Page 46 of Lines Drawn
Jude and I walk back up the driveway, and find the front door is unlocked, thanks to the dumbass guard coming out to investigate. It's so amateur to leave the door unlocked, I have to wonder why they have guards at all.
Carefully, Jude and I enter the house. It's darker inside than outside, and it takes my vision a minute to adjust.
As silently as possible, we make our way through the house, sticking close to the walls. As the twins guessed, we don't run into any other guards, thankfully.
When we enter the kitchen, we find Marcus and Lio already there, with a guard at their feet. “Any other problems?” I ask quietly, barely giving the body a second glance.
“The guard outside is dead, too,” Lio whispers.
“Same,” I sign and voice. “Dumbass left the front door open for us, at least.”
Marcus snorts.
“Antonio?” Jude asks.
“Right here, Sir,” Antonio says, popping up out of nowhere and scaring ten years off my life.
The dim light coming from the rangehood allows Jude to give his lover a quick once over. “I’m fine,” Antonio reassures him, brushing his fingers over Jude’s arm. “Let’s get this over with.”
The basement door is, of course, locked, but it doesn’t take any time for Antonio to pick it. Marcus pulls a gun, and the two men have a silent staredown, before Antonio rolls his eyes and gestures for the taller man to go first.
A few seconds later, Antonio follows him. Then Lio and Jude, and after pulling my own gun, I take up the rear.
My heart pounds and I take slow and deliberate breaths, getting myself under control, so that by the time I hit the last step, my thoughts are focused once more. Stepping up to where Jude is standing, I follow his gaze and stop dead in my tracks when I see none other than Luca fucking Martelli chained to the basement wall.
“About fucking time,” I rasp out as I force my cracked lips into a grin, ignoring the painful splitting.
“Shit.” Lio’s stunned expression lasts for only a few seconds before they jump into action. My vision wavers as they move, and soon I’m being helped from the wall. I didn’t even notice that they went and got the keys. “Hey, careful.”
Wincing, I lean on Lio, my strength being sapped just from moving a few fucking feet. Turning to face him, I mumble, “Thank you.”
“Yeah, asshole, I got you,” he grunts, and thank fuck he does. It’s slow moving as we make it out, and hell, I’m not even sure I believe they’re fucking real. “Come on, Luca. I need you to fucking help me.”
My body is too heavy for me, and I want to apologize, but can’t. Everything is spinning, and I worry I’m going to vomit atany moment, even though I haven’t had any fucking food in so long that I can’t remember what it’s like.
Fuckers tried to torture me. Ha. They’ve got nothing on Il Padrone, or what I was going through before I answered the SOS text message. But shit, given the way I’m moving—well, shuffling—I imagine there’s another fucking trip to see Dr. Ranlen coming up.
By the time they get me into one of the vehicles, I’m covered in sweat and want nothing more than to fall asleep, but Marcus isn’t letting me. “You have to stay awake. We didn’t find you just to fucking lose you. You’ve got too many questions to answer.”
I lean my head against the seat, my body trembling as the car jumps forward. Groaning, I clench my fists, desperately praying to stay upright and not throw up. Every time I open my eyes, the dizziness increases, and I finally give in to it. Hell, I don’t think I would have survived much longer if they hadn’t found me. Fucking LEOs didn’t seem to give a fuck if I died or not…especially when I wouldn’t answer their fucking questions.
“Come on, Luca. We need to get you inside.” Lio’s voice jars me from the semi-sleep I’ve lapsed into, and I struggle to move with him. I’m breathing heavily when they get me out of the vehicle, and just eyeing the steps into the mansion makes me want to cry.
“Yeah, fuck this,” Marcus grumbles as he lifts me up into a fucking bridal carry. I’d laugh if every inch of me didn’t hurt right now. “Inside we go. Let’s hope Dr. Ranlen or Doc are available.”
I want to ask about Doc, and why he’d be here, but fuck, I can’t manage to make my tongue work. I try to move my head when I hear Il Padrone’s shouting, but it’s too difficult.
I thank fuck when Marcus gets me to the medical wing, which looks very different. I add it to the never-ending list of questions that are piling up in my head.
“How the hell do you manage to get into so much trouble?” Dr. Ranlen grumbles as she comes forward, after Marcus sets me down on an examination table.
I don’t bother responding at the moment. It’s too much, and the light she shines in my eyes fucking blinds me. Her strong grip doesn’t let me go as she briskly but carefully checks me over.
“How is he?” I jolt at Allesandro’s deep voice.
Fuck, it’s been a long time since I’ve been in the same room as him. This isn’t the type of homecoming I wanted… I thought I was coming to help him, not ending up with my ass needing to be saved.
“He’s going to need x-rays. Maybe an ultrasound.” I grunt when she palpates my stomach. “I want to make sure there’s no internal bleeding. He’s definitely dehydrated, and from the weight he’s lost, they obviously haven’t been feeding him. He’s got bruises over most of his body. It looks like they mostly focused on the rib area, which means they’re fucking stupid.”
