Page 34 of Their Reckless Thief
“If you wanted me dead,” I whispered, my voice barely audible, “I’d be dead right now, wouldn’t I?”
Luca’s silver eyes met mine. There was no warmth in them. “Yes.”
Just like that. A simple, blunt truth. No hesitation, no doubt. The realization that he could kill me in seconds settled deep into my bones.
And yet, I didn’t think he would. Not yet.
I swallowed hard. “Uh, what now?”
Luca looked down at the lifeless body at his feet, then back at me. “We finish the job. Stay close and keep quiet.”
I wanted to snap back at him, but then I remembered those shadows wrapping around me, the intimacy of it…
Luca was more dangerous than I’d imagined. That should have terrified me. But the strange thing was that it didn’t. Not as much as it should have.
Luca turned, back rigid as he moved away, leaving the dead man crumpled in the shadows. I swallowed, breathing through the nausea.
This wasn’t just a mission. This was Luca’s world. And right now, I was a pawn in a much bigger game than I’d realized. Did he bring me here to scare me into submission?
Fuck these men and their mind games.
10
CELESTE
I wokeup with my face pressed against something soft—silk, maybe—and for a moment, I couldn’t figure out where I was. My heart pounded in my chest as I blinked the sleep away, staring up at the high ceiling painted in muted golds and soft blues. Slowly, the room came into focus. Not my room. Not even close.
It took me a beat to remember where the fuck I was and why. The events of the last day came back to me, and a knot formed in my stomach. Dorian. Vincenzo. Luca’s shadows. My prison masquerading as a mansion.
This was the room Dorian had brought me to when Luca and I had returned the previous day. He told me it was nicer than the cell, but I knew it was just a gilded cage.
I pushed myself up on my elbows and glanced around the room. Luxurious wasn’t the word for it. This was on another level. The bed was enormous, draped in the softest sheets I’d ever touched, with a plush comforter the color of deep crimson. Polished dark wood lined the walls, and the chandelier looked like something out of a palace. Everything screamed opulence and wealth, neither of which I was accustomed to.
Across from the bed was a wardrobe big enough to house a small family, and an ornate chaise lounge overlooked thebalcony. My gaze stilled on the doors. Freedom. Or at least the idea of it.
I slipped out of bed and padded across the room, my bare feet sinking into the carpet. I tugged at the balcony door handles to no avail. It wouldn’t budge. I tried again, harder this time, but it was like the doors were cemented shut. I let out a low, frustrated groan as I rattled the handles.
I scanned the room for anything I could use to pick the lock, but the place was annoyingly pristine. No clutter, no tools, not even a fucking wire hanger in the wardrobe. And speaking of that wardrobe, it was full. I fingered through the clothes. Dresses, shoes, even lingerie that looked like it cost more than my last big score. Whose were these? Was this room where Vincenzo kept his... toys? The thought turned my stomach.
I wandered back to the bed, my mind racing with every horrible possibility. I couldn’t fight my way past every guard, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to outwit Vincenzo Moretti when he had eyes everywhere and soldiers at the ready.
Should I just end my life? Would that be better than waiting around for whatever sick plans Vincenzo had for me?
I clenched my fists, pushing that idea away as quickly as it had surfaced. I wasn’t there. Not yet anyway, even though a stark hopelessness had lodged in my chest.
Before I could think on it too long, the door creaked open. I whipped around as a woman walked in. She was young, too young to be wrapped up in a place like this, but the confidence in her stride, the sharpness in her glance, told me she wasn’t someone to underestimate. I recognized her. Camilla, the enforcer who’d brought Vincenzo the vial of Phantomine.
“Well, look at you.” She leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms over her chest. “Already trying to find a way out?”
I stiffened. “Just trying to get some air.”
She smiled… a cold, calculating thing. “Sure you are.”
I crossed my arms over my body, meeting her gaze head-on. She was intimidatingly beautiful with long red hair, sharp cheekbones, and eyes that held a hardness I recognized. She’d seen things. Done things.
She pushed away from the door and sauntered into the room. “Vincenzo sent me to check on you. Wanted to make sure our little guest isn’t planning anything unwise.” She eyed me up and down, and my skin crawled under her attention. “He also wanted me to ask you a few questions, figured you might be more comfortable divulging information to another female. So ... let’s talk. What skills do you have?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Skills?”
