Page 19 of Their Reckless Thief
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more attractive person. All three of the men were the hottest guys I’d ever seen, but Luca was on a whole different level. His long, brown hair was tied in a bun at the nape of his neck. His strong jaw was set, clenching occasionally with an emotion I couldn’t read. His silver eyes were as piercing as fucking diamonds on glass.
“Hold still,” he said softly, and something in his voice made my pulse race.
Before I could fully process what was happening, his shadows wrapped around me, the cold, oppressive tendrils slipping over my skin, curling around my waist, my legs, and my arms. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. They weren’t solid, but they weren’t quite insubstantial either. They moved with purpose, gliding over every inch of me, like a dark caress I couldn’t escape.
My body tensed instinctively as one of the shadows slid beneath my leather jacket, slipping across my back and pulling out one of my knives. The blade clattered to the floor. Another tendril found the small set of lockpicks hidden in the waistband of my pants, and then the small gadget I used to bypass security systems in a pocket inside my boot.
Luca’s faceremained a mask of indifference, but I could feel his power swirling around me, searching, exploring every nook and cranny where I might have hidden something. His shadows slipped under the collar of my shirt, grazing my neck, and Iswallowed hard, the sensation sending an involuntary shiver down my spine.
“Got a lot of toys on you, don’t you?” Vincenzo’s voice broke through the tension, amusement dancing in his tone. “Did you really think you’d be able to sneak all of that past us?”
I clenched my jaw. “A girl can dream.” The last thing I wanted was to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much Luca’s magic unnerved me, but my voice shook without my consent. Damn, it was difficult to ignore the sensation of those shadows sliding over me, teasing at the edges of something deeper.
The shadows dipped lower, brushing over my hips, my thighs, and then one tendril slipped dangerously close to the waistband of my pants. My breath hitched, a flush creeping up my neck as the shadow tugged out the small blade I’d hidden there. Luca’s silver eyes flicked to mine for the briefest moment, but there was nothing in his gaze. Just cold, calculated focus.
Another blade clattered to the floor, and I bit back a curse. It was like nothing was hidden from him, from those shadows. No matter where I had stashed my weapons, he found them all. And even worse, every single touch of his power against my skin left a trace of something I couldn’t shake—an awareness of him, of his strength, and that cold, oppressive darkness that seemed to reach inside of me.
“Well, well,” Vincenzo drawled, his lips curving into a smirk. “Looks like our little thief came prepared for a war. What were you planning to do with all those toys,dolcezza?”
I glared at him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of an answer. The truth was, I hadn’t planned for this at all. I’d expected an empty mansion, an easy heist. I hadn’t planned to be standing there, surrounded by three of the most dangerous men in The Below, with Luca’s shadows stripping me of everything I had.
Those shadows pulled my cell phone from my back pocket and dropped it onto the floor. Vincenzo picked it up. “You won’t be needing this.” He proceeded to break it into pieces with his bare hands.
Luca’s shadows finally withdrew, slinking back toward him as if they were a part of him. His right hand motioned slightly in the air, and I caught a glimpse of his tattoo. It looked like wisps of black smoke wrapping around his hand and wrist.
My skin prickled in the absence of the shadows, as though the cold from his magic had seeped beneath the surface, leaving me with a hollow chill.
“She’s clean now,” Luca said quietly, stepping back and leaving my pile of weapons and gadgets on the floor between us. His face revealed nothing—no satisfaction, no curiosity. Nothing. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d seen more of me in those few moments than anyone else had in a long time.
Dorian’s gripon my arm was firm but not rough as he led me down a narrow set of stairs that descended even farther into the basement. The temperature grew colder with each step, the kind of cold that seeped into your bones, making it impossible to shake. I shuddered involuntarily, wishing I hadn’t been so stupid.
Vivian was probably worried sick. I could almost hear her voice in my ear, telling me how reckless I’d been, how I should’ve listened to her warnings. She’d been right all along. This had been too dangerous.
I let out a whispered curse under my breath, half from frustration, half to break the eerie silence. Dorian glanced over at me, his eyes gleaming in the dim light.
“You good?” he asked, his voice edged with concern.
I shot him a look that could cut through steel. “Peachy.”
Every time I looked at him, all I could think about was the vision of him between my legs with that sly grin on his lips, my legs trembling from immense pleasure. I shook the image away.
Not happening. Ever.
It was strange that the events of the vision had occurred in my apartment and not in Vincenzo’s mansion. Maybe something in the timeline had shifted, rendering the vision useless. Just like the one that showed me Vincenzo’s mansion would be empty.
Dorian chuckled, and for a brief moment, the tension between us eased. “Look, I know this isn’t exactly the Four Seasons,” he said, motioning toward the dark, damp corridor ahead. “I’ll try to talk Vincenzo into giving you a more...hospitableplace to stay.” His gaze flicked to my chest before quickly darting away. He coughed awkwardly. “And, uh, I’ll get you some warmer clothes. Maybe some blankets and pillows too.”
I raised an eyebrow. “How generous,” I muttered, sarcasm dripping from my words like the condensation dripping down the walls.
Dorian laughed, a warm sound that seemed completely out of place in this cold, oppressive, underground prison. It was short-lived, though. We reached a small cell, barely more than a hole in the wall with rusted iron bars, and he stopped, turning to face me.
“This is it,” he said with a slight grimace.
I took a deep breath, forcing my panic down. It wouldn’t help to let him know how unnerved I was. “Lovely.”
Dorian opened the cell door, his hand lingering on my arm longer than necessary before he gestured for me to go inside. The second I stepped into the cold, damp space, the reality of it hit me like a punch to the gut. I was trapped. I hadn’t beentrapped like this since my days on the streets before Roberto found me. I also hadn’t been so terrified since then.
I swallowed hard and steeled my nerves. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of watching me break.
