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Without so much as blinking, the leader drew his gun from the holster at his side, aimed, and fired.
I screamed at the close proximity of the gunshot. My ears rang, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the deafening noise or from the panic that crushed me. My advocate lay on the floor, blood pooling around his ruined skull.
“He was never cut out for this,” his murderer said dismissively. He set his gun on the desk behind him to free up both of his hands. His dirty fingers fisted in my silk dress, tearing the delicate material. “How much do you think we’ll get for her?” he asked my captor.
“Depends how much we fuck her up first,” he replied dispassionately. “Be careful with her face. She’s pretty.”
Another scream tore from deep inside my chest: a grating mix of impotent rage and primal fear. I lifted my knee and then brought my high heel down hard on the top of my assailant’s foot.
He barked a curse, and his grip on me loosened. I wrenched my arms free from his grasping hands and lurched toward the exit, desperate to get out of this nightmare.
Pain tore into my scalp when one of them grabbed my hair, hauling me back. I shrieked and struggled, swinging wildly to defend myself. My fist glanced off the older man’s jaw. He laughed like he was having the time of his life.
He backhanded me, a casual blow that sent me reeling. The world flickered around me, and when it came back into focus, I lay on the cold concrete floor. The dangerous one who I’d been wary of from the very beginning loomed over me. Before I could form a fist, he grabbed my wrists and pinned them over my head. His awful weight settled over me, and the scent of stale sweat and cigarettes turned the oxygen into poison as I heaved in a desperate breath.
“Get off of her,” the older man barked.
For one insane moment, I thought he might relent. He might change his mind and set me free. My captor shoved off of me, but he kept my wrists trapped above my head. The leader leered at me and reached for his belt.
“It’s my turn first.”
I screamed and thrashed, but all I earned were more bruises. Pain and terror engulfed me, making my lungs seize. I gasped in one desperate lungful of toxic air and cried out for my dark savior.
But he wasn’t coming. He didn’t know where I was. And he had a new, pretty distraction to occupy his attention.
I would never see Massimo again. I would never go home. I wouldn’t survive this.
Chapter 10
Massimo
My hands were coated in gore. I’d have to clean up before Evelyn saw me like this. She wouldn’t like the sight of blood on me. It upset her so much, and this time, the blood wasn’t my own. I suspected she’d like that even less.
My delicate little butterfly had a kind heart and sweet nature. I wouldn’t disturb her by showing her the darkest parts of my life. She knew that I’d killed men to protect her, and she hadn’t turned from me in revulsion. As long as I didn’t show her the bloody evidence, she wouldn’t be upset by what I’d done tonight.
Adrián, Mateo, and I had saved the girl who’d been put up for auction. Every man who’d been complicit in selling her virginity was dead. She’d chosen to go with Adrián and start a new life in his employ. I approved of her choice. There was nothing for her here in this impoverished town. If she allied herself with Adrián, she would be safe and might even become powerful in her own right. She would never be a victim again.
I could at least tell that much to Evelyn. She still seemed to harbor naïve notions about good and evil. What she’d witnessed tonight might’ve given her a good dose of reality. The drug lords that she thought were so evil had worked together to save an innocent young woman. We’d killed the men who’d hurt her and empowered her to make her own choices.
That suited the code I lived by. If Evelyn thought that was evil, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to sway her.
The thought made me uneasy, so I pushed it away. She would become accustomed to my lifestyle once we made it home to Naples. She would settle into my life and become comfortable in my care. I would make her happy.
I entered the mansion quietly, not wanting to draw her attention just yet; I needed to wash up first. I took a few soft steps down the long hallway, and something crunched beneath my shoe. I looked down and saw the diamonds glittering on the floor.
The house was dark and silent.
“Evelyn!” Her name boomed through the cavernous space.
No reply.
“Evelyn!”
I could search the rooms, but I already knew she was gone. Her necklace was on the floor, discarded. Had someone torn it from her neck, or had she taken it off herself?
But if someone had torn it from her, surely, they would’ve taken it with them? The gemstones were valuable, and a thief wouldn’t have left them behind.
I managed to pull my phone out of my pocket with shaking hands and called Stefano.
