“I understand why Arlo wouldn’t want you with Luca. Our families arranged our marriage before I was born. But I thought he only cared about the bloodline of his heir.”
“Arlo expects all of his sons to marry into elite families.”
“I’m the only female from a Founding family of marrying age. So Marcello, Damian, and Bastian can marry whoever they want.”
I shook my head and loose strands of hair fell in front of my eyes, forcing me to push them out of the way. “Not according to Marcello.”
“I’m surprised he would hide this from Sonny. He tells him everything.”
“Usually, yeah. But not about me.” Avoiding her gaze, I toyed with the frayed seam of my shirt. “I think Marcello was holding out for you. Just in case you ended it with Luca.”
“You must hate me,” she muttered.
“Not at all. I care about Marcello, but it’s not meant to be. We have too many obstacles to overcome.”
“If we ever get out of here, I could talk to him for you. We’re pretty close.”
“I don’t blame him for not wanting more. It was never that serious with us, anyway.”
“You said Marcello would kill you for telling me. Why?”
“Because he killed someone to save me.”
Her eyes bugged out. “Who?”
Our families were walking into an ambush. What was the chance all of us would survive this ordeal? I wanted to tell at least one person the truth in case I died. Someone had to know about Marcello and our blood-stained past.
“A guy who tried to rape me,” I told her, leaving out his name. “He was from a Founding family. If anyone ever found out, the Salvatores would lose everything.”
“Who did Marcello kill?”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “I can’t tell you. I already said too much.”
I heard loud footsteps outside the room, then what sounded like an argument on the other side of the door. Fear slid down my arms at the sound of their deep voices, intensifying the already overwhelming pounding of my heart. I had so much adrenaline coursing through my veins that my body trembled.
The metal door swung open and hit the wall. Alex jumped at the sudden movement and slid across the mattress until her back hit the farthest wall. Two large men with dark hair stepped inside the room. One man held a tray with one sandwich wrapped in plastic and a bottle of water. The other man wore all black, a fitted shirt and jeans, his hands stuffed into his pockets.
The man with the food handed me a sandwich and water bottle, which I took without complaint. I was so thirsty I didn’t care if they poisoned it as long as it took away the hunger pains and the stale taste in my mouth. He didn’t speak a word as I peeled back the plastic and sunk my teeth into what tasted like a ham sandwich on white bread. Not my favorite lunchmeat, but it tasted good. The rumbling in my stomach grew louder with each bite.
“Slow down,” he commanded.
I glanced up at him.
“If you throw up on yourself,” he said in broken English, “you’re cleaning it up.”
The other man extended his hand to Alex, who looked at him like he was scum beneath her designer shoes. She seemed confused, and her eyes narrowed at him.
“Get up before I throw you over my shoulder,” he bellowed.
That seemed to kick Alex into gear. She slipped her hand in his, and he helped her up from the mattress. He hooked his arm around her back, and she glanced over at me.
As Alex left the room, I finished the last bite of the sandwich and chugged half the bottle of water. I would probably regret eating that fast, but I wasn’t in my right mind.
“Where is he taking her?” I pointed my finger at Alex, who climbed a ladder with the other man behind her.
“Worry about yourself,” he shot back.
I asked him a few more questions.
Where are we going?
Why did you take me?
Whose ship is this?
My captor stared at the wall with a blank expression on his face. I didn’t understand what he was waiting for until the room spun around me, and I blacked out.
Chapter Twenty
Rhiannon
The assholes kept me drugged and compliant. I could hardly walk without tipping over. A man with short, dark hair and scruff along his jaw gripped my shoulders. He led me down a long tiled hallway with expensive paintings on the walls. From a distance, loud voices floated through the air. They sounded deep and male, and a shiver rushed down my arms.
They were going to sell me.
This was an auction for wealthy deviants.
Because Alexandrea Wellington was here, it gave me hope. Luca and The Devil’s Knights would never let someone sell their Queen to the highest bidder. Despite our family’s differences, I wanted to believe Marcello would rescue me from the island. We had a long history that had spanned years. That had to count for something.