Chapter 10
Luca
“I don’t answer to Dante and neither do you.” My words were cold and precise, and I clung to my control by a thread. I couldn’t fly into a rage. One wrong move could send bullets flying, and Nora might get hit.
Fear like I’d never known before gripped my lungs with sharp claws, digging deep and robbing my breath.
Because I wasn’t the only one in danger.
My heart hammered against my ribcage at the prospect of my fragile wife being hurt.
It was my job to protect her, and now I had two traitors in my home, guns threatening her.
The man who’d spoken first, Andrea, swallowed hard but firmed his grip on his weapon. “Dante paid us well. He’s the boss now. You’re coming with us. Quietly, or we won’t hesitate to shoot.”
“Don’t point that at my wife.” I couldn’t quite keep the growl from my voice.
Both weapons trained on my heart. The second man, Federico, said, “Dante wants her alive. She won’t be harmed. He wants to see you both, but we have orders to shoot you if you try to resist.”
My mind churned. Dante wanted both of us. Probably to make an example of me. And Nora…
My teeth flashed in a snarl. I knew exactly what that sadistic bastard wanted from my pretty wife.
“You’re both dead men,” I informed them, struggling to maintain my cold demeanor. “You’ll pay for betraying me.”
Andrea paled, and his gun swung in Nora’s direction. “Come quietly, or I’ll hurt her.”
Federico swore. “We can’t. Dante said—”
“Dante will get over it,” Andrea snapped, sweat beading on his brow. “We’re getting the fuck out of here. Right now.”
He was right to be nervous. They weren’t the only men guarding my estate.
If I gave even the smallest signal to any of my people as we exited the mansion, Andrea and Federico would die instantly.
They were counting on the threat of their guns to subdue me.
But Andrea could see the truth in my eyes: I wouldn’t willingly go to Dante under any circumstances, even if it meant risking my own life.
But Nora’s life…
No, I couldn’t risk her.
I couldn’t let Dante have her, either. I couldn’t even let myself begin to contemplate what the sick motherfucker would do to her if he got his filthy hands on my wife.
“Alright,” I bit out. “I’ll come with you. Just keep your aim on me, not her.”
I took a slow step forward, and Andrea’s gun jerked back to target my heart.
My teeth cut the inside of my cheek when Federico insisted, “She’s coming too.”
I held out my hand behind me, never taking my eyes off the threat. I couldn’t focus on Nora’s terror. I couldn’t take my attention off the traitors for so much as a heartbeat.
“Get behind me, Nora.” I kept my voice controlled, tone calm. I couldn’t spook her, or she might bolt. I needed her firmly shielded by my body.
Her hand trembled when she placed it in mine, and I gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze.
I wanted to swear to her that I would never give her to Dante, but there would be time for that later.
We wouldn’t leave our home with these bastards.
Even if it meant taking a bullet myself, I wouldn’t let them anywhere near her.
We took slow, measured steps toward the two men, and they eased back into the corridor. When I reached the threshold to the dance studio, I acted. Grabbing Nora’s hip, I shoved her farther inside the room, to the left so that she was no longer a target in the open doorway.
“Get down!” I barked, lunging at Andrea first—he’d proven to be the more unstable one, so I needed to handle him quickly.
I grabbed his wrist and twisted, drawing on my years of training to disarm the threat.
Two shots boomed through the corridor, one from my gun and the other from Federico’s.
My bullet ripped through Andrea’s skull, exiting in a bloody splatter against the wood paneled wall.
Federico’s bullet grazed my upper arm, a shot to injure but not to kill; he was still obeying Dante’s instructions to bring us in.
It was too late for that. My men would’ve heard the shots, and they’d be here to back me up in seconds. I had less than a minute to interrogate Federico.
I grabbed his elbow and twisted, forcing him to turn away from me as I popped his shoulder out of its socket.
He screamed, and his gun clattered to the floor.
I kicked it away and shoved him forward, so that his skull cracked against the wall.
A crimson smear darkened the wood as he slid to the ground.
While he was disoriented, I grabbed Andrea’s knife that he’d kept hidden in his boot—I’d noted the extra weapon when I’d slowly edged out of the dance studio. I was on Federico in a heartbeat, plunging the blade into his gut. He screamed, back arching in agony.
“Who else on this estate is working with you?” I demanded, my voice loud enough to be heard over his ragged cry, but my tone clipped and controlled.
The threat had been neutralized, and now I needed information.
“No one else!” Federico gasped out.
I twisted the knife. Another guttural scream.
“Tell the truth,” I prompted, ice cold.
“It was just Andrea and me,” he babbled. “That’s all I know. Dante paid us for this a week ago. He’s been waiting for your father to die. Please—”
I swiftly withdrew the knife and plunged it back in, tearing flesh and vital organs.
“I’m sorry… So sorry, Luca. I don’t know anything. Please, you have to—”
The traitor’s pathetic plea was silenced when I wrenched the blade free from his gut and brought it up to his neck in one fluid motion, slitting his throat.
Blood sprayed, warming my cheek. It spilled from his ruined throat, pouring over my hand.
His mouth opened and closed, his eyes wide and wild.
I didn’t bother to watch the light leave them.
After his betrayal, Federico didn’t deserve any company in death.
I tossed the knife away and got to my feet just as half a dozen of my men thundered toward me, rushing to answer the sound of the gunshots. I waved at them to stand down.
“I handled it.” I informed them. I toed Andrea’s ruined skull. “Clean this up. Find their friends and question them. Dante has declared war.”
I didn’t wait for them to finish promising to obey. The need to get back to Nora was an itch beneath my skin. I’d pushed her to safety, but two bullets had been fired. If one of them had somehow hit her…
I wouldn’t fail her. I couldn’t. Not again.
Never again.
I would protect what was mine. Nora belonged to me, and I would slaughter anyone who threatened her.
I turned away from my men and stepped back into the dance studio.
Nora was pressed against the wall, knees drawn up protectively to her chest and her arms braced over her head.
I’d ordered her to get down, and she had.
She’d stayed out of the way while I’d handled the fucking traitors who’d dared to try to take her to my worst enemy.
She looked up at me, eyes wide enough that her long lashes brushed her dark brows. Her gaze quickly roved over my body, assessing.
“You’re hurt!” she exclaimed, surging to her feet to grasp my forearm.
I glanced down and found her examining the angry red burn where Federico’s bullet had grazed my upper arm.
I didn’t feel any pain; despite my controlled mask, adrenaline churned through my system, the need for more violence setting my teeth on edge. I’d already destroyed the men who’d tried to take her from me. There was no one left to kill.
But my blood ran hot in my veins, and the concern for me that pinched her pretty, delicate features only fanned the flames. My beautiful wife had just been held at gunpoint, and instead of collapsing in tears, she was worried about me.
The icy mask I’d worn cracked, exploding as an inferno of emotion surged through me.
All the rage I’d felt at seeing her threatened rose up in a searing wave, mingling with the fear for her life that’d twisted my insides.
The fire morphed into a primal, possessive heat, and the need to stake my claim over her clamped my mind.
They’d tried to take my wife from me. But I wouldn’t let her go. Nora was mine.
I buried my bloody fingers in her silken hair and pulled her toward me, sealing her lips with a fierce kiss.
I didn’t caress or cajole her this time, not like I’d been treating her so carefully since the night I’d taken her virginity.
This was a fierce, animal dominance of my wife, my mate.
I fully unleashed myself on her, taking everything that I wanted.
She made a small sound of alarm at my sudden aggression, but I devoured it, my tongue surging into her mouth.
I stepped into her, forcing her to back up toward the mirrors. She still managed to maintain her gracefulness as I manhandled her, so breathtakingly beautiful that it incited a keen hunger I’d never known before.
I grabbed her slender wrists and pinned them to the mirror above her head.
My free hand groped at her breasts, palming them through her leotard.
Her nipples were peaked against the tight fabric, her body aroused despite the rough way I was handling her.
Or perhaps because of it. My Nora was so perfect for me.
And all mine.
She squirmed against me, her sex rubbing my thigh.
I wedged it between her legs, so she could stimulate her clit while I ravaged her mouth and tormented her breasts.
My cock was rock hard, pressing into her abs.
I had to bury myself inside her wet heat, had to claim her as deeply as possible.
I would mark her with my cum, a brand that would tell her exactly who owned her lovely body.
I released her wrists so that I could yank her leotard off, baring her small breasts to my rough caresses.
She shimmied it down her legs, breaking contact with my thigh in a wild attempt to remove the barriers between us.
She was just as caught up in this madness as I was, craving to connect.
The fear and violence had stripped away our civilized veneer, and we came together in a rush of primal need.
She fumbled at my belt, her small hands shaking as she stroked her tongue against mine, the kiss stealing her breath.
My head was spinning, too, so I tore my mouth from hers and grabbed her hips, turning her around so that she faced the mirror.
Her hands fisted around the barre, and I pulled her hips toward me, so that her lower back arched and her cunt was offered to me.
Her pretty tights were still in the way. I tore at the delicate material, the ripping sound harmonizing with the swelling music that still soared through the dance studio.
I shoved her panties aside and wrapped my free hand around her throat, holding her in place for my use.
Before I thrust inside her, our gazes locked in the mirror.
Her face was flushed, her hazel eyes wide but slightly glassy with lust. My hand was crimson against her tanned skin, the blood of my enemies smeared over her cheeks where I’d grabbed her jaw during our harsh kiss.
More blood splattered my own cheeks, arterial spray from where I’d slaughtered the men who’d tried to take her from me.
“Mine.” The snarled word echoed around us, thundering through the classical music as I drove into her wet heat in one brutal thrust.
She cried out, her willowy body rocking in my grip.
I firmed my fingers around her throat, restricting her ability to breathe.
She could do nothing to resist me, nothing to deny my claim over her entire being.
I controlled her body, her breath. I fucked her mercilessly, her tight channel squeezing me with velvet heat that made pleasure gather at the base of my spine.
I gritted my teeth and shoved it back. This wouldn’t end so quickly.
She released little whimpers with each of my harsh thrusts, squirming in my ruthless hands. I reached around her and ground my thumb against her clit, keeping a firm hold on her neck as I rubbed her in a rhythm that I’d learned she liked best.
She shattered on a scream, the ecstatic sound holding an edge of pain as I forced the orgasm from her helpless body.
Her inner walls contracted around me, squeezing my dick and triggering my own release.
I tipped back my head and released an animal roar, spilling my cum deep inside her, marking her.
My wife. My Nora.
“Mine.”