Chapter 43
LEX
Roman Russo’s Estate - Appia Antica, Italy
Ready to get this fucking show on the road.
Cade pants breathlessly and doesn’t even try to hide the grin in his voice as I grind against the curve of his ass.
“Seriously, babe,” he rasps, skin slick under my palms. “How the fuck do you get so hard so fast?”
A low laugh vibrates out of me.
“That’s what you two do to me,” I growl, biting down on his shoulder. I glide my fingers between us to circle his rim. “You want me calm, then you better stop being so fucking beautiful.”
Cade hisses as I slide a soaked finger inside him. His spine arches back, slamming his warmth into my chest. At that exact moment, thunder rattles the glass.
“That’s weird,” I mutter, slowly pulling away. “Thought the storm already passed.”
Cade shrugs and shoves his ass back.
“Aren’t we greedy tonight, babe?” I chuckle, sliding in another finger.
“Mmmmfuck,” Cade moans. “Don’t stop.”
He bites his lip and looks down at our girl on her knees in front of him, choking on his cock.
“Neither of you,” he adds, running a finger down her cheek.
She hums, the sound muffled by the weight of Cade on her tongue.
A sudden, freezing draft cuts through the steam that makes the hair on my neck stand at attention. The water hitting my shoulders turns from a simmer to an icy needle-prick in a split second.
“The fuck?” I say, my muscles locking. “Did you feel that?”
Cade tilts his head back, hazel eyes glazed with want. “Feel what?”
The heat rushes back to life as if it never left.
“Nothing… never mind.”
Bella pulls back from Cade for half a breath, her hand replacing her mouth as she strokes him in a tortuously slow rhythm.
“You ready for him, sweetheart?” she teases, winking up at us.
A wrecked moan leaves Cade’s throat as he nods. I don’t give him time to brace. I thrust inside him and sink into that familiar warmth that shuts out the rest of the damn world. I drag out every motion, the pressure in my balls building until my vision darkens.
For a heartbeat, the world glitches. Dark red streaks begin to flow down the tiles like melting wax. I blink hard and it returns to normal. I keep pounding into him, desperate to drown out the roar building in my chest.
“You feel that, Cade?” I say, snapping my hips forward. “That’s what it means to be ours. Every inch of me, inside you, inside her. That’s what we are. One.”
“God, Lex,” Cade moans as he slams his head back against my shoulder.
“Now, now, Lexie,” Luca’s oily voice fills my head. “That’s where you’re wrong. It’s every inch of me, inside her now. That’s what we are. One.”
“What the?” I grit my teeth, pulse racing in my chest. “Did you hear that?”
Cade shakes his head, looking back at me with concern. “You okay, babe?”
“Yeah,” I whisper. “I’m fine.”
I lean in to kiss the side of his neck, but my lips hit something cold. Something hard. The metallic tang of copper fills my mouth.
I pull back.
And my heart fucking stops.
A heavy black-and-white collar is cinched tight around his throat, cutting into his skin.
“No,” I whisper, my hips faltering. “What the hell is this?”
“What?” Cade asks. His voice is muffled like he’s speaking through a thick layer of glass. “Lex, what’s wrong?”
“This can’t be happening.”
I look down at Bella. A matching collar is locked around her neck, glowing a bright neon-red. A buzzing sound begins vibrating through the floor. Bella screams—a jagged, horrific sound—as her hands fall away from Cade and splash into the wet tiles.
Luca’s voice bounces off the glass, mocking me.
“You touched her once and called it fate,
But I’ll be the one to detonate.
She wears my collar. Bears my name.
So go home, Lexie. You’ve lost the flame.”
The water at our feet begins to burn at a rapid boil that singes my skin. I see the blue snap of electricity arching through the puddles and climbing up her legs like glowing snakes.
“Bella!” Cade screams. He reaches for her, but his own collar lets out a high-pitched and frantic beep. His gaze snaps to me, eyes blown wide with betrayal. “Lex, what did you do?!”
“I-I didn’t!” I cry, shaking so hard I can barely stand. The red on the glass is back. Thick sheets of blood washing away the steam.
I reach down to grab Bella to pull her out of the current, but she swats me away.
“Get away from me!” she shrieks. “This is your fault!”
“Malyshka, no, please—”
“Don’t fucking touch her!” Cade lunges, his hands hitting my chest with a force that shouldn’t be human.
I’m thrown backward, soaring through the air until I hit the shower door. The glass shatters into a billion tiny shards, each one reflecting Luca’s emerald eyes.
“You played the game, lost the piece. Now the board belongs to—”
I jolt awake, gasping for air. My skin is slick with sweat. My heart is beating out of my fucking chest. And for a second, I can still taste the metal of those damn collars in my mouth.
I reach for my phone. The screen burns my eyes.
2:22 in the morning.
“Fuck,” I mutter, rubbing the sweat from my eyes.
“Lex?” Cade whispers, pushing up on his elbow. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I say, my voice tight. “It’s nothing just… just go back to sleep.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, just thirsty,” I force out the lie. “I’m gonna go get a drink. I’ll be right back.”
He yawns, stretching his back. “Don’t be long.”
“I won’t.” I lean over and press a kiss to his forehead before stepping out of the room.
The cold marble tile stings my bare feet as I step into the kitchen. I flick on the light and see a flash of black silk as someone flinches.
“Shit,” I bark, damn near pissing my pants. “Sorry, I didn’t think anyone was down here.”
Luciana recovers fast. She’s leaning against the bar, a messy bun piled on her head and a steaming mug between her palms.
“It’s alright,” she says, offering a gentle smile. “Didn’t mean to scare you either.”
“I was just…” I rub the back of my neck, feeling like an idiot. “Hell, I don’t even know.”
“You want some tea?” she asks, already reaching for another mug.
I hesitate and then step up to the counter. “Sure.”
She slides the ceramic toward me. The heat against my hands soothes my nerves.
“Sit,” she whispers. “You look like you need to talk.”
“I’m fine.”
“Bullshit,” she deadpans.
I huff a dry laugh. “What?”
She shrugs. “I know a troubled soul when I see one.”
“A troubled—” I shake my head. “That obvious?”
“Very.”
Luciana takes a slow sip, studying me over the rim for a moment before opening her mouth. “Did you or did you not just wake up from a terrible nightmare?”
I gape at her. “How’d you guess?”
“You have the same weary eyes Rome gets,” she answers with a shrug. “Ever since Izzy died, he wakes up drenched. Drowning in it and calling out for a woman who isn’t there.”
My chest tightens. “Roman gets nightmares?”
“He’s a man, Lex. Not a machine.” She sets the mug down with a soft clink. “So you want to talk about your nightmare?”
“Not really,” I huff.
“Fair enough,” she chuckles.
I look at her, a totally different question burning in my mind.
“What is it?” she says, brushing a loose strand behind her ear.
“How does all this work?” I ask, already regretting it. “You, him. Izzy. I’ve never met anyone who just accepted a deal like that.”
She doesn’t flinch. “You mean someone who didn’t choose their partner?”
I nod.
“It was hard,” she says plainly. “We were strangers at first. He was obsessed with another woman and finding out about the baby… it felt like a twist of the knife.” She traces the rim of her mug, her expression distant.
“But we made it work. Better than most people in our situation. Over time, we became close.”
“Close?” I ask, my brow raised.
“Closer than either of us had ever expected. I even had my father’s men help him look for Bella when she was a baby.”
I blink. “You helped him look?”
“Wasn’t the child’s fault.” Her hand drifts to her stomach, resting there for a second. She catches my gaze and yanks it back.
“When I was sixteen, I was in a terrible car accident. Hours of surgery saved my life, but it left me…” She exhales, blinking fast to fight the moisture in her eyes. “It left me empty. Left me unable to ever have a child of my own. ”
I suck in a breath.
“Heirs matter in our world as I’m sure your mother has informed you,” she continues, her voice growing cold.
I nod slowly, clearing the sudden tightness in my throat.
“I couldn’t let Roman’s only bloodline disappear because I was hurting,” she finishes, swiping a tear from her eye.
There’s a beat of awkward silence between us. I have no clue what the hell to say to that so I grab the only lifeline she threw at me.
“Speaking of Mom.”
A small, broken laugh escapes her. “Your mother and I never saw eye to eye.”
“Figured,” I say jokingly. “Ice Queen isn’t exactly a term of endearment.”
“Sorry,” she says. “Didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”
“Nah.” I feel a genuine grin tugging at my mouth. “It’s hilarious. Hell, we’ve all called her worse. Cade’s sister calls her the Ice Bitch Witch of Moscow.”
Luciana snorts. “Sorry.”
“I love my mom, don’t get me wrong. But she can be a raging bitch when she wants to be.”
“Still.” She grins back. “I probably shouldn’t have said it.”
We sit there for a moment, just drinking.
“You should get some sleep,” she says, setting her mug into the sink. “We both should.”