The heavy door pushed open and clanged hard against the cement wall. Jerking toward the sound, I stared wide-eyed at the red-draped figure wearing a gold mask as he moved into the room.
My breath caught. The figure didn’t speak, just stepped into the room and stopped three feet in front of the door as he stared at me, blocking my one chance for freedom.
A chill rushed down my spine. The Grande Cavaliere—known for wearing red at the rituals—was the one I’d watched fuck that beta slave among the trees in Tuscany on my first trip to Italy. He was the one who’d overseen Luc’s lashing. He was the one, I remembered from my conversation with Luc in the South Pacific, who’d ordered the gang rape and murder of Vittoria, that girl Luc had tried to help escape the nightmare of this House twelve years before.
I swallowed hard. Luc had told me to stay away from the Grande Cavaliere, had said that he was the epitome of evil. And as the man stared at me with those soulless eyes, I felt the truth of that in my bones.
There was no light in his eyes. Unlike Luc’s father, who was cold but still human, this man was nothing but malevolence and hatred and darkness. The kind of darkness that blackens the souls of serial killers and terrorists and mass murderers.
Instinctively, I stepped back, until my shaking hand brushed the cold wall. If he came at me, I wouldn’t be able to hold him off for long. He outweighed me by over a hundred pounds. But I’d fight with every last breath if he did.
Long minutes passed in an eerie silence where he only glared at me with those soulless eyes. And then, just about the time I was ready to scream, he turned and stepped back, leaving a clear path to the open door.
My pulse jumped. I looked from him to the open door. The hallway was dimly lit, but I couldn’t tell if anyone else was out there. I wasn’t sure what kind of trap they were springing. I only knew this was my chance to run. And if I didn’t try, I might never see Luc again.
My muscles contracted before I decided what to do. And then I was running, past the figure in red and through the doorway.
The hallway was empty. I looked right. The corridor ended thirty feet away at a steel door. Left took me back to the library and the stairs, probably to Luc. I turned that way, only to draw up short.
Three men in black with those hideous white masks blocked my path. One by one, they lifted their arms and pointed the other direction.
I was in some kind of horror movie. My pulse roared in my ears as I stumbled back, then turned and raced the other direction, not knowing what kind of cat-and-mouse game they were playing.
Reaching the steel door at the other end of the hallway, I shoved hard and glanced over my shoulder. The Grande Cavaliere stepped out of my cell and watched me with beady eyes. Then, as a group, all four began striding toward me.
Fuck this.
“Go back to hell,” I screamed, shoving my shoulder into the steel as hard as I could.
The door gave with a hiss. Bright light blinded me. Gasping, I stumbled into fresh air and daylight.
Hands closed over me and pulled. I screamed and tried to jerk back.
“Natalie! It’s me. It’s Felicity.”
I staggered. Blinked hard as the door snapped closed behind me. Tried to see.
Vaguely, I realized I was standing on some kind of walkway and that Felicity, Marco’s girlfriend, was holding me upright.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you,” she said with her slight British accent, her pale green eyes very focused, her auburn hair tied back in a neat ponytail, catching the bright light. “But we don’t have a lot of time. Come on.”
She turned and urged me to move with her. I shielded my eyes and slowly became aware of towering trees, fountains, and the sound of a running engine.
“Here.” Felicity drew me to a stop next to a black sedan and pulled the passenger door open. “Get in. Hurry.”
The door slammed, then footsteps echoed, and another door opened. “We have to get out of here.” Felicity shoved the car into Drive and jerked the vehicle away from the walkway.
I wasn’t sure what was happening. My pulse was still in the triple digits and I was fighting just to keep breathing. But one thing registered. I was free of that nightmare. I was safe. But Luc wasn’t.
“No.” I reached for the door handle and pulled, only the door didn’t open.
Trapped by something across my waist and chest, I struggled and realized I was being held down by a seat belt. One Felicity must have tightened for me.
“I can’t leave. We have to go back.” I hit the button at my hip, freeing me from the restraint, and reached for the door handle again, willing to throw myself out of this car if I had to. “We can’t leave Luc. You don’t know what they did. They—”
“Natalie. Stop!” Felicity’s hand closed over my arm, pulling me back from the door hard as she struggled with me and tried to drive. “He’s not there. They let him go already. Marco has him.”
Everything came to a screeching stop in my brain.
I twisted back to Felicity and stared at her. Dark, ratty curls whipped in front of my eyes, blocking my vision, but I didn’t care. I was too afraid to believe what she’d just said was true. “Marco has him? Are you sure?”
“Yes. And if you stop fighting me, I’ll take you to him.”
“Please.” Tears filled my eyes. Tears that made everything fuzzy and slipped past my lashes. Tears I didn’t even try to hold back. “Please tell me he’s okay.”
Felicity let go of me, pushed a lock of hair back from her face, and focused on the road, but her jaw clenched, and her features tightened. “I’m not going to lie to you. He’s not good.”
“Oh God...”
I closed my eyes and leaned forward, rocking slowly to keep from getting sick all over again. “Oh God...”
“Hey. Look at me, Natalie. I need you to hold it together. Luc needs you to hold it together. He’s going to get through this, but he won’t be able to do it without you. Do you remember our conversation in the kitchen yesterday? Natalie, focus. What did I tell you yesterday?”
I swallowed hard and forced my eyes open, fighting to recall our conversation in her kitchen only hours ago when we’d been waiting for Marco and Luc to return with Dante. “Y-you said that if things went to shit, th-that I’d be the only one who could keep him grounded.”
“And that hasn’t changed. Physically, Luc is going to heal from this, but mentally—emotionally—it could break him. I’m counting on you to make sure that doesn’t happen. We’re all counting on that, Natalie. You know how important Luc is.”
Nausea swirled in my stomach as I looked out at the passing scenery through watery vision, barely seeing the rolling Tuscan hills.
She was talking about Luc’s future with his House. He was the heir, destined to one day take his father’s place as the Grand Duke. And when he did, Felicity and Marco and hundreds of others in hiding were hopeful they could rise up against the evil Knights and overthrow the entire dynasty.
“He doesn’t care about any of that,” I said, throat thick. “And neither do I.”
“I know you don’t right now, and I don’t blame you. But if Luc breaks, you’re going to lose him too. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”
Oh God... I swallowed back a sob and shook my head.
“Then I need to you to get yourself together before we see him. Natalie, they made sure you were there for a reason. They wanted him to know you saw it all. He’s going to be racked with guilt about that. You can’t let him wallow in it. You have to be his strength now.”
“Fee, they...” I wrapped my arms around my waist and fought back the nausea and misery. “They raped him. Like it was nothing. And his parents were standing right there. Watching.” Bile pushed up my throat all over again. “Directing it.”
“I know.” Her warm hand closed over mine against my thigh. “They’re sick people, Natalie. But Luc isn’t like them.”
“I know he’s not.”
“No matter what happens, make him bel
ieve that.”
We pulled onto a small airfield. I blinked and sat up straighter.
“What’s going on?” I asked as she bypassed the parking lot and pulled around behind the main building.
“Something we could get in big trouble for. We’re getting Luc out of here, which is why we have to hurry. The Knights agreed to release Luc into Marco’s care, but once they realize we didn’t head back to the villa, they’ll be searching for us.”
She slowed behind a large black SUV parked not far from a private jet, its engines already running. As we rolled to a stop, I spotted Marco’s familiar dark hair and broad shoulders as he rushed down the jet’s stairs. Behind him, a man who looked to be a pilot followed. They both raced to the back of the SUV.
“Oh God,” I whispered as they opened the back double doors and reached inside.
“Breathe,” Felicity said, shoving the car into Park and reaching for her door. “You’re no help to him if you lose your shit right now.”
Felicity climbed out and rushed to the back of the SUV.
Swallowing hard, I reached for my own door handle and popped the lever, but I felt as if I was moving in slow motion as I climbed out. Felt I was in a nightmarish dream I had to soon wake from.
Wind whipped my unruly hair around my face as I closed the car door. Marco and the pilot slowly pulled Luc out of the back of the vehicle.
I held my breath, unable to move, unable to help. He was wearing nothing but loose gray sweatpants riding low on his hips. No shirt, no shoes, no socks. His dark hair was damp, his muscular body limp, his limbs not seeming to work. His head hung forward as each man slung an arm over their shoulders and supported his weight. And the groan that echoed my direction was laced with a pain I felt deep in my own bones.
My heart pounded hard as they carried him toward the jet. I turned to follow, desperate to touch him and see for myself he was breathing. Then I saw his back—the skin broken open in long red strips, swollen, oozing, bleeding—and all that sickness I’d been holding back surged right up my throat.
“Oh fuck....” I jerked forward, braced my hands on my knees, and gagged, dry heaving because there was nothing left in my stomach.
Something warm wrapped my arm, tugging me up. Before I knew what was happening, I was being pulled forward.
“Breathe, Natalie. One step at a time.” Dazed, I glanced to my right, where Felicity was pulling me with her toward the plane, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. “We don’t have time to waste. You can do this.”
I wasn’t sure how. I could barely think. Didn’t know where I was. The world spun around me. All I could see were those oozing cuts on Luc’s back. All I could hear were his groans of pain mixed with the high-pitched shriek from that kitten.
My head grew light. Something pressed against my back and pushed me forward. Vaguely, I was aware of metal beneath my feet. Of plush dark walls around me.
A clank echoed, like a heavy door closing, then I heard Felicity say, “Did you file a flight plan?”
“Yes,” a man answered with a clipped British accent. “But I gave them a bum destination.”
“Good. We have to go. Like yesterday.”
“I’m on it. This is going to be a quick takeoff. Might get rough.”
The man moved away from me. I was still having trouble seeing. Didn’t know where he’d gone.
“Get her secured,” someone said.
A hand closed over my arm, then tugged me forward, down a short hallway. “This way, Natalie.”
Felicity. That was Felicity talking to me. She shoved me into a seat and buckled my belt. “Take this.” She pushed something rectangular and paper into my hands, then pressed my head toward my knees. “Just breathe.”
“Fee!” Marco called from somewhere behind me, his voice deep and tinged with an Italian accent much like Luc’s. “I need you to help me hold him in here!”
“I’m coming!”
Felicity rushed away from me. I turned to look after her and realized we were moving. Blurry scenery I couldn’t focus on rushed by the windows. My gaze drifted down to my hands, to what she’d given me, to what I realized was a barf bag.
The sounds of that ritual, the crack of the whip, Luc’s agonizing groans... They echoed in my head all over again.
Sickness threatened once more. I breathed deep, again and again, fighting the nausea, trying not to give in to what I knew was about to be a massive panic attack—one that would put any I’d had on a stupid boat to shame.
The jet’s engines grew louder. Focusing on that sound, I closed my eyes and tried to bring it to the front of all the other noise. Forced myself to feel the rumble beneath my feet, the g-force pulling on my body as the jet streaked down the runway and lifted off the ground. And as I did, I slowly beat back the fear and panic, gradually felt myself coming back.
Something hard thwacked the wall at the back of the plane. My eyes shot open. A deep grunt and a low groan followed.
“Merda,” Marco yelled. “I’ve got him now.”
“Are you sure?” Felicity asked.
I twisted toward the doorway, my pulse shooting up as my eyes widened. Some kind of struggle was happening in the back room. Something I wasn’t sure I was ready to see.
“Porca troia, Luc,” Marco mumbled. “Hold still, you figlio di puttana.”
My heart beat double time against my ribs as I freed my seat belt and rose, turning toward the open doorway and whatever was happening in the back room. Hand shaking, I reached for the doorframe and stopped, looking into the bedroom where Luc was sprawled on his stomach on the bed, dwarfing the mattress with his big body, thrashing from side to side while Marco and Felicity tried to hold him down.
The wounds on his back continued to ooze, only it was worse now. Worse than when they’d pulled him out of that truck. Fresh blood trickled down his back and stained both Marco’s and Felicity’s clothing where they fought with him.
“What are you doing?” Panic built inside me all over again, and I rushed to the side of the bed. “Oh my God, you’re hurting him! Stop.” I grabbed hold of Marco’s big hand and tried to pry it off Luc’s arm. “Stop!”
Luc’s head jerked my direction. Dark, damp hair fell over his forehead. His eyes were tightly closed. But for a split second, he stilled.
“Cazzo,” Marco mumbled, getting a better hold on Luc while he was frozen. “Talk to him, Natalie. Let him know you’re here. He’s delirious from the pain and the drugs, and he doesn’t understand what we’re doing, but he knows your voice.”
Luc grunted and shifted his arms and legs, growing agitated all over again. Beside me, Marco and Felicity fought to keep him down.
“We can’t get these wounds closed until he stops fighting us,” Felicity said between clenched teeth. “Natalie, now, dammit. Talk to him.”
All I could see was blood. Blood and misery and pain. Nausea swirled again, but I forced it back. Rubbing my damp palms along my thighs, I dropped to my knees at the side of the bed, closest to where Luc’s head was almost hanging over the side.
“Luc?” I swallowed hard. “It’s me. It’s Natalie.” I reached out with a shaky hand and brushed the scraggly hair back from his eyes. “I’m right here.”
He slowed his struggling. As if just the sound of my voice calmed him.
“Yeah, just like that.” Marco’s muscles flexed as he shifted his hold on Luc’s arms and legs. “Keep talking to him, Natalie. You’re doing good. Fee, you got it?”
“Yeah. Keep him still.” Felicity grabbed something I couldn’t see behind Luc.
I scooted closer toward Luc, trying not to see what they were doing, focusing on Luc’s handsome face instead. “I’m here,” I said again. “I’m right here. I’ve been waiting for you.”
His eyes remained closed, but he tipped his chiseled face up toward the sound of my voice, and when my fingers grazed his temple and his cheek, I heard him mumble, “Angio...letto?”
Tears filled my eyes all over again, and my chest felt as
if it might explode as I slid one hand into his damp hair and used the other to touch his face, his arm, his hand, any part of him I could reach that wasn’t injured.
“Yes, vita mia.” I pushed the words past the tears trying to clog my throat, using the term of endearment he sometimes used for me and which I knew meant “my life”…because he was my life. He was my everything. “I’m right here.”
Luc’s body jerked, and his muscles tensed. Behind him, Marco and Fee mumbled in low voices.
“You’re safe,” I whispered, tuning them out, not wanting him to get agitated again. “You’re safe with me.”
I pressed my forehead against his, then gently kissed the spot with lips I couldn’t keep from trembling. “No one’s going to hurt you anymore. I won’t let them. I’ve got you. You’re mine, and I’m yours, remember? Stay with me, baby.”
“You’re doing good, Natalie,” Fee said in a steady voice. “Keep him centered just like that so we can get these drugs in him.”
“I’m not leaving you,” I whispered, continuing to stroke Luc’s hair. “I’m never leaving you. I love you. Do you know that? I love you so much.” I kissed his forehead again. “I love only you, Luc. Just you.”
Luc tipped his face higher, and his warm breath fanned my throat as I continued to play with his hair.
Closing my eyes, I pressed my forehead to his and held him to me, wanting to do anything to protect him, to help him. Then I felt his arm near me shift. I felt his hand close over mine. Felt him draw my fingers beneath him and close to his chest. Felt him shudder and exhale a long breath against me as the muscles in his body relaxed one by one.
“There.” Felicity pulled a needle out of Luc’s arm. “Good job, Natalie. Worst part’s over.”
He went limp against me, whatever drugs Felicity had given him having already hit his system. But his steady and even breaths told me he was simply sleeping.
I didn’t move, though. Didn’t stop touching him. Couldn’t. Wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to let go of him after everything that had happened.
The Price (House of Sin Book 5) Page 3
