The guy goes to reach for me, but Rossi raises his hand. “Let her be.”
I let out a shaky breath I didn’t know I was holding.
He lifts his right hand and raps his knuckles on the tinted partition. “Drive.”
I swallow. “Where are we going?” If he just wanted to talk to me, we could do that right here. He wouldn’t need to take me anywhere. Maybe he plans on just going around the block.
His dark eyes look me up and down, and I feel my skin crawl. I hate how much I look like him. How my eyes are the same color and shape. I have his lips and cheekbones. I never saw it before. Of course, I never thought he would be my father. But now that I know, I couldn’t deny it even if I wanted to. He told me I looked like my mother, but he was lying. He knows we hold very little resemblance.
“Get undressed.”
I blink. “Excuse me?”
“I said get undressed,” Rossi repeats.
My mother begins mumbling something behind her tape, but he ignores her.
I stare at him. My heart beating wildly as I’m hoping I misunderstood him both times. I look at the guy next to me. He looks to be around Luca’s age, but I don’t recognize him. “I … I don’t understand.”
Rossi leans forward and unzips the duffel bag, pulling out a white dress. “Luca wants a bride. I’m going to give him one.”
My stomach sinks, and tears immediately burn my eyes. I look from my mother to him. “Please …” I cringe at the sound of my own voice. I’ve never heard someone sound so desperate.
“I know how much he loves you,” he says with disgust. “And I also know how much you love him.”
“I don’t—”
“Shut up!” he shouts. “You think I don’t know that the explosion wasn’t an accident? You went to him.”
“I didn’t!”
The guy who sits next to me backhands me across the face. I cry out, and my mother’s muffled scream follows. The force knocks me to the floor of the limo, and my phone falls out of my pocket. I scramble to get it, but Rossi is faster.
He looks down at it and frowns. “I thought you’d be smarter than this.” Reaching over, he cracks the window and throws it out.
The first tear runs down my face. That was the only lifeline I had.
“Don’t worry, Haven. He’ll know exactly where you are when I’m ready for him to know.” With that, he looks at the younger guy. “Help her get undressed.”
LUCA
I sit up in my office at Glass when my cell rings. I don’t recognize the number, but hit answer. “Hello?”
“Luca. It’s Jasmine …” she rushes out.
I jump to my feet. “Everything okay?”
“It’s Haven. She went to meet Rossi …”
“What?” I shout, grabbing my jacket and rushing out the door.
“He called her.”
“When?” I run down the stairs outside of the building.
“A little over an hour ago. He had her mom.”
Shit!
“He wanted her to meet him outside of Kingdom. He was sending a driver. I downloaded a locating app on her phone for you to track her.”
I come to a stop. “Wait. Are you saying you two planned for this to happen?” I demand. My chest almost heaving with my breathing.
“I tried to talk her out of it.”
“Jasmine …”
“She wouldn’t even listen to me,” she rushes out. I can hear her panting across the line. Her nervousness giving her away.
Fuck! He’ll kill her. After what I did and said today to the reporters, he’s on to us. He knows. And she’s going to pay for it. “Where the fuck is Nite?” He was supposed to stay with her. He had orders.
“Well …”
“What did you do, Jasmine?” I start my car and throw it in reverse.
“He’s fine. Just asleep.”
I shake my head. “Where the fuck are you?”
“Still at Kingdom. In your suite.”
“Where is he headed with her?” My car turns sideways in the street as I pull into the traffic.
“That’s the problem. It’s stopped. He must have found it and threw it out.”
I hang up on her and call Bones.
CHAPTER TWENTY
HAVEN
“HELP HER OUT,” Rossi orders the young man.
He grabs my upper arm and yanks me out of the limo and shoves me forward. I look around the area, and fresh tears sting my eyes. The lights of Vegas are miles away. He’s brought us to the desert. And that only means one thing. He confirms it a second later.
Opening the trunk, Rossi pulls out a shovel. “Start digging,” he orders and throws it at me.
I catch it before letting it drop to my feet. Pulling my shoulders back, I lift my chin. “I won’t dig his grave.” I refuse to do it.
He gives me a cruel smile as he takes a step closer. “Cute.” He grips my chin roughly and jerks my head back. I bite my tongue to keep from crying out at the pain. “This is for you, Haven. I won’t let a Rossi be a disgrace to this family.”