Chapter 79
ALEX
I rolled back and forth on a hard surface, struggling to break free from the ties binding my arms behind my back. The restraints were nothing compared to the handcuffs and other creative methods Luca had used to restrain me during sex. I knew how to handle pain, something Luca had taught me well.
A cloth that smelled like smoke covered my mouth. The scent was so overpowering that it made my stomach churn, creating a nasty taste in my throat. I only had myself to blame. But I had to know if my brother was alive. Aiden and Luca had betrayed me.
Why had they gone to great lengths to make Aiden vanish from existence? Their lies sent me over the edge, seconds from diving headfirst off a cliff of destruction. And for what? So they could play a game with me? Hadn’t Luca fucked with my head enough over the years?
Luca did nothing without a reason. And my brother hated Luca with a passion. So, there had to be a legitimate reason for their betrayal. But that fact didn’t make it hurt any less.
Blinking a few times, I refocused and saw nothing but black. We were moving. The space was dark and cramped.
A trunk, maybe?
They must have driven me from the van to another vehicle after I passed out from the drugs they pumped into my system.
A searing pain shot through my skull, my head pounding like a jackhammer drilling into concrete. Waves of nausea washed over me every time I rocked from side to side. My shoulder hurt, but the adrenaline shooting through my veins helped to dull it.
Pain is weakness leaving the body .
As I let Luca’s words wash over me, I thought of his rough touch and his strong hands that had brought me to the brink of insanity for years.
Being with a man like Luca had prepared me for other dangerous men.
The only difference was that those men didn’t love me like Luca did.
None of them would risk their life for me.
They want to kill you .
I said a silent prayer that Luca would never stop searching for me until all of my captors were dead.
When the car stopped, I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep.
I had no way of freeing myself from the restraints.
The trunk opened, and the scent of saltwater penetrated my senses.
Waves crashed from a distance, though I doubted we were still in Devil’s Creek.
I smelled the ocean. The waves were louder and more aggressive than the bay, like a storm was coming.
One man reached into the trunk, dug his fingernails into my skin, and lifted me over his shoulder.
He held me against his hard chest and smacked my ass.
I ignored the pain that shot up my leg and pretended to sleep.
We moved closer to the crashing waves. From what I could tell, we were at a marina.
Fishing boats and yachts surrounded a large pier.
My heart slammed into my chest, fear taking over. If we were traveling by water, how would Luca find me?
Tears stung my eyes as he dropped me on the ground like I was a bag of garbage. I groaned as my shoulder hit the wooden planks, overcome by an intense pain that traveled up and down to my lower back, settling into my bones. The handkerchief muffled my cries.
“She’s awake,” one man said with a thick European accent I could not place.
Another man’s laughter filled the air. “I can’t wait to break this one in.”
“Keep it below the neck,” another man said. “The auction is in three days.”
My heart clambered out of my chest, beating so hard and fast that my head spun. I struggled to catch my breath with the cloth over my mouth. The nasty smell did not help.
A million horrible thoughts raced through my head as a boat approached the pier. Luca had once told me how much he hated working with human traffickers and that sometimes it was necessary to work with the underbelly of the criminal world to get shit done.
They were going to sell me at Il Circo . Luca had mentioned the online auction. But I knew he would stop his enemies from listing me for sale. Maybe I should have listened to him, stayed in my damn room. I shouldn’t have drugged Marcello and rendered him useless.
A phone ringing cut through the noise of the boat’s engine. The man beside me raised the phone to his ear, his voice husky and with what sounded like a New York accent. Who the hell were these people? They spoke with different accents, though they all had the same dark hair and olive complexion.
“Ten million?”
A beat passed where he listened, muttered a few words in another language, and then hung up.
“Put her back in the trunk,” he said to a burly man behind me.
The other man didn’t respond, only followed orders. He lifted me in his arms, the woodsy smell of his cologne burning my nostrils. When I closed my eyes, I listened to the waves.
Luca loved the sea. Every night, he drank scotch on his bedroom balcony. The sound, the smell, everything about the sea reminded me of my handsome devil.
As the man dropped me into the trunk, I closed my eyes and envisioned my Knights coming to my rescue. Someone slammed their hand into my shoulder and rolled me to the side. A needle jammed into my neck. By the time I counted to five, I lost my will to fight.