. I knew they had me and there was nothing I could do.
They hustled me inside. I thought I recognized the sound of the mansion’s entry, the way the sound bounced off the tile. They dragged me up some steps, along more halls, and finally deposited me into a room. I heard them lock the door as they left, and after a few minutes, I pulled the bag off my head and took in my surroundings.
It was dark but my eyes were already half adjusted. There was a single bed against the wall, a desk across from it, a dresser, and a small closet. Another door led into a sparse, cramped bathroom, barely more than a sink, a toilet, and a tight standing shower. One window overlooked the street outside, but black bars kept me from trying to climb out. I considered yelling for help—but that would only draw Vincent’s ire and make this situation worse.
I sat at the edge of the lumpy bed and bounced up and down. It was the least comfortable room in the whole mansion as far as I knew, and I wondered how many more there were. I tried the door, but it was locked from the outside, and I got the feeling that this place was specifically designed to keep someone locked away.
I stared at my feet and thought about Reid. I tried to picture him coming home and finding it a wreck, the place ripped to pieces, his life thrown onto the floor and broken to bits—and wondered if he’d be more upset that his house got destroyed, or that I got taken away.
I hoped the latter. I wanted him to miss me, although I knew that was selfish as hell. He couldn’t do anything for me now, not without sparking a huge city-wide gang war, and that was something we’d both been working hard to avoid. I wished I could talk to him, tell him that it was okay, that it wasn’t his fault—that he didn’t need to do something stupid for me.
But I wanted something stupid. I wanted his arms around me, his body against mine, all the hours we spent in bed together learning to enjoy what our marriage had to offer, I wanted it all back. I needed him to know that something happened, that whatever we’d been growing, whatever we’d been thrown into, it was real, it was all becoming real, and it could be something good if we let it.
None of that would happen now. I was gone and there was nothing he could do about it, not while I was locked up in the most heavily defended place in the whole damn world.
I was back in that hell all over again. For a little while, it felt like I’d gotten away from the Leone family and was starting to make a new life for myself with Reid, but now I was sucked in again, back in the one place I didn’t want to be and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
I didn’t know how long I paced around trying to release some angry, frustrated energy, but as the light dimmed outside and the shadows grew longer, I heard sounds from the mansion. I heard people moving around, voices, conversations. I couldn’t tell who was talking or what was said, but people were coming and going, and that was strangely comforting.
Then as the sun set, I heard the locks in my door open. I stood up, stomach rumbling. I half expected food and after—but instead, Vincent stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.