This can’t be the end.
I need more time.
Rialta.
I listen carefully, trying to listen to any sounds of what she’s doing. But I can’t hear her. I can’t hear anything but the shuffling of feet.
Fuck, what happened?
Did the Retribution Kings attack?
Did the man who wants Rialta dead attack?
Neither seems likely with the Corsi men constantly guarding us.
Andrea.
He’s behind this.
I don’t understand why yet, but he would be the only one with access and a grudge after what happened last night. Vincent Corsi warned me this would happen. Now I just have to figure out how to stay alive.
It’s a test.
A test that, if I fail, will end in my death.
I’m pulled through the hallways of the apartment building and down a set of stairs. It takes all of my energy to keep up and not trip on the steps.
When a cool evening breeze hits my bare skin, I realize I’m still naked. I’m going to kill them after this is over.
I’m tossed into the back of a van. I wait for Rialta to be thrown in next to me. But as the van starts moving, I realize I’m alone.
My heart thunders in my chest.Where the fuck are they taking Rialta?
I struggle against the handcuffs that I know I won’t be able to get out of. I consider kicking the door open and jumping out, but I still think my best chance of finding Rialta is letting them take me where they want to take me. Even though she’s not in the same van, I still think she’s headed to the same place I am. Andrea will want her to see me humiliated. He’ll keep her alive. Vincent will kill him if he kills Rialta. But I don’t know if it will stop him from touching her, hurting her.
I grind my teeth together, frustrated with myself for being so foolish. I should have never trusted any of them. Now I endangered everyone.
The van stops, and I’m pulled out.
I force my legs to keep going so I don’t stumble as I walk. I need to keep as much of my pride as I can.
We head down a set of stairs as more cool air hits me.
And then the hood is removed from my head, and every thought I had is confirmed in a second.
Andrea is behind this. And he got every man who was supposed to be protecting us to follow him. I count every single one in the basement.
Hayes, Gage, Beckett, and Ri are, thankfully, absent.
But my eyes immediately go to Rialta Corsi, standing next to Andrea as he holds onto her wrist.
I examine her quickly from where I stand naked and handcuffed across the dank basement that we’ve been brought to. She doesn’t look hurt, and she’s at least wearing clothes—the same leggings and sweatshirt that she tore off her body last night before she fucked me.
“You have failed, Lennox. It’s time to end things before we end you,” Andrea says.
I laugh maniacally. “I failed? You’re the one who kidnapped the heir and his wife. You’re the one who failed.”
Andrea shakes his head. “I’m not the one handcuffed naked with guns pointed at my head. That would be you.”