Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
IVY
I followed the dog who seemed loyal to me and eager to guide me through the halls from my bedroom, thinking she’d take me to her owner in the living room. Maybe lead me outside, where she’d do her business and then beg for a treat.
What I found in that dank basement cell made my heart stop.
I was greeted by bloody fingers dangling off a rope. A woman sat in a metal chair, her hands and ankles tied. Her face a collage of black and blue, her clothes soaked with blood and filth. The dungeon had a chill of terror curling in my stomach.
A fucking woman .
My stomach roiled, but the confusion and horror trumped the dizziness that tried to pull me under. Any decent man—whether he was attached to a criminal organization or not—did not touch women and children.
I only needed to stand there for thirty seconds, listening to the darkness tainting his voice.
My blood drummed in my ears and my mind screamed. All the signs were there all along, but I was blinded by his beautiful angel-like face. Except there was no more hiding. I could see it clearly now; he was thriving on pain and control.
My vision dimmed, terror inflating in my throat, and my gasp of horror must have not escaped my host.
Priest’s blue gaze, full of cruelty and something psychotic, came my way. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe, paralyzed by what I was seeing and the brutal savagery in his eyes. But then adrenaline jolted through my veins and I ran.
The horror of what I just saw played on repeat in my head as I made my way to the top of the basement staircase. I just had to make it through the foyer. The front door was closed… too far away, but maybe I could hide somewhere.
Tears ran down my cheeks as soft footsteps registered behind me.
A wretched, painful scream pierced the air—from the woman? from me?—and I flinched.
I had my hand around the door handle when blood-stained arms caught me from behind.
I opened my mouth but his hand covered it, muffling my screams, while I fought against his iron grip. Dread tightened my lungs, smothering each breath before I could inhale.
“Angel,” he rasped, the soft endearment putrid against my ear. He shifted me around and I froze, the fight leaving me all at once. “Let me explain.”
Priest’s eyes swallowed the shadows in the room, something in them freezing my blood at the source.
“What’s there to explain?” I breathed, suddenly exhausted.
Maybe he intended to imprison me as well, the sick, demented creep. The sound of my ragged breathing filled the space between us as my thoughts strayed to the horrendous possibilities. It was enough to drive any sane person to madness.
“Who is she?” I blurted, shaking with fear. “Are you going to do that to me?”
“You’re nothing like her,” he gritted through clenched teeth. “I’d never harm you.”
I stared at him, my pulse racing. What did it say about me that I heard the truth in his voice? “Then who is she?”
“Vittoria DiLustro.” What. The. Fuck.
“Your stepmom?” I exhaled incredulously. Okay, maybe my intuition was failing me and the safety I felt around him was all bogus. “Release me,” I demanded.
He held my gaze. “You’re staying with me.”
My eyes darted around, the sound of barking breaking through the fog of uncertainty. “Where is the dog?”
“Cobra,” he said hoarsely, and I gave him a blank look. “The dog’s name. It’s Cobra. She’s been trained to protect you.”
Protect me? Why was he , of all people, concerned about my safety? Confusion entwined with the hot buzz beneath my skin, the strain settling thick in my lungs while I tried to catch my breath. The barking intensified, thump… thump… against the basement door.
Just then, the latch came undone, giving Cobra just enough space to squeeze through and place herself between Priest and me, baring her teeth and barking at Priest with menace. Or maybe she was after me, I couldn’t be sure.
Priest spoke to her softly, but Cobra kept barking, tail flapping and fur standing on end. “Angel, you have to tell her you’re safe. That everything’s okay.”
“Everything is not okay,” I breathed. I should have minded all his red flags and stayed far away from him. “There’s a bloodied woman in your basement, and I’m stuck here between your psycho ass, a growling dog, and a locked front door.”
He sighed. “I swear to you that you are safe. I’d rather cut my own throat than harm you.”
I stared at him while my mind screamed to run, but the wisps of words echoed through my heart. I’m fine. I’m safe. If he wanted to hurt me, he would have already.
“Does my dog have a trigger word?” I asked, not ready to blindly trust this man.
“ Ionsaí. ”
I shot him a surprised look. It meant attack in Gaelic. Priest must have known I’d never forget a word in a language I was fluent in.
“Cobra, stop. We’re safe.”
And she did, looking up at me proudly as she sat next to me.