Chapter 31
CADE
Fayetteville, Arkansas
“Come here,” Luca rasps, dragging Bella closer to him.
The camera glitches for a half a second when she moves. Pixels drag behind her like a smear of wet blue paint.
She peers over her shoulder, quickly glancing at someone out of frame.
“Who’s she looking at?” I whisper, though I fear I already know.
“Money’s on Zeke,” Lex mutters, jaw tight enough to crack his enamel.
The music rolls in. The deep sub-bass vibrates through the speakers and seeps into the quiet bones of the lakehouse. Through the shiplap walls. Even through the marble countertops where mint chocolate chip used to drip from Bella’s cones when she was a little girl.
Bella lowers herself onto Luca’s lap. One knee on either side of him. Straddling the devil like it’s choreography. My hand tightens around the paintbrush, wood creaking between my fingers as her hips start to move.
Luca’s hands climb her thighs, easing her skirt back with every thump of the bass. Lex makes a strangled sound beside me when he squeezes her ass.
Bella tilts her head back slightly, giving the monster access to her throat as she grinds deeper on him. Her hips rolling in smooth, long passes.
For one sick moment, my brain frames it. A disgusting composition of pain and submission. The contrast of the blue and gold fabric against her pale skin. His hand a dark line at her waist.
I hate that I see it that way.
Luca’s mouth drags along her neck. Tongue darting out once. Twice.
My grip slips.
“Fuck,” I mutter as paint streaks across the edge of the canvas I never meant to touch.
He pulls back suddenly and looks directly into the lens. Directly at me.
“Cade,” he says conversationally. “It seems to me like you might need a little more inspiration. Something to get those creative juices flowing.”
He winks at the camera before crashing his lips into Bella’s. One arm wrapped around her waist locking her in place. The other hand tightly gripped around the back of her neck.
“That bastard!” Lex roars.
Bella grunts and shoves her arms up between them, wrenching their mouths apart. She falls backwards off of his lap, her back slamming into the hardwood below.
She shoots her eyes to the camera. “Cade! Babe, we’re in D—AHHH!!!”
Her scream rips through the speakers, drowning out the thumping bass. Bella’s body convulses at Luca’s feet, nails digging into the collar. Blue and gold fabric twitching against the floor.
Luca looms over her, glaring and holding what must be the remote for the collar. He lowers himself down over her shaking body.
“Looks like my little niece wants to come out and play,” he snaps, burying his boot in her stomach.
She whimpers as he violently yanks her upright by her ponytail.
Lex loses all sense of restraint, screaming threats in Russian at a screen that doesn’t care.
“Leave her alone you bastard!” Zeke launches at Luca, but drops before he can reach her. He collapses to his knees, fingers grasping at his throat. Coughing and spitting curses that barely make it past his lips as his collar flares a neon red.
“Be with you in a minute, Z,” Luca chuckles, fingers never loosening from Bella’s onyx strands.
He lifts Bella by the hair until she’s barely balanced on her toes.
“Bella, Bella,” he seethes.
She tries to speak, but all that comes out are shattered cries and screeches as her eyes fill to the brim with tears.
“Just how long have you been in there?” he asks with a tilt of his head.
“P-please,” she chokes, nails clawing at his arm. “S-s-stop.”
Luca tosses her aside, sending her body toppling to the floor. Her scream rips through the speakers when her back slams into the leg of the chair.
For a moment, no one moves. The music still pulses in the background. Zeke is still on his knees, shaking and trying to breathe through each electrical shock pulsing through his neck.
Luca straightens, smoothing his shirt like he just finished hosting a dinner party with friends. He turns his head toward the camera slightly, his expression eerily calm.
“Forgive the intrusion, boys,” he says lightly. “Family disagreements.”
He strides over to Bella’s body slumped at the base of the chair. Crouching down, he tilts her chin up so her tear streaked face is visible on screen. Her steel eyes are glassy, red, and dazed.
“She forgets herself sometimes,” he murmurs, brushing his thumb reverently across her cheek. “Don’t you, my sweet Izzy?”
Bella’s eyes widen. Her head nods too fast, too desperate. The collar around her neck finally stops glowing. The absence of the shock sending her falling back in relief. Luca catches her and pulls her in tight against his chest, cradling her like one would a sick or wounded child.
“I’m sorry,” she sobs into his shirt.
“Shhh,” he coos, smiling as he runs his fingers through her hair. “You’re alright. I’ve got you, my love. I’m sorry I had to hurt you.” His lips brush her sweat-slicked forehead. “Forgive me?”
She nods, flinching slightly at his touch.
His emerald eyes never leave Bella as he lifts the remote toward Zeke and clicks. The glow around his neck fades. Zeke collapses face-first onto the ground, breathing heavy.
Luca’s sick smile widens as he glances back toward the camera. “I think we’ll pause this masterpiece for now, Cade,” he says, looking straight at me. “This family needs a little quality time together.”
He holds up the remote once more. Bella’s tear-stained eyes flick to the camera, just once.
And then they’re gone.