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Ice floods my veins. I'm on my feet in an instant, the traitor forgotten. "What happened?" I demand, my voice deadly calm.
Marco swallows hard. "They came for Matteo. But Dana...she told them to take her instead. Said she was in a relationship with you, that she'd be more valuable."
A snarl rips from my throat. That foolish, brave woman. Sacrificing herself for Matteo, for me. Using herself as a pawn.
I'm moving before conscious thought catches up, barking orders. "Lock down the estate. No one in or out. Get me the location of every property the Rossi family owns. Alert our contacts in the police and media. I want a full press blackout."
My mind races ahead, already formulating and discarding plans. They'll expect me to come in guns blazing, but that risks Dana. No, I need to be smart about this.
My mind is racing as fear and panic unlike anything I've ever known grips me. I can't stand the thought of them hurting her. I'm going to kill every one of the motherfuckers when I get my hands on them if they've harmed one hair on her precious head.
I curse myself for putting her in danger. I should have left her alone. She'd have been better off if she'd never met me. But the thought of living without her, of never holding her soft curves against me again, never losing myself in her sweet innocence, is unbearable.
Dana is the only light in my dark, brutal world. From the moment I first saw her, her lush body and sassy smile stirring unfamiliar feelings in my jaded heart, I knew I had to have her. Had to claim her and make her mine.
I tried to resist, to keep my distance, knowing I would only corrupt her. Taint her goodness with the blood on my hands. But like a moth drawn to a flame, I couldn't stay away. And selfishly, I let her in, allowed her to care for Matteo, to soothe my tortured soul with her gentleness.
Now they've taken her from me. Those bastards have her, and it's my fault. I pace my study like a caged beast, a glass of scotch Marco put in my hand that I can't bring myself to drink. I know he was only trying to calm me, which says a lot about how my face must look right about now. But alcohol won't help me now. Only action will. Cold, brutal, unforgiving action.
I'll burn the city to the ground to find her if I have to. I'll call in every favor, threaten and bribe and blackmail anyone who can give me a lead. I'll torture every last member of the Rossi family until they're begging to tell me where she is.
My blood boils with a lethal cocktail of rage and terror and something even more dangerous—love. Because that's what this is, what I've been denying since she first stumbled into my life with her pretty smiles and her fierce loyalty. I love her. I fucking love her and I'll be damned if I let them take her from me.
I slam the glass down, amber liquid sloshing onto the mahogany desk. I don't have time for this, for the loathing and regret churning in my gut. I failed her, but I won't fail her again.
Dana, I’m coming, bella.
seven
. . .
Dana
The zip ties dig into my wrists as I strain against them, the plastic biting into my flesh. A metallic taste coats my tongue—fear or the aftermath of being backhanded by one of my captors, I'm not sure which.
Sweat trickles down my neck despite the dank chill in this basement room. Or warehouse. Or wherever the hell these bastards have taken me. I swallow hard, trying to quell the rising panic.
God only knows what they plan to do. Torture me? Violate me? Kill me? Bile rises in my throat at the thought.
Focus, Dana. I take a shuddering breath. You need to be strong. For Luca. For Matteo.
One of the men, face obscured by a black ski mask, aims a camera at me. The red recording light blinks on, taunting.
"Smile for your lover, sweetheart," he sneers. "By the time Romano gets this video, I'll have had my fill of you."
White hot rage momentarily overrides my terror. "Fuck you! Luca will kill you for this!"
"You have spirit. I'm going to enjoy breaking you." He reaches for his belt buckle and?—
BAM! The door splinters open, nearly ripping off its hinges.
Like an avenging dark angel, Luca storms in, eyes wild and lethal. Before the men can even react, he seizes the one looming over me. With a roar, he smashes the man's face into his knee, crushing cartilage and bone with a sickening crunch.
Time slows as the man crumples lifelessly to the ground. More of Luca's soldiers swarm in, subduing and securing the remaining captors.
But my eyes are riveted on Luca as he rushes to me, that chiseled face etched with barely contained fury and fear.
"Dana! Cristo, what have they done to you?" His usually steady hands shake as he cuts away my restraints.
