Chapter 48
BELLA
Buzz. Buzz.
Knox’s fancy hair-tie vibrates again.
I roll over quickly and face the wall. The black silk sheets sting the hell out of my bare skin as I yank them over my half-naked body. I’m just hoping and praying Luca is asleep and doesn’t feel the movement on my wrist.
“Izzy?” he says, his voice sluggish.
Shit, so much for that.
Luca scoots closer. He runs his calloused fingers under the silk and drags them over my shoulder. And because the man clearly doesn’t understand the word moisturize, they scratch.
After being paraded around in front of Luca’s sleazy friends for hours by the moonlit pool, the last guest finally left around midnight.
When we got to our room, he surprised me with an engagement present.
Well, presents really. The first one was a set of plane tickets.
We’re going back to Florence in two days.
Or so he thinks.
The second, Gucci’s newest line of designer bags. In all three color variations. Ellie would swoon over the complete set. I, however, plan on using them as fire starters to burn this damn house to the ground.
And because apparently Florence is the theme of our little engagement shitshow, the last present was a brand new red laced lingerie set.
He said it’s just like the one he got Izzy—who now I realize was totally Raina playing his dumbass—in you guessed it…
Florence. Complete with an insane amount of blood-red rose petals all over our bed.
Disgusting.
I tried pulling my usual I’m tired and not feeling well routine, but he insisted. Multiple fucking times.
I had no choice but to change into it. Although, with it being a special night he wanted to watch. In candlelight of course, because I’m sure the asshat thought it was romantic. He sauntered up behind me and unzipped the back of my dress at a glacial fucking pace before letting it hit the floor.
My blood was boiling so much I about jammed my eyeliner pencil into his jugular.
But I hesitated because Knox told me to wait for his signal.
Now, I’m getting the damn signal but I’m stuck tangled up in cold as fuck sheets with my psycho foster-uncle who’s dick is getting hard and jabbing into the base of my spine.
Luca’s lips brush my neck. “You alright, my love?”
What do you think dickhead?
My wrist vibrates again.
I know Knox!
“I’m fine, babe,” I force out, my eyes rolling. “I’m just—”
BANG! BANG!
Luca shoves upright. “What the hell?”
BANG!
“Finally,” I breathe. A jagged laugh rips from my throat as I reach for the nightstand.
“What did you say, Izzy?” he mumbles, his fingers dig into my hip as another shot ricochets through the house.
My fingers lock around the cool, red glass. “I was just saying…” I roll, swinging my body around to face him. The moonlight catches the lethal edge of the swan’s pointed beak. “That’s not my fucking name.”
“Izzy—”
I don’t let him finish. I put every ounce of my adrenaline into the arc and slam the glass into his temple. The force sends his head snapping to the side. Luca’s body goes limp, collapsing back into the pillows as a dark streak of red trickles down his cheek.
“My name,” I hiss, scrambling off of the bed. I rip the diamond ring off of my finger and hurl it at his unmoving body “Is Isabella Marie Blackwood-Russo. Remember it when you see your buddies in hell, you psycho.”
My bare feet slide on the hardwood. The cool air in the hallway sends goosebumps prickling over my skin. I hit the stairs at a sprint, my breath coming in shallow hitches. I swing around the banister at the bottom, aiming for the door, but the world jerks backwards.
Zeke’s swan falls from my grip as firm hands lock around my waist. A man yanks me off my feet and slams my spine into the rock-hard fabric of a bulletproof vest.
I suck in a breath and open my mouth to scream. But a tatted hand clamps over it, smelling like gunpowder.
“Shh, Iz,” a familiar voice vibrates against my ear. “It’s me.”
“Laing?” I sob against his palm, my fight collapsing all at once.
He slides his hand off my mouth and taps his comms. “Lex, I’ve got her.” He pauses, jaw tightening. “No, not yet… Left of the stairs.”
Laing turns me around cups my face with his hands. “You hurt?”
I shake my head, tears blurring everything. “N-not really.”
“She’s okay,” he tells Lex. “Yeah, yeah, I know.”
My hands won’t stop shaking. My knees neither.
Laing notices.
“Shit, Iz.” Laing undoes his vest and lets it fall to the ground. “You’re freezing,” he says, unbuttoning his shirt and yanking it off. He wraps it around me, dragging me into his warmth.
“IZZY!” Luca’s scream rips through the house. “Where are you?!”
My body locks as a jolt of electricity surges through my neck, rippling all the way through my extremities.
“Ahh!” I fold into Laing, my nails digging into his bare chest.
“Iz, what is it?”
I try to speak but all I can do is screech as the collar revs up again.
“Holy shit,” he grits, his hands shaking on my back. “I can feel it.”
He slams his comms. “Knox now!”
My legs give out. He catches me, hauling me up and forcing my legs to wrap around him as the lightning continues to flare through my body.
“I’ve got you,” Laing murmurs.
He doesn’t let me go. His grip stays firm no matter how hard I scream or shake in his arms.
“Knox hurry the fuck up!” he roars into his comms.
“IZZY!” Luca’s voice sounds from the top of the stairs. His footsteps pound, growing louder with each step as he nears the bottom.
Laing clamps his hands over my lips again to muffle my cries.
“Shh,” he whispers, his dark eyes blazing into mine. “I know it hurts, Iz. But you have to be quiet.”
I manage a shaky nod through the tears.
The band on my wrist vibrates twice and the pulses begin to dull.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
CLICK.
My breath nearly stops as the lock disengages. Laing’s too. He grips the collar and yanks it off my throat. I gasp, the phantom sting of the metal still lingering as the cool air hits my neck.
“Lex, he’s almost—” Laing starts but he’s cut off by a crash.
I flinch in his arms as the sound of a body slamming into the wall echoes throughout the house. Laing gently sets me down, steadying me as my legs finally stop trembling. He wraps his arm around my waist and guides me around the corner.
Lex is seething at Luca. He’s got him shoved up against the wall, his chest heaving and eyes blaring. One hand gripped around his throat, the other reared back and ready to bash Luca’s brains in.
Luca’s gaze shifts to me. “I-Izzy,” he chokes out. “Don’t let him hurt me, my love.”
Lex yanks Luca’s head forward and then slams it back into the wall. Drywall cracks under the impact, sending a puff of white into the air between them.
“Don’t you fucking talk to her!”
I try to step out of Laing’s grip, but he pulls me back in.
“Don’t,” Laing warns. “He needs this.”
I don’t fight him.
Laing glances up and nods toward Lex. “Let him have it.”
Lex slams his fist into Luca’s cheek.
Again.
And again.
A few more vicious punches and Luca’s face is practically unrecognizable. His left eye is swollen shut, cheek bone split, and blood is pouring out of his shattered nose.
“Lex,” I whisper.
Lex stops seething long enough to look over his shoulder at me. The air is ripped out of my lungs when his icy-blues I’ve missed more than anything find mine and widen.
“Malyshka,” he breathes.
Tears slip down my cheeks, but I don’t look away. “Make him pay, baby.”
That feral grin of his stretches across his face. He slowly turns back to Luca and shrugs. “You heard her.”
With a sudden, violent snap, Lex rips him off the wall by his throat. He drives him downward into the coffee table with bone-shattering strength. The wood explodes under his weight, sending a thick mahogany spear straight through Luca’s abdomen. The bloody wood pinning him to the wreckage.
Luca gasps, choking as Lex follows him down and straddles him. Their combined weight shatters what’s left of the table. Lex’s fist rain down in a blur. I hear the brutal, wet snaps and cracks as he destroys what’s left of Luca’s face.
Lex reaches toward his thigh, pulling a curved blade from his pocket. Steel flashes in his hand before he plunges it deep into the soft hollow of Luca’s throat. Luca’s mouth opens—a silent plea for air—as blood bubbles past his lips.
Lex leans in close. “She’s mine,” he seethes.
Luca’s body jerks as the light finally drains from his emerald eyes.
“Always fucking will be,” Lex grits.
Laing taps his comms, his grip loosening on my waist. “All clear, Knox.”
Lex rises, Luca’s blood staining his hands and spotting his cheeks. He closes the distance between us in two uneven strides before his hands are on me. He yanks me out of Laing’s grasp, pulling me into his chest as his arms cinch around my waist.
“Lex,” I breathe, tears running down my cheeks.
“I’ve got you, malyshka,” he murmurs into my temple. “I’ve fucking got you.”