Page 67 of Vow of Desire

I’m too scared to speak.

Dante’s laugh is cold and vindictive. “I imagine probably not good for you.” At that moment, the car comes to a stop. “It’s your lucky day. Or unlucky day. Depending on how you want to look at it.”

Dante opens the car door and jumps out before motioning his gun at us. “Come on. Get out. Don’t make me make you.”

Matteo slowly gets out of the car and offers me his hand but I can’t move. My body is made of ice. “Luciana. We have to. Come on. Please.” I can detect the desperation in Matteo’s voice. He’s trying everything to keep me safe.

With trembling legs, I force myself to move. The moment I grab Matteo’s hand, a comfort spreads through me. I’ll be all right. I have to be. The alternative is too horrific to imagine.

Dante curls his lip. “You lovebirds think you’re so cute. But I hate cute things. It makes me shudder. Come on.” He motions for us to walk forward.

It’s then that I see where we are. Some rundown, shabby house in the middle of a small town. It’s the kind of town that mostly has old people living in it. Major cities have a ton of foot traffic this time of night but not this place. There’s no one else around.

Matteo holds my hand as we walk into the house. It’s musty smelling and faintly stinks of cat pee. The house looks like it might fall over from the wind if it blows too hard.

The floor is disgusting. Covered in feces and dried blood. Broken glass is everywhere.

I take a step forward and cry out from pain in my foot. A piece of glass is wedged in my skin.

“Shit,” Matteo murmurs. “Luciana.”

“Oh, that’s going to sting,” Dante mocks. “Come along.” Since he’s in heavy boots, he walks with no hesitation over the dirty, glass covered floor.

Matteo picks me up into his arms and walks around the glass as best as he can.

“How romantic,” Dante mocks.

I cling to Matteo’s back. Never would I have thought I’d be seeking comfort from Matteo this much but this situation has changed everything. It’s making me see things in a different light.

My foot is throbbing in pain. The glass is still in there. Most likely I’ll end up with an infection if it’s not treated.

That is if I don’t die here first.

Dante leads us down to a basement made out of cold stone. There’s nothing in it except for a large, black metal box right in the middle of the room.

“Set her down,” Dante orders.

Matteo’s hands tighten on my body. “I’m not going to let her go.”

“So be it.” He nods at his men behind us and one of them whacks Matteo in the head with his gun. Grunting, Matteo stumbles forward and loses his grip on me. I fall to my knees and cry out in pain.

At least the floor here isn’t covered in glass and feces but the hard stone doesn’t offer much more comfort.

“Luciana,” Matteo gasps, bending down to help me but Dante shoves his gun in Matteo’s face.

“Back up,” Dante warns.

Slowly, Matteo steps away from me. We both know he’s no good if he’s dead.

“Don’t hurt her,” Matteo says in an eerily cold voice. He’s reverted back to the man I first met.

“I am going to hurt her.”

“Hurt me instead. Do whatever you want to me. But leave Luciana alone. She has done nothing wrong.”

“She lied to me!” Dante shouts, spit flying from his mouth. For a handsome man, he looks ugly in this moment.

“She was just trying to save herself. She only gave you a fake name because she was scared. She wasn’t trying to fool you. She did nothing wrong. Hurt me. Kill me. But leave Luciana alone.”