Page 114 of In My Heart
“We both know that’s not true.”
“Is Dante still alive?” I demanded, determined to stay on task.
“He is of significance to you? You surprise me.”
“Just answer the question!”
“He’s alive. For now. You heard of the offer I made to your brother, I suppose?”
“I heard. Forty eight hours. Legal marriage, then you let me and Dante go. Correct?”
“The marriage needs to be consummated and it must be witnessed.”
“Yeah, I got that part. I want your word Dante will not be harmed and that we can both leave after it’s done,” I insisted, proud of myself for how steady my voice remained.
“My word?” he laughed. “Yes, okay. I can give you my word.”
“I want proof that Dante is alive.”
“Your brother didn’t show you the video?” he asked.
“Video?”
Just then my phone beeped in my ear, and when I pulled it away to look at the screen, I had a message. The video. I hit play and instantly slammed my hand over my mouth to hold in my devastated cry and the nausea that rose instantly.
Dante was bound by his wrists, to chains that hung from the ceiling of a dark and dingy room. What I could see of him was lit from the front, but not well. It was enough though, to see the blood, swelling and bruising all over his body. He had lost so much weight, looking nothing like my gentle giant right then. He was in nothing but his jeans, and the blue denim was dark with what I assumed was dried blood, filth and who knew what else. Dante’s face was barely recognisable as he hung limply, his head bowed. There were deep cuts on his chest and abdomen, and what I thought could be burns too. Who knew what else was there under the layers and layers of grime and blood – fresh and dried. The camera simply scanned up and down his body, then the video ended.
“You fucking animal!” I hissed as I pushed back everything but my rage. That was the only emotion I could afford to hold on to.
“He did it to himself. He chose not to talk,” Adamian explained easily. My stomach churned again at the knowledge that I shared DNA with this psycho.
“I hope that death you’re creeping towards is very fucking painful.”
“The deal. Am I to assume you accept the terms?”
“I want Dante taken care of. He needs to be cleaned up and his wounds tended. I want to see him before I agree to anything.”
“Very well,” he agreed.
I wasn’t fool enough to not realise that agreement came too fast and easy, but what alternatives did I have? If Dio sent men into wherever Dante was being held, there was no guarantee Dante would be rescued before someone slit his throat. It would alsomean more of Rafe’s men, and possibly the men I loved, being hurt or killed. I wasn’t willing to risk that.
“I need you to create a distraction outside Rafe’s house so I can slip out. Nothing that will get anyone hurt,” I specified. I felt like such a traitor, like I was conspiring with the devil.
“Thirty minutes. Be ready. My men will pick you up outside the house. Come alone. Any tricks, or you back out, and I kill your friend.” With those words the call ended, nothing but silence on the other end.
I cleared the call screen and watched the video of Dante again. It was like it wasn’t him though. He was too still. Too broken and silent. Everything that made him, him, was gone. I watched it once more, so sure something had to change, that he would snap awake, rip those chains from the ceiling, and tear every fucker in the room with him to pieces, with his bare hands, but still he just hung there, lifeless. No matter the threat or consequences, I had to go to him. I had to do whatever it took to get him out.
What happened, that stupid night when he’d got drunk and scared me, me actually fearing him the next morning and forcing him away from me, from the safety of Rafe’s security and his family, that had gotten him there. That was the reason he had been caught and tortured to within an inch of his life. It all seemed so fucking ridiculous now. I had acted irrationally, as had he, the night before, and look where it had gotten us. I forgave him, damn it! I forgave him and just wanted him back! I loved him. I loved him like I loved the others. He owned an equal piece of my heart. They were all a part of me – him, Cal, Dio, and Arran. They were in my heart. Losing any of them was not an option I could or would live with.
CHAPTER 28
CARA
The first explosion rattled the windows hard enough to make the crystal decanter on the side table I stood beside shake. Even though I knew the distraction was coming, it still frightened me half to death.
I’d been waiting in the downstairs lounge - the only room with a window that looked over the street out front, on the ground floor - for over ten minutes. Now it was time to move.
I watched as the men out front jumped out of parked cars and ran from around the house, converging out front. My heart felt as if it were slamming against my ribs.
