Page 97 of His Savage Ruin
Matteo trusted him. Gave him access to his home, to Isabella, to me. And Romeo sold him out for money.
"Now we wait." Don Emilio checks his watch again. "Romano has until midnight to arrive. Given how quickly he responded to my previous communications, I expect he'll be here much sooner than that."
He turns to leave and Lorenzo moves to follow him, but Don Emilio raises one hand. "Stay with her. Make sure she doesn't do anything foolish while we prepare for our guest."
"Yes, Father." Lorenzo's voice carries resentment that he's not part of whatever preparations are happening, but he doesn't argue.
The door closes behind Don Emilio and I'm alone with Lorenzo again. I can feel him watching me, can sense the rage simmering just below his carefully controlled surface.
"All those months you fought me off." His voice cuts through the quiet. "All those nights you denied me what was mine by right of marriage. And for what? So you could spread your legs for a Romano the second you got the chance?"
"I didn't?—"
"Don't lie to me!" His hand moves faster than I can track and suddenly my cheek is on fire where he backhanded me. The force of it whips my head to the side hard enough that I see stars and taste blood where my teeth cut into my lip. My vision swims for a second and I have to blink hard to clear it.
I let myself go limp like the hit knocked me out, let my head loll forward and my breathing slow to something that might pass for unconscious. It's the same trick I used dozens of times in our marriage so he'd stop hitting me sooner.
"Alessia?" Lorenzo's voice comes from somewhere above me. "Don't tell me one slap knocked you out. You used to take more than that without crying."
I don't respond, don't move, just let my body hang limp in the restraints.
"Pathetic." Lorenzo's footsteps come closer. "I thought you'd at least put up more of a fight, but I guess Romano fucked all the spirit out of you."
Lorenzo crouches down in front of me and I can smell that damned scent. "Look at you. The high and mighty Alessia Ricci, reduced to this. Your father would be so ashamed."
The mention of my father makes rage burn hotter than the fear. My father died trying to protect me from men like Lorenzo, died standing between me and Don Emilio's plans to marry me off to strengthen their alliance.
Lorenzo's hand comes up to grab my chin, forcing my head up so he can see my face better in the dim light. "I'm going to enjoy watching Father kill Romano. Going to enjoy knowing that after he's dead, you'll have no one to protect you anymore. And then,bambola, you and I are going to finish what we started on our wedding night."
That's when I spit in his face.
"You bitch!" Lorenzo staggers to his feet, one hand removing the spittle. "You fucking bitch!"
Lorenzo lunges at me with rage making his face ugly, his hand reaching for my throat the same way they did that night on the balcony. One of his hands releases the tie on my wrist but I barely feel my arm. “Come on, fight me! We both know you love a good fight!”
But just then, the door bursts open.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Alessia
The door slams open and I expect more of Emilio's men, but instead it's Matteo standing in the doorway with his hands held out to his sides where everyone can see them.
The sight of him punches the air from my lungs and for a second, I forget about the zip ties cutting into my left wrist, forget about Lorenzo standing there with murder in his eyes, forget about everything except the fact that Matteo came for me and he's going to die because of it.
"I'm here for my wife." Matteo's voice fills the room and he's not looking at Lorenzo. He's looking at me like I'm the only person in this basement that matters. "The note said to come alone and unarmed. I followed instructions. Now let her go."
Lorenzo laughs and it comes out rough and gargled. "You think you can just walk in here and take her? She's not yourwife, Romano. Not really. Our marriage is legal and binding, recognized by the church and the state. "
"It’s a matter of time before this all will be in the past." Matteo takes a step forward and every muscle in his upper body looks coiled, his shoulders bunched high enough that I can see the strain in his neck.
"In the past? She's my wife. My property. Mine by every law that matters in our world."
My stomach turns over at the word property, at the casual way he says it like I'm a car or a piece of furniture instead of a person who gets to make choices about her own life.
"That's a nice plan you have." Lorenzo reaches behind him and when his hand comes back around, he's holding a gun that must have been tucked into his waistband. "But the problem with your story, Romano, is that I'm still alive and not interested in a divorce."
He's raising the gun now, bringing it up to point at Matteo's chest, and I can see his finger moving toward the trigger. My brain is screaming at me to do something, to move, to stop this before Lorenzo puts a bullet in Matteo and I have to watch another person die because of me.
