His dark eyes glittered cryptically. “Is that really what you want?”
Of course, that’s not what I wanted. But I had this feeling that no matter what they had in store, I had few options. I couldn’t run away. I couldn’t defeat them unarmed. Hell, I probably couldn’t defeat them even if I was armed. I’d never used a weapon other than a baseball bat.
With one last speculative glance, Luca strode up the stairs and out of sight. Once he was gone, I slumped down on the cold hard bunk and finally let what had happened wash through my system. All the adrenaline and false bravado drained out of me, letting the full horror of my situation take over.
I’d nearly had a bullet put through my head twice. I could still die at any moment. I was separated from Tara and had no way of contacting her. Chances were, I’d never see her again. I worried about her. I’d always been there for her, and now…
Now, I didn’t know what might happen.
Facing the wall, I laid down in a fetal position and wept.
Several sleepless hours later—I had no idea how many hours since I had no phone and no way to measure the passage of time—Luca reemerged. As surreptitiously as I could, I wiped the tears from my face and sat up straight on my makeshift bed. No matter what he did to me, I planned to maintain my dignity.
He stood there for a long moment in a different pricey suit, his features inscrutable. I decided my best bet was to present a brave front, so I squared my shoulders and stood to my full five-foot five-inch height. No matter what pain he inflicted on me, I wouldn’t scream, even if I had to bite my tongue off to make sure.
Stand tall. Stand strong.
“What do you want?” I said nice and loud, making my words a demand.
“You can cut the act, Molly Greene. I heard you.”
Blinking, I paused. “Heard me what?”
“Crying. All night long.”
Part of me yearned to double over in mortification, but I couldn’t break character. “You’re mistaken.”
“Am I?” he asked, his dark brows raised, crinkling his forehead. “This basement was built into two separate rooms. On the other side of that wall,” he indicated the structure I’d been laying against, “is a wine cellar. I went down there last night and heard every noise you made.”
Stand tall. Stand strong.
“So not only are you hearing things that don’t exist, you’re staying in a wine cellar all night to do it? Hearing voices and wandering into strange locations is awfully weird behavior. Might want to go to a shrink and have that looked into.”
His expression changed into one I hadn’t seen from him before. It was hard to decipher. I thought I may have earned a smidgen of grudging respect, but the expression vanished so fast I couldn’t be sure.
“You are quite the quandary, Molly Greene.”
“Glad I’m keeping you so delightfully entertained.”
His lips twitched, but he didn’t smile. Not even by the tiniest of degrees.
He went to the lock and pulled out his key, his gaze finding mine. This was the closest I’d been to him throughout this whole ordeal, and I noticed that his eyes were dark and intense as he looked me up and down. There were things simmering in those eyes I couldn’t make out, emotions brewing just below the surface.
And then, as he opened the gate, I recognized them.
Hunger and lust.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
My heart pounded so hard in my chest I thought it’d crack a few ribs. He must be coming in here to take me by force. I prepared to bite and scratch and claw at him. I wasn’t going to make this easy for the asshole. He might leave me scarred and wounded, but I could guarantee that I’d leave a few scars of my own.
He came towards me, providing a narrow window of escape, and buoyed by my unexpected good luck, I took it. Flashing through the barred gate, I sprinted across the room, only to hear his voice, serene and smooth.
“You can try to run. But the other door is locked and even if it wasn’t, my brothers wouldn’t allow you to get far.”
My eyes darted around, looking desperately for another route to freedom, but there wasn’t one. They’d taken the table and chair out, so I couldn’t even use those. “You could let me go. I swear I won’t tell anyone. I won’t post any more videos, either.”
“No, you won’t,” he said, definitively. “I’d like to speak with you, but it’s difficult with you dashing back and forth all over the place.”