Chapter 7
Nora
“Did you save Giana from my father?” I asked as soon as Dante stepped into the bedroom, my heart leaping into my throat.
I turned my face away from the final bite of mashed potatoes that Luca offered me. I hadn’t objected to him helping me eat my dinner, but now that Dante had returned, my stomach knotted too tightly to take another bite.
His beautiful features pinched in a scowl, and his dark curls tumbled over his brow as he shook his head. “Your father’s home in the city is deserted. He must’ve decided to go into hiding when he realized I survived the assault on the Russians to rescue you.”
The mention of the Bratva made each of the bruises on my body flare with pain, and for an awful moment, their sick laughter echoed through my aching head.
Luca’s arms were warm and strong around me. “You’re safe,” he promised. “I’ve got you, Nora. Stay here with me.”
I blinked hard, willing the stinging tears to clear from my vision before their leering faces could coalesce before me in an echo of the nightmare.
Between the drugs and Luca’s steady presence, I’d been able to keep the worst of the traumatic memories at bay.
Now they threatened to overwhelm me, but I gritted my teeth and shoved them back.
Giana’s life was on the line, and I didn’t have time to linger in my own remembered agony.
Dante’s scowl swam back into focus. His shockingly green eyes glittered as he watched Luca’s hands rove over my body, imbuing me with his warmth.
“Do you know where your father might have taken Giana?” he asked through gritted teeth. Something like pain tightened his jaw, as though he was fighting against some unseen strain.
I wracked my brain. “Did you raid Giuseppe’s beach house?”
Even as I asked it, I knew my father would never go somewhere so obvious. He would know that Dante had me once again, and he wouldn’t hide out somewhere I might be familiar with.
Dante shook his head, confirming my suspicions. “He’s not there, either. Any other ideas?”
I bit my lip, wishing I knew what to say, something that might help save my sister.
“Would any of your father’s associates betray him? Who is the weakest?” Dante pressed. “Give me names, and I’ll hunt them down. I won’t ask nicely for Giuseppe’s location. I can make a man talk.”
A memory stirred, dangerously close to the trauma I’d endured. Instinct warned me to flinch away from it, but deep in my gut, I knew that the answer was at the edge of my consciousness.
“Giana didn’t come alone when she helped me escape your estate.” My voice was too weak, but I managed to say the words.
Dante’s lips twisted when I said escape, but I couldn’t focus on his displeasure. My sister was more important.
“Antonio Di Mauro,” I continued. “He smuggled her in and then drove us to my father’s house.”
“I’ll find him,” Dante vowed darkly. “And I’ll make him scream.”
“No, wait,” I said quickly. “I think he cares about Giana. Or at least, he wants her.” I remembered the hungry way he’d watched her. “He might help you save her. You could use him to get her out. Don’t torture him.”
Dante’s jaw ticked. “Fine. I’ll torture him after we save your sister. He gave you to the Russians. He’ll pay for that with his blood.”
He took a breath and schooled his features to something less feral. “I’ll find Antonio, and he will help me rescue Giana, one way or another.”
“I can help,” Luca rumbled, a primal edge to his voice. “I’ll hunt him down.”
Dante’s eyes turned ice cold. “Your job is to take care of Nora. Or do you not care about protecting the woman you love?” He spat the words, and I stopped breathing.
Did Luca truly love me? He’d never said the words, even though I’d declared my love for him. My heart ached, and my stomach churned. I wanted so desperately to hear him say it that I felt sick with anticipation.
“You haven’t told her yet.” Dante’s tone was frigid with disdain for my husband. “Stupid son of a bitch. You can’t give her what she needs, and yet, she loves you.”
Luca’s corded muscles flexed around me, and he scowled at Dante. “How I feel about my wife is none of your fucking business.”
I looked up into his eyes, searching. For a terrible moment, I was swept up in the fierce loathing that darkened their ochre depths. There was no affection there, no warmth. Only hatred.
“You don’t have to say it,” I whispered, my heart clenching.
He’d kissed me, but maybe he couldn’t love me after what the Russians had done to me. My skin felt like it was caked in dirt, and my blood turned toxic in my veins. They’d defiled me, and now my husband might never feel the same way about me as I did about him.
His eyes focused on me, and his lips twisted with something like regret. “I love you, Nora.” Even though he rasped out the words, he spoke with the weight of an oath. “I don’t deserve you, but I love you.”
“No, you don’t deserve her,” Dante growled and stormed toward us before I could draw breath to respond.
His body swelled with fury, but his hand was gentle when he captured mine and lifted it to his lips for a featherlight kiss.
“I’ll always take care of you, no matter what it costs me. I’m your husband.”
A protest that he wasn’t truly my husband teased at the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it down. Dante looked… He was too volatile to ever call him vulnerable, but he was particularly on edge at the moment.
Luca was my real husband, the man I loved.
But Dante had risked his life to save me from the Russians.
Before that, he’d taken a bullet for me.
And he’d spared Luca when I’d pleaded for him to show mercy.
Luca had tried to kill him, but my declaration of love had stayed Dante’s hand and stopped him from retaliating.
You can trust me. I’ll prove it to you. Dante had once promised me that he would win me with actions rather than empty words. I’d thought he was insane to think that he could ever win so much a shred of affection from me. But now…
He could’ve simply killed Luca and eliminated his rival for good.
Instead, he allowed his sworn enemy to hold me, even though I could see that the sight of our intimacy enraged him.
He was jealous and possessive, but he was sharing me with Luca because I needed my husband.
I needed the man I loved to caress me and promise me that I was safe.
Dante gently squeezed my hand before reluctantly releasing it. “I’ll draw you a bath, pet. Take your medicine and relax.” The last was accompanied by a warning look at Luca.
To my surprise, Luca gave him a sharp nod of agreement. I’d expected him to bristle, but he simply turned his attention to the bottle of painkillers on the nightstand. He pressed a single pill into my hand.
“It’ll just take the edge off,” he promised. “You won’t fall asleep again until you’re ready.”
I heard the bath running in the next room as I obediently took the pill.
Despite the fact that I was barely drugged, everything seemed slightly surreal.
Dante and Luca were putting aside their feud to care for me.
For so long, they’d fought over me like I was their favorite toy. Or worse, their property.
But now, they were suppressing their mutual loathing to see to my comfort and safety.
After everything my husband had suffered at the Devil’s hands, he was swallowing his pride for my sake.
He was no longer trying to fight Dante or vowing to kill him.
Instead, they both seemed completely focused on me.
Even Dante seemed more intent on saving my sister than subjugating Luca and taking control of the organization.
“Come here,” Dante commanded, his deep voice echoing slightly in the bathroom.
I expected Luca to tense at being ordered around by our captor, but he simply gathered me up in his arms and carried me to where Dante waited for us beside the massive tub.
Dante’s eyes glinted as he issued another command to Luca. “Get undressed. You’re going to hold her.”
A low growl rumbled from my husband. He chafed at the imbalance of power, the reminder that he had to do as Dante said, or his friends would suffer.
But Luca didn’t hesitate to carefully set me on my feet so that he could strip. It seemed he cared more about me than he did about the wound to his pride.
“I love you,” I told him, imbuing the words with the depth of my gratitude for all that he was sacrificing for me.
Dante’s big hands bracketed my waist, supporting me as he pressed his chest against my back.
Luca stepped out of his sweatpants and returned to me, caressing my cheek. He didn’t try to rip me away from Dante. Instead, he handled me as though I was made of glass. His nakedness didn’t frighten me, despite what I’d endured. He was my husband, the man I loved, and I could never fear him.
Even Dante’s steady heat at my back was comforting. Their strength surrounded me, shielding me. No one could get to me while I was in their arms, under their protection.
Luca stared down into my eyes, peering straight into my soul. “I love you too.”
I released a heavy sigh, the last of the tension easing from my muscles.
My husband loved me, and I was safe.
“Take off her robe.” It sounded as though Dante issued the order through gritted teeth, but I couldn’t look away from Luca’s intense gaze to study his face.
“You can leave,” Luca told him without taking his eyes off mine, tone hostile. “We don’t need you in here.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Dante hissed. “My wife needs me.”
“She’s not your wife! Nora is mine.” His blazing gaze snapped to his enemy, fixing him with a glower. I gasped at the loss of connection, but the men were too caught up in their argument to notice.
“You are only here for her sake,” Dante warned. “You will remain here for her sake. What I do to your friends is another matter entirely.”