Page 67 of (UN)Bounded

Gio nods, mulling the information he just got from Mario. “Do we know who has her?”

When I don’t immediately reply, Vicente fills him in. “Max von Willer. He’s a former family friend.”

Gio interrupts Vicente as he takes out his phone. “Fuck, Luca’s nemesis. Isa has to be okay.” He calls Luca and starts talking rapidly, filling him in.

Bella has to be safe. There’s no other option.

Chapter 26

Isabella Bianchi

Am I in an alternate universe? How does Professor López know Luca? And why does he want to kill me?

I’ve been replaying the last few weeks in my head, over and over, trying to see if he ever gave me a reason to think he was an evil person. But nothing comes to mind. He was always kind when I approached him with questions, never made me feel unsafe, and didn’t treat me differently than he would the other students.

Damn, he’s good.

“So what’s your plan? Kill me and send me back to Chile?”

He tsks as he moves his index finger, signaling no.

“That would be too easy. I want them all to suffer. Vicente and Gabriel didn’t do anything to help me when your brother knocked my world off its axis. So when I learned you were dating Gabriel, I knew you were the best way to get back at them. I left a few morsels of information so they could find us. I want them to watch you die, helpless to save you.”

What did Luca do to this man?

The thought of Gabo seeing me die is like a knife to my heart. He’d never recover from this. I know he loves me as much as I love him. I need to keep this man talking; maybe if he gets ruffled, he’ll slip up and say something I can use against him. I mean, if Luca was able to take him down once, I could do it, too.

“What did Luca do that was so bad? I’m sure my brother never had bad intentions.”

He turns on his heel and gets in my face.

“What did he do?” he snarls, making me flinch. “Your brother ruined my life. I was supposed to marry Karina. We were supposed to join our families’ vineyards and create a wine monopoly in Chile. But your brother decided to charm Karina with his Argentine swag, and she fell for it,” he says as he slams the plate of food I had in front of me against the floor. I try not to flinch, but it’s impossible. My nervous system is a wreck.

“Then, he decided to tell my family about my little secret—my drug addiction. When my parents learned about my not-so-holy addiction and the debt I had with the mafia, they quickly sold the vineyard, not really caring to who. We left our country like pariahs,” he says slowly, each word dripping with venom. His voice shakes with barely contained rage, his eyes wild and unhinged.

I try not to react to this news, but fuck, Luca basically took his life away from him. Not that I blame him, though. Luca and Karina were made for each other. I have never seen him as alive and happy as when he met Karina and bought the vineyard for her. I just didn’t realize all this drama was behind my brother’s ultimate romantic gesture to get his girl.

No, I need to stop thinking about my brother and ask this guy more personal stuff. Maybe this will make him open up to me.

“But you’re such an amazing professor, you had me fooled. I honestly thought art was your passion.”

It’s the first time I've seen him smile—a genuine smile.

“It is. Art brought me back to life. It’s something I truly enjoy doing. Curating art for the Museum of Modern Art has been the medicine I needed to mend my broken life. When I realized you were related to the bane of my existence, all those repressed feelings resurfaced,” he says as he passes his hand across my cheek, and I flinch. A touch has never disgusted me so much in my life.

“Please don’t touch me,” I plead as bile rises in my throat.

“I wasn’t thinking about it, but maybe I should try for myself to see why Gabo is head over heels for you.” He licks my face, and I scream at the top of my lungs. I try to get away from him, but he holds me by my arms; he’s incredibly strong.

I manage to lift my leg and hit him in the balls. He folds in pain, but when I try to flee, he knocks me down. I fall face-first to the floor. There’s a metal taste in my mouth—I’m sure I ripped my lip open. Blood stains the floor.

“Where do you think you’re going, Isabella? The fun is about to start,” he says in a low tone against my ear, pressing himself against me. I arch my back with all the strength I can muster and hit his chin with my head. “You bitch, if I didn’t want to kill you in front of them, you would be dead already,” he says as alarms go off. The deafening sound engulfs the room as I try to find the source, but I can’t see anything. No screens, no phones. Nothing.

“They’re here. Let’s go, it’s time to party,” he says as he lifts me from the floor. Instead of turning off all the lights, he turns everything on, including the outside lights. The little cabin is like a beacon in a sea of trees and darkness.

We head outside to the front yard. He ties my legs together and then my hands behind my back. Finally, he places a piece of tape on my mouth.

“You stay here. I want them to see you when they approach the cabin. Don’t try anything stupid; the house is protected by a minefield. One wrong step, and you can go kaboom,” he says with a cackle.

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