I slowly walked back down the trail, pausing several times to listen carefully. When I rounded a curve about halfway back, I saw two men. I stepped behind a tree, not sure if they’d seen me. Then I realized the man on the ground was Lucien. I recognized the other man. It was Stefan, one of Lucien’s allies, but why was he here, gun in hand? He grabbed him, yanking him to his feet. Lucien struggled for a moment, then he went limp, slumping in the man’s hold. The man picked him up in a fireman’s carry and began walking away.
I didn’t freeze like I had when my parents were attacked. This time, I was able to think rationally. If I screamed or chased after them, I wouldn’t stand a chance against Stefan. My best hope for helping Lucien was to get back to the house.
Why hadn’t I remembered my phone? If I had it, I could call for help. Stefan headed down a side trail. I had no idea where it led, but hopefully, Angelo and Devil would.
I walked carefully until Stefan and Lucien were out of sight, then I began to run.
28
Lucien
Stefan delivered another kick to my abdomen. I tried to move away, but my hands and feet were tied, and my brain was still foggy from whatever he’d used to knock me out. I nearly bit through my lip, trying to hold in a shout. He took hold of my hair and dragged me up. “Ready to talk?” I tried to spit on him, but my mouth was so dry it was ineffective. He slapped me, making my head ring and my vision blur.
Had he really told me this was all because of Ash? He’d known Ash and I were together, but he’d waited fifteen years to do something about it? No way. “What the fuck are you doing with this bastard?” I gestured toward Damian Ricci who sat on a chair in the corner of the cell where they’d placed me.
“Getting long awaited revenge. You’ve always thought you were better than everyone else. Always thought you could have whatever you wanted, even my fucking brother. Our family finally has a chance to take you down. My father was too weak to do it, so I’m making my own choices.”
I’d never hurt Ash, and I sure as hell hadn’t turned him gay, but I didn’t owe this bastard an explanation. “Did you bother to ask Ash what he wants?”
“Don’t say his fucking name,” Stefan yelled.
“Enough.” Damian banged his cane on the floor.
I tried to focus on the old man, but I had to blink several times to make my eyes work properly. As much as I wanted to goad him and Stefan, I needed to survive this interrogation and figure out how to escape. I had no intention of dying here.
“Mr. Marchesi, nice of you to allow yourself to be captured so easily,” Damian said.
“Fuck off.” Okay, so much for making this easier on myself.
Stefan kicked me again, and I barely managed to keep the contents of my stomach down.
I opened my eyes to see Damian, standing now and glaring down at me. “Show some respect when you’re in my house.”
House? Surely I wasn’t in town. I must be at his estate. I glanced around as if I hadn’t a care in the world besides assessing the decor of the damp, cinder block cell.
“Nice basement. I guess it’s convenient to keep prisoners here so you can enjoy beating them on your weekends off.”
He glared at me. “I didn’t say which home. You could be anywhere.”
He had several other properties I was aware of, but I couldn’t have been taken far before I woke up.
What if he dosed you again?
No, I was sure he hadn’t. I was groggy but not like I would be if they’d kept me out for hours or days. Devil had been kept like that once, and it had taken days for him to seem like himself again.
I wasn’t about to give away any of my analysis, though, so I just shrugged. It hurt like hell where my ribs were bruised—or possibly broken—from Stefan’s kicks, but I didn’t let that show on my face. “It doesn’t matter where I am. What matters is figuring out what you want and how you think you’re going to get it.”
“I will get it, because if I don’t, I’m going to keep bringing in the people you love and killing them in front of you.”
“Don’t you think my family will have stepped up security now that they know you’ve taken me?”
“They didn’t help you the night one of my men took your precious Peter. You had to rescue him yourself. If your security force was any good, they wouldn’t have let you out of their sight today.”
“I chose to go out alone because I’m not afraid of pieces of shit like you.”