“You need to see what happens if you disobey me again.”
“I already promised I’d listen from now on.”
He caresses my cheek and I cringe. He notices and is not pleased, his fingers digging into my arm as he turns me to face forward. “You watch. You learn. If you move right now, you will become her.” He shoves me to my knees, his legs at my spine, and my gaze meets the woman waiting for whatever punishment is soon to be hers, but she is not afraid as I am. She welcomes it. She wants it. A door opens to the left, and a beautiful blond woman in leather holding a whip enters the room.
“No!” I stand and face him. “No. No. No.”
He grabs my hair and drags me toward the two women, glancing over my shoulder to say, “She goes first.”
“Ella. Sweetheart. Wake up.”
I roll over to stare into Kayden’s blue eyes, blinking several times to make sure he’s real. “Oh God.” I cup his cheek. “I’m so happy you’re here.”
He covers my hand with his. “Flashback?”
“Nightmare. Flashback. Whatever you want to call it.”
“Him again?”
“Yes. Kayden, he’s . . .” My throat thickens. “It doesn’t matter. It’s over.”
“It does matter. Talk to me, sweetheart.”
“No. I can’t talk about this and it doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t help us figure out who he is.”
“How do you know?”
“It doesn’t help,” I insist. “Please. Just let it go.”
He strokes hair from my face. “I won’t push, but I want you to be able to talk to me. Everything or nothing, remember? That doesn’t change when your memories come back. Remember that.”
His cell phone rings, and he kisses my forehead and then rolls over to grab it from his nightstand, sitting up to take the call. I sit as well, curling my knees to my chest, and while the beating isn’t important, the necklace is, and that means talking about David, a subject not easily broached with Kayden. I listen as he speaks quickly in Italian, deciding it’s time I learn the language. He ends the call, scrubbing a hand through his hair and exhaling.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Matteo picked up some internet chatter early this morning that he thought was a lead on Enzo, but it went cold on him.”
“You have a bad feeling about this, don’t you?”
“Yeah. I do. Really fucking bad, and my feelings aren’t wrong.”
His phone rings again while he’s still holding it and he grimaces and glances at the number. “Adriel,” he says. “He’s looking for Enzo too.” He answers, looking both irritated and confused. “Giada? How do you have my number?”
She doesn’t have his number? That’s odd.
“Hold on,” he says, and offers me the phone, looking exceedingly grumpy as he announces, “For you.”
I accept it, thinking her timing has not played in her favor with Kayden. “Hi, Giada.”
“Hi, Ella. I was wondering if you want to go shopping?”
I glance at the one window in the corner opposite the fireplace, watching rain hitting the glass. “It’s a pretty wet day.”
“We have indoor shopping centers. It will be fun and we can talk.”
Talk. That is her real goal. She needs another woman to bond with, just as Marabella had thought. “Hold on,” I say, covering the phone to run the idea by Kayden. “She wants me to go shopping with her.”
He scowls and takes the phone. “She’ll call you back.” He hangs up.