What if we didn’t get her back? Would any of the three of us ever be able to be in the same room with each other again? Would any of the three of us be able to survive it?
I wasn’t so sure about myself or Dante, but I already knew Luca wouldn’t be able to. He survived losing her once by completely cutting himself off from feeling anything. He turned himself into a bloodthirsty monster who would kill anyone rather than look at them. He turned himself into a robot machine who cared about nothing but making the family great.
If he lost her a second time… Well, I didn’t want to think about what he would become then. He might do anything. He might even turn against me and Dante.
After at least an hour, I told myself to go take a shower and get out of this fucking tux. I never wanted to wear a tux again as long as I lived.
I finally turned away when a phone rang. It wasn’t Dante’s ring tone, and I whipped around fast. Luca pressed the phone to his ear and then swiveled it around and hit speaker. “Where is she?” he snarled.
A gruff, choking laugh came from the other end. “You pussy-whipped little bitch! You’ll never see her again—not intact, at least. What’s the matter, bitch? Did you think the Vittorios were just gonna let you sit in your fancy nest and rule Boston unchallenged? You’re too stupid to run your father’s empire.”
Luca gritted his teeth, and all the anguish went out of his face. He became hard and cold and deadly again. “Where is she, Giovanni? Bring her back unharmed, and I might let you keep your balls.”
Giovanni laughed again. “What are you gonna do if I don’t? You’ll never find her. I’ll tell you whatyou’regonna do. You and your cousins are gonna pack up and leave Boston tonight. You’re gonna leave the keys to Archhurst on the table, get in your car, and head out west. If you do all that and we locate your phone somewhere in California, we’ll put what’s left of your little fuck toy on a plane… but don’t think there will be anything left of her for you to play with. It’s too bad, ‘cuz she’s a tasty little treat, isn’t she? I just might have to sample some of that before I finish her off.”
He laughed and hung up. Luca’s jaw muscle threatened to break through the skin when he turned the phone off, but he didn’t get a chance to say anything.
Dante got to his feet, holding his own phone to his ear. “Do you got him? Great. We’re on our way.”
Chapter18
Ariana
Isnapped alert and spluttered when a cold dose of water splashed in my face. I tried to shake it away and clear my eyes, but I couldn’t move my arms.
A gruff, harsh laugh cut the silence. Someone seized me by the hair, wrenched my head back hard, and I stared up at Giovanni Vittorio.
“You stupid little bitch! You’re all mine now, so you can save your strength and stop struggling. You ain’t going nowhere.”
I struggled again anyway, but my whole body had been tied up so tightly that my hands and feet were already starting to go numb. “Let me go! You kidnapped me.”
He laughed again. “I’m gonna do a hell of lot more than that. If you’re lucky, I just might enjoy myself with you before I send your dismembered body parts back to Luca Fortino in a box.”
I stiffened. “What do you want?”
“Oh, it’s simple. You’re dating him, so you can tell me all about him and his Boston operation.”
“I don’t know anything about his stupid operation, you son of a bitch!” I screeched. “I don’t know anything about him. I just met him a week ago.”
He slapped me hard across the face. “Don’t lie, you piece of shit skank! You’re Ariana La Rosa. You’re Matteo La Rosa’s daughter. You must know everything about the Fortinos. Your father was Don Antonio Fortino’s accountant.”
“I don’t know anything!” I shrieked. “My father…”
He slapped me even harder, and my head whipped sideways. My vision swam, and I tasted blood. I stared into the darkness surrounding me. I was lying on a hardwood floor in some plain, empty room.
My blood ran cold. I was alone with Giovanni. Where were Luca and the twins? Did they have any clue where I was?
I thought fast. I was still wearing the dress I had on at the masquerade ball. I still had the emergency alarm stitched into my bodice, but with my arms tied behind my back, I couldn’t reach it.
Maybe I could roll onto my stomach. I could trigger it against the floor, but would the three guys be able to track me from this distance? Was I still in the Vittorios’ mansion, or did Giovanni take me somewhere else?
Before I could move, he pounced on me and wrenched me over on my back. I would never be able to trigger the alarm now.
He leaned over and bellowed in my face. “I’m talking to you, bitch! Who is Luca Fortino’s consigliere? Which of his cousins is his second-in-command? Is it Dante or Dominic?”
“How the fuck should I know?” I yelled back. “I don’t even know what a fucking consigliere is.”
“Don’t lie to me!” He wound back his arm and punched me hard in the stomach.