Page 190 of Dark Romeo

Inside I glanced around, pretending to take it all in. It was an old barn with a high roof and open rafters, the hay bales still standing about the place. It had been an old abattoir. The air still stank of soured blood and old death, sending a ripple of anxiety through me.

Abel and my father followed me. The barn doors were shut behind us. I turned to my father. “What are we doing here, then? Playing with hay?”

A small smile played on his lips. “We’re going to send a message to Chief Montgomery with proof that we have his daughter.”

“Proof?”

“Yes.” My father smiled at me, the cruel, gleaming smile of a snake. “You’re going to cut off her pretty little finger.”

JULIANNA

____________

I don’t know how many days I was left in that storage room. Two. Three. The light never changed. I had no watch or clock to help me keep time.

My thoughts flashed to Roman. Did he know his father had me? What would he do? Would he try to rescue me? God, how could he even do that without revealing himself to his father as a betrayer? If his father knew he was planning on leaving, he’d kill Roman. Stay safe, Roman. Please, stay safe.

My father must be worried sick about me now. Was he looking for me? Did he have men on the case?

I thought about the bodies found dumped in Little Italy. I imagined my own pale lifeless body, devoid of color and hope, lying in the bottom of a coffin. The bile rose up the back of my throat.

I shook my head. I would not turn out that way. It would all be fine. We’d get out somehow…

It must have been early morning when the door to the storage room slid open, waking me up. I sat up and wiped my face, squinting against the fluorescent light that was never switched off. I had set up a few blankets on the floor in the darkest corner of the room as my bed. That’s where I had slept for the last few nights.

The door to my prison gaped like an open mouth.

I expected Giovanni Tyrell. When a wiry figure stepped from the shadows into my cell, I sank back.

Abel Montero, Giovanni’s right hand man, the man they called “The Butcher.”

His scar flashed white as he smiled at me. “We need an audience with you.”

“What if I don’t want to come with you?”

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.” A gun appeared in one of his gloved hands. “Would you like to do this the hard way or the easy way? Please say the hard way.” He grinned. “I like it when they choose the hard way.” His voice slithered down my spine like a snake.

I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. I lifted my hands and shuffled forward. “I’ll come willingly.”

That just made Abel grin wider.

He led me through a short corridor to where the main barn area opened up. My eyes squinted as they tried to adjust to the increased light. Half a dozen men stood around, some holding guns, all in suits.

All men.

My blood turned cold. My mind flashed back to the night that Eddie and Tate tried to rape me. There was nothing to stop these men from doing whatever they wanted with me. A shiver went down my back.

My gaze fell on the one face I dreamed of and yet, feared to see.

Roman Tyrell.

“Roman,” his name tore from my lips in a desperate pained whisper. Every cell of my being yearned for him. I dared not move.

He looked stunning as always, a king of darkness in a tailored dark gray suit, a black shirt underneath. Coldness wafted off him as he glanced over me. As if he barely knew me. As if he hadn’t been embedded in my heart. As if I had no place in his.

This is just a mask. Roman Tyrell loves you. He will get you out of here.

What are you doing here? Did you know I was here? Please tell me you have a plan. All these things I desperately wanted to ask but couldn’t. We weren’t supposed to love each other. I shoved all my feelings, all my love and desire, back down inside me.

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