Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Yes, I meant it.”
“And what would you do to make sure there’s a peace? That no more people die in our silly little war?”
“I don’t know. Please, I was trying to get away so I could check on a friend. If you could only—”
“We aren’t letting you go, Kacia. I’m very sorry about that.” The car stops suddenly and I look out the window.
An electric shock runs down my spine.
It’s the Valverde house. They brought me back to the Valverde house.
And Luca’s standing outside in a pair of black sweats, no shirt, a gun gripped in his fist.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking the first step.” Yiannis shoves open his door and gets out before turning around to offer me his hand. “If you really meant what you said, Kacia, I suggest you get out and go back to your husband without making a fuss. Otherwise, I’ll call him over to fetch you, and I suspect he won’t be kind about it.”
I gape at him for one shocked moment before rage tears into my stomach.
He wants to ally himself with Luca, and he’s returning me as a gift. This is a good faith gesture, meant to prove to Luca that he’s not full of shit. Yiannis could’ve kept me for himself and used me however he wanted, but instead he’s sending me home to my husband to prove that he wants this alliance for real.
I could scream.
This bastard is ruining my plan.
Worse, he might get Adrienne hurt.
“You don’t understand,” I say, clenching my jaw. “My friend’s in trouble. I’m not trying to run away for my own good, I’m doing it for Adrienne.”
“I don’t know who that is and I don’t care.” His eyes narrow. “Get out of the car.”
I jump out at him and slam my shoulder into his chest. He grunts in surprise as I shove him back and start running again. But this time, I don’t get far. Yiannis catches me by the bag and yanks me off balance, and I tumble to the street, hitting hard.
There’s a shout, and suddenly I’m begins scooped up into a pair of big, muscular arms. I breathe deep and blink rapidly, clearing my head. Luca’s there, his face a snarl of anger as he holds me against his naked chest. His skin is warm, almost steaming in the night.
“If you touch my wife again, I’ll kill you.” I feel the cold metal of the gun pressing against my back, the barrel aimed out at Yiannis.
“I meant no disrespect, Luca. I brought your wife back as a peace offering. You said you wanted an alliance, and I’m willing to make that happen.”
His arms tighten around me. “We’ll speak in the morning.”
“Very well. You know where to find me.” Yiannis gets back into the car along with his men and they slowly drive off.
Luca holds me in the middle of the street, clutching me against him. I stare into his eyes and he looks back, and the pain is evident. It’s like I betrayed him, but can he really be surprised?
“You knew this would happen,” I say quietly in a small voice.
He grunts in reply and his face shifts. The pain disappears, replaced by a studied neutrality. “You’ve been biding your time.” He slowly puts me back down. “Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Good.” He takes me by the arm and drags me back to the house. “Because you will be when I’m done with you tonight.”
Chapter 16
Luca
I knew she would betray me.
From the start, I knew this would happen. I’m not so naive as to think that my charms would somehow make her forget about her friends and family. All those dead men, gone because of me. Her Perico, her father, her brothers.
I knew this would happen.
And still, it hurts like hell.
I drag her back into the bedroom and lock the door. She’s trembling as I rip away the bag. It’s filled with clothes and cash. “Where’d you get the money?”
“Your drawer.”
I laugh sharply. Fucking hell. I should’ve been more careful. I toss the bag aside and shove the gun back into the closet before facing her again. She’s sitting on the end of the bed, arms wrapped around herself, trembling.
“Why?” I ask, as if I need to.
She looks up sharply. Several emotions pass over her face: anger, sadness, desperation. “You know why, Luca.”
“Because I’m the enemy.”
“Exactly. You’re an Italian bastard, right? And I’m just some Greek bitch you stole away. You want to use me for my connections back to Crete and I want to use you to survive this fucking mess. Why do you pretend like you care?”
“Because I do care.” I move toward her, shaking with rage.
“I was biding my time, remember?”
“Bullshit. We’ve been building something.”
“Really? You honestly think that?” She laughs bitterly. “You stole me from my life, Luca. You murdered Perico. Did you really think I’d want to stay?”