“I’m sorry, shouldn’t have tied your lacing so tight.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. I’m pretty sure I already told you that.”
Luci snorts at this.
“Yes, you did. I should have listened.”
No kidding.
We remain in silence for a while longer as he stares off into nothing, and as angry as I am at him, I can’t help but wonder why he and Dante keep apologizing to me. I’m literally their captive.
If they were really sorry, they’d let me go.
This thought has me diving right back into frustrated rage as I glare at Luci, waiting for some kind of explanation.
“What’s the point of all this?” I ask.
“To keep you alive for as long as possible.”
“What?”
Luci blinks, as if suddenly realizing what he’s just said.
“I didn’t mean that.”
“I think you did. I think that’s the first time you’ve truly been honest about this.”
“We just don’t want to scare you.”
“And you think being held captive by the mafia and asked to seduce someone’s fatherisn’tscary?”
“I suppose when you put it that way.”
“You all are really out of touch with reality, aren’t you?”
Luci’s brow furrows, his head tilting to the side as he turns to look at me.
“Why do you say that?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“No, enlighten me.”
“I mean, you’re literally … I don’t know,millionaireswith crazy penthouses, sprawling hidden estates, and family feuds unlike anything I’ve seen in real life, and yet, you live in a basement and have no idea how to deal with a hostage.”
“I thought we were taking decent care of you.”
“Exactly. I mean, not that I want to be here, but I expected a lot worse.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know, I thought you were going to make me your sex slave or something.”
Luci literally balks at this.
“Why the hell would you think that?”
“I mean, Seven obviously thought something similar based on the what he almost did to me the first day you brought me here. I’ve been kept practically half-naked and been asked to seduce Dante’s father … I’m not crazy for thinking that right?”