Page 41 of Unbound

“Who can fucking blame him …” Aidan mutters.

“Look, I don’t give a shit about any of that. Luca needs your help. He’s … he’s sick.”

Aidan jumps to his feet, frowning. “Sick? What do you mean? I saw him not long ago. He was fine when I left him going through Vincenzo’s secret den. That asshole kept all kinds of paperwork down there I didn’t know about. How’m I supposed to offer counsel when I’m kept in the dark?”

“I repeat, Aidan, I don’t give a shit. Luca is sick, okay? Real sick. He’s in some kind of coma. Minnie’s with him, but we need to get him out of there. Get Matteo and come help me, or I swear I’ll fucking stake you myself.”

My tone leaves little room for argument. Truthfully, I’m holding on by a thread, terrified for Luca, helpless, vulnerable. Seeing the man I love in that state, and not knowing if he’ll ever come back to me? I’m not coping well, and I’m maybe a whisper away from following up on my threat. Aidan snatches up his phone, calls Matteo. I listen as he tells him briefly what’s happened and that he’s needed.

Matteo bursts into the room approximately ninety seconds later, his face a picture of panic. He looks as scared as I feel, and I love him for it. I run over, throw my arms around him. Finally break a little, allowing myself a stifled sob against his huge chest.

He holds me close, crushes me so tightly, I can’t breathe. Then he pulls away, looks down at my teary eyes, and gives me his crooked grin. “He’ll be okay, Rosa. He’s fucking unkillable. And when he’s back, you’d better not tell him I hugged you like this, okay? He’ll kick my ass.”

I squeeze him, reach up to stroke his thuggish face. Drop a quick kiss on his cheek. “I promise, Matteo. And thank you. Now come on!”

Aidan stares at the starving vamp in the corner of the room, as though he’s trying to figure out what to do with him. “Don’t worry,” he murmurs, his voice a pained whisper. “I’m not going anywhere. Lock me in if you like, but I’m planning on drinking this very fine O-neg and having a little nap. Go deal with your crisis.”

Aidan seems to be of two minds, and I scream at him, “Kill him if you need to, if it’ll move this along faster, or I’ll do it for fuck’s sake!”

There’s a moment of silence in the room, and I feel everybody’s eyes on me. I take a breath. Aim for calm. Minnie is with Luca. He is not dead. I am not alone.

“Sorry, random vamp dude. I don’t know where my manners have gone either.”

He nods in acceptance. “You are forgiven. Love will make killers of us all.” I have no idea who he is, but I’m starting to like him.

Matteo grabs my hand. “Come on, we can do this ourselves. I’ve carried that bastard out of plenty of scrapes. Did he tell you we fought together in World War One? He took a German bullet to the throat; I had to drag the fucker for miles before we made it back into the trenches …”

Yvonne gasps as she trots along behind us. I forget sometimes how interesting vampires can be. The stories they can tell, the history they’ve seen. If Luca gets through this, I will ask him for more. I will sit and listen to his tales, and I will eat them all up. I will learn everything there is to know about him. Not if, I tell myself. When.

In the end, all of us—bar almost-dead dude—head down that hellish black hole. Yvonne blinks rapidly, obviously scared, but sucks it up and climbs down the ladder. Aidan had told her to get back to the office, she told him to go fuck himself, and here we are. Back in the darkness, back in this dismal place.

“Jesus, the fucking smell …” Matteo says, grimacing. He glances down as his feet crunch into a skull and shakes his head. “Where is he?”

“Through here.”

We find Minnie sitting cross-legged at Luca’s side. Holding his hand. I feel a rush of affection for the witch when I see that, the way she is comforting him. Caring for him. “Thank you,” I say, as we approach.

“No need to thank me. He’s my friend too. Now, get him upstairs. I suggest back to his own room; the familiar surroundings might help. Rosa, stay with him, stay close to him. You’re his strongest connection on this plane, and if I know Luca, he will be trying to get back to you.”

I nod, all the while thinking “on this plane.” Where the fuck does she think he is?

Aidan looks shocked to see his boss out cold like this, which is understandable as he was with him a short while ago and all was well. Matteo is upset too but takes it more in his stride. Together the two of them pick Luca up and haul him to the ladder. “Fuck’s sake, the Don needs to lose a few pounds …” Matteo mutters as they carry him along.

I’m about to follow them, but I look back at Minnie. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to stay here and go through every scrap of paper in this room. I’m going to look in every nook and every cranny, and I’m going to touch every object I find, no matter how repulsive.” Her eyes drift to the porn mags, one of them lying open on a full-frontal centerfold with Farrah Fawcett hair. “Something in here caused this. Something triggered whatever is happening to him right now, and I will track it down.”

Yvonne starts to stack up some of the papers, sorting them into piles. She glances up at me. “And I’m going to help her. Luca told me I had to prove myself to him. This seems as good a place as any to start. This is something I can do.”

“Now go, child,” Minnie says, shooing me away with her hands. “Go show Luca how much you love him. He needs you now.”

I nod and run to the ladder, to the fresh air. To my man.

Chapter 18

Luca

Idon’t know where I am. I don’t even know when I am.