Bound by Honor (Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles 1)

Gianna sat back, but I knew she wasn’t done yet. She wouldn’t give up until she got a rise out of him. He pulled into the underground garage of our apartment building. “We’re there,” Gianna whispered into my ear. I wished she would talk as reasonably to Luca as she did to me.

The car door swung open and Luca hoisted me into his arms. He carried me toward the private elevator and stepped in. The bright halogen lights hurt my eyes but I kept them open to watch Gianna and Luca in the mirror. She leaned beside him and her expression didn’t bode well. “Have you ever had a threesome?”

Luca didn’t move a muscle. He was looking down at me but I kept my attention on the mirror, trying to send Gianna a silent message to close her mouth. “How many women have you raped before my sister?”

Luca’s head shot up, eyes burning as he stared at Gianna. I pressed my palm gently against his chest and he glanced down at me. The tension remained. “Can’t you do something else with your mouth than yap?”

Gianna straightened. “Like what? Give you a blowjob?”

Luca laughed. “Girl, you’ve never even seen a dick. Just keep your lips shut.”

“Gianna,” I croaked in warning.

At last, we arrived on the top floor and Luca stepped out into our penthouse. He headed for the stairs to our bedroom when Gianna blocked his way. “Where are you taking her?”

“To bed,” Luca said, trying to sidestep my sister but she followed his movements.

“She’s high on Roofies. That’s probably the chance you’ve been waiting for. I won’t let her alone with you.”

Luca became very still like a wolf on the verge of attacking. “I’m going to say it only once and you better obey: get out of my way and go to bed.”

“Or what?”

“Gianna, please,” I pleaded. She searched my face, then she nodded once and quickly kissed my cheek. “Get better.”

Luca walked past her, carried me up the stairs and then into the master bedroom. The sickness that had been a distant pressure in my stomach turned into an insistent throbbing. “I’m going to be sick.”

Luca carried me into the bathroom and held me over the toilet as I retched. When I was done, I said, “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” He helped me stand, though the only thing keeping me upright was his steely grip on my waist.

“For throwing up.”

Luca shook his head and handed me a wet towel. My hands shook as I wiped my face with it. “It’s good that you got some of that shit out of your system. Fucking Roofies. It’s the only way for ugly fucks like Rick to get their dicks into a pussy.”

He led me back into the bedroom and toward the bed. “Can you undress?”

“Yeah.” The moment he let go, I fell backward and landed on the mattress. Laughter bubbled out of me, then a new wave of dizziness hit me and I groaned. He leaned over me, his face slightly blurry.

“I’m going to get you out of your clothes. They stink of smoke and vomit.” I wasn’t sure why he was telling me. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen me naked before. He grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head. I watched him as he unzipped my leather pants and slid them down my legs, his knuckles brushing my skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. He unhooked my glittery bra and threw it to the ground before he straightened and stared down at me. He turned abruptly and disappeared from my view. Dots danced in and out of my vision and I was on the brink of another laughing fit when Luca returned and helped me into one of his shirts. He was only in his briefs. He slid his arms under my knees and shoulderblades, and moved me up until my head rested on the pillow, then he got into bed beside me.

“You’re impressive, you know?” I babbled.

Luca scanned my face, then pressed a palm against my forehead. I giggled and reached out, wanting to touch his tattoo but misjudging the distance and brushing my fingertips across his abdomen and then lower. He hissed, snatched my hand away and pressed it against my stomach. “Aria, you’re drugged. Try to sleep.”

“Maybe I don’t want to sleep.” I wriggled in his grip.

“Yes, you do.”

I yawned. “Will you hold me?”

Luca didn’t say anything but he extinguished the lights and wrapped his arms around me from behind. “You better lie on your side in case you feel sick again.”

“Did you kill him?”

There was a pause. “Yes.”

“Now there’s blood on my hands.”

“You didn’t kill him.”

“But you killed him because of me.”

“I’m a killer, Aria. It had nothing to do with you.” It had everything to do with me, but I was too tired to argue.

I listened to his breathing for a few heartbeats. “You know, sometimes I wish I could hate you, but I can’t. I think I love you. I never thought I could. And sometimes I wonder how it would be if you made love to me.”

Luca pressed his lips against my neck. “Sleep.”

“But you don’t love me,” I mumbled. “You don’t want to make love to me. You want to fuck me because you own me.” His arm tightened around me. “Sometimes I wish you had taken me in our wedding night, then at least I wouldn’t still wish for something that will never be. You want to fuck me like you fucked Grace, like an animal. That’s why she told me you would fuck me bloody, right?”

My tongue felt heavy and my eyelids stuck together. I was talking nonsense, a garble of words I shouldn’t say.

“When did she say that? Aria, when?”

Luca’s sharp voice couldn’t rip through the fog blanketing my thoughts and blackness claimed me.CHAPTER THIRTEENA wave of sickness wrenched me from sleep. I stumbled toward the bathroom and threw up again, kneeling on the cold marble floor, too exhausted to get up. I shuddered. Luca reached over me and flushed the toilet before stroking my hair back from my forehead. “Not that hot anymore, am I?” I laughed hoarsely.