“I won’t let that happen,” I vowed.
She shook her head, and fresh tears streamed down her cheeks. “I know what happens to women like me, women who are married to powerful, possessive men. We’re used as pawns, as punishments to retaliate against our husbands. It’s already happening to me.”
A coppery tang coated my tongue. I’d done this to her. I’d made her into a pawn in the power play between Dante and me.
“I’ll kill him,” I growled, craving our tormentor’s death with every fiber of my being. “Dante is a dead man, and I’ll protect you from the Bratva too. I’ll make this right, Nora. I swear I’ll get you out of here.”
She bit her lip, and her eyes shifted away from mine. “He saved my life,” she said quietly. “He took a bullet for me. If he survived the firefight, I owe him a debt.”
“You don’t owe him anything,” I seethed. “And I’ll be the one to kill the bastard, not you. So, you don’t have to worry about having his blood on your hands.”
She peeked up at me, her eyes dark with doubt. “But he—”
I cupped her nape and pulled her toward me, pressing my face hard against the bars so that I could capture her in a fierce kiss. There wouldn’t be any talk about sparing Dante. Nothing could absolve him for his sins against us. This would end with his black heart in my hands. I would make sure he screamed before he died. The way my soul had been screaming ever since he’d trapped me in a cage of his will and used my innocent wife to torment me.
My kiss was savage, my lips almost bruising hers. The icy bars dug into my cheeks, but I pressed impossibly closer to her, claiming everything she offered me and demanding more.
Nora wasmine.
No matter what that bastard did—no matter how many times he claimed to be her master—Nora was my wife, and she belonged to me. We belonged together.
I would find a way to be worthy of her.
Starting with Dante’s blood on my hands.
If he wasn’t dead already, shot by the Russians.
Fuck!
I wrenched away from Nora, breaking our kiss.
“What’s wrong?” she asked breathlessly, brow furrowed.
“He might come back anytime,” I ground out. “You can’t be down here with me. I won’t be the reason he punishes you again. I won’t allow it to happen just because I’m too fucking selfish and impulsive to stop myself from kissing you.”
She reached for me, but I edged away.
“I don’t want to leave you,” she whispered. “I need you, Luca.”
Her words were a dagger to my heart. Because I was greedy enough to want to hear her say my name like that again and again. I’d been driven half-mad in the darkness of my cell, emerging into the light only to be met with fresh horrors and humiliations at Dante’s hands. I craved to hold her, would sacrifice almost anything to keep her in my arms.
But I wouldn’t sacrificeher.
Never again.
“Go.” I bit out the command and took another step back from the bars, away from her alluring heat.
Icy air frosted my skin, and I gritted my teeth against the sudden chill. I could endure the dark solitude of my prison and the heavy shame that threatened to crush my spirit. I could endure anything to spare her from pain.
I nodded at her discarded clothes. “Get dressed, and go upstairs. Find out what’s going on. The sadistic bastard might be dead already, but I won’t risk it. I won’t risk you.”
Her brows drew together, and she swayed toward the bars. “But I want—”
“Now, Nora.” I used the deep, stern tone I knew she responded to.
She sniffled, but she picked up her clothes and quickly covered her body before turning back to me.
“We’ll make it out of here,” she promised me. “Together.”