Page 54 of Captured Innocence

“Leave her alone, Sasha,” the second soldier hissed. “She’s not ours to fuck with. How many times do I need to remind you of that?”

“I’m going to do exactly what I want. It’s my fucking right.”

“Yeah? Well, it’ll be your fucking funeral. Whatever you do, you need to keep her on this side of alive. She’s still the prize.”

“Why, because her daddy thought he was a god? The fucker is rotting in his grave.”

I hated my father. In fact, I’d spit on his grave more than once for the abuse he’d given my brother, Enzo, through the years, but I was also a good Catholic girl. No one talked about my family harshly. No one.

Not if they wanted to live.

Perhaps the asshole realized his mistake in allowing me to know his name. Sasha snapped, lunging toward the other, issuing a savage punch to the second’s face. That allowed me to crawl to my knees, dragging my tongue through the dried blood on my swollen lips.

“Fucking asshole.” Sasha was livid, snarling like some animal.

The second soldier resisted throwing a punch in return but reached for his weapon as the man named Sasha cursed under his breath.

Sasha returned his full attention to me, grinning as he allowed his lust-filled eyes to rake down from my face to my partially exposed breasts. I rose to my feet, raking one hand through my stringy hair, waiting until he advanced. Then I grinned and dragged my tongue across my lips. Let him see how strong the blood was running through my veins.

“Wait outside, fucker,” Sasha told the other guard. “I’m going to spend some quality time ensuring she understands that she has no control.”

Like hell this was going to happen. I wasn’t going down without a fight. The man just didn’t have any idea what I was capable of.

“It’ll be your funeral, man,” the younger of the two repeated, his cold eyes shifting in my direction once again. I was hoping he’d walk out the metal door. That would make my job easier.

With his boots stomping on the concrete, he followed orders, slamming the door behind him.

“Now you’re mine, bitch. And I’m going to make you feel real good.” He swaggered closer and I held my breath, egging him on by curling my fingers and beckoning him.

When he dared grab my breast, I’d had enough of being manhandled. I jammed the shank into his eye first, enjoying his crazed howl. “No one talks about a girl’s daddy like that and lives.” The moment I twisted my hand, I knew the blade had driven into his brain.

Then I stormed toward the door just as the other soldier threw it open.

“Profitez de passer toute l’éternité en enfer,” I rasped out as I sliced his jugular.

Enjoy spending all eternity in hell.

* * *

Mattia

I motioned to my three soldiers, waiting as they dropped down beside me. We were in a thick forest, the trail taking several hours before I found what I was looking for. The compound was secure, although I was surprised there were only a few soldiers guarding the location. Either this was a trap or the person holding Sophia believed his world was impenetrable.

He would soon learn a valuable lesson.

I’d brought Vincenzo, Carlo, and Luis with me, uncertain what we’d find once we arrived in Paris. There’d been evidence of a struggle inside Sophia’s apartment, her roommate terrified and almost incoherent while attempting to describe the events that had occurred. Evidently, a man in a mask had knocked on the door. The second Margot had opened it, he’d taken her hostage at gunpoint, using her as bait to lure Sophia into agreeing to come with him.

The shaken girl couldn’t describe the asshole other than he was tall and well built, dressed in all black including the face mask. She’d mentioned Sophia had fought back. Blood had been spilled on a rug inside Sophia’s bedroom, an unfired weapon on the floor. If the motherfucker hurt Sophia, he would die a slow, very painful death.

The stench of her blood lingered in my nostrils.

I’d checked her apartment. What I’d found inside one of the rooms had shocked me. She had a massive computer system, the kind used by… hackers, not security. Margot had assured me it belonged to my beautiful princess.

On the flight over, I’d gone down the trail of looking for the person responsible for hacking into major computer systems, often doing little more than leaking prime information. The Spider had become a nemesis to dozens of corporations. While I hadn’t had the time to try to break past her codes, my gut told me I didn’t need to.

My beautiful princess held many secrets in her pretty little head. She certainly had garnered my respect. That was certain. Once I saved the girl, there was no turning back. She would become my wife.

Vincenzo moved closer, continuously scanning the facility. “Where do we go from here?”

---