Page 31 of Cruel Lust

My skin crawls and erupts in goose bumps all at the same time when I remember coming for him.

Rather than leave me alone, though, he rounds the bed and sits on the other side. “What are you doing?” I whisper, almost breathless with confusion, once he stretches out beside me.

“Relax,” he mutters, punching the pillows before resting his head on them. “That sofa is about as comfortable as sleeping on a bare floor, and I’d rather you not wake me from the little sleep I manage to get by screaming like a banshee.”

“I could still scream,” I warn him, freezing up again. To think, I was comforted by his presence until now. “I’ll scream the walls down.”

“Go ahead.” He folds his hands on top of his flat stomach, ankles crossed. He’s still wearing his shoes. When he catches me looking, he mutters, “In case we need to move fast. It’s not a good idea to be completely vulnerable.”

“You think we’d have to move fast?” I ask, forgetting my apprehension in the face of something more important. This man is dangerous, but there are others far more deadly. Like the one I met earlier today who would have murdered me if Luca hadn’t shown up.

“There’s never any way of knowing.” He yawns loudly, then sighs. “I’m beat. Turn out the light.”

Red flags are everywhere. “Can we leave it on?” I ask, still frozen in place. Having him this close is doing terrible things to my mind and body, which are currently at war over how to feel about this turn of events. My chest is tight enough that I have to fight for every breath, yet my nipples are hard as bullets at the memory of how easy it was for him to make me shatter around him earlier.

I wanted him.

I wanted more.

I still do, and I hate myself for it. I hate him even more, even if he did seem genuinely worried when he first came in.

“Don’t be a child,” he murmurs as his eyes slide shut. “Turn it off. There’s nothing I could do to you with it off that I couldn’t do while it’s on.”

There’s a lovely thought that will surely help me get back to sleep.

When I hesitate, he groans and rolls onto his side, facing me. “I’m here with you,” he reminds me in a quiet, weary voice. “Nobody will hurt you. And if it seems like you’re having a bad dream, I’ll wake you up. No need for the nightlight.”

My pride rears up at the word he chose. “A nightlight? Fuck off,” I grumble before reaching across the nightstand to turn off the lamp. At least he tries to hide his snide laughter, but he’s not trying hard.

“You’re a little too easy to predict, Detective,” he taunts as usual, the word drops from his lips like a curse.

“Don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back,” I retort, and he only snickers in the darkness. Is this happening? Am I bickering with my kidnapper? A vicious murderer, cruel and violent and cold.

Yet he came running when he heard me scream.

I shouldn’t waste time trying to understand him, but I can’t help wanting to. Maybe I need to. It’s my only means of maintaining an illusion of control over my situation. If I know my captor, I can predict what he’ll do. I might be able to get through to the sliver of humanity he still possesses and save my life.

“Go to sleep,” he murmurs in a softer voice than before. “You’ll be fine now. You aren’t alone.”

I’m sure he thinks he’s comforting me, and this brief flash of decency and kindness will erase the harm he’s done. How much he’s hurt me.

You wouldn’t be going through this if it wasn’t for the chance you took at the club. Right. Like that reminder makes me feel any better.

With the lights off, it means he can’t see the tears that roll down both sides of my face at his rather weak attempt to comfort me. He thinks I’m not alone?

I’ve never felt more alone in my life.

14

LUCA

It’s been three days alone with her.

Three days of trying to ignore phone calls from Papa and Dante.

“It’ll be easier to play poker when we have a deck with all fifty-two cards,” I point out with a sigh as I study the hand Emilia has presented, then compare it with my pitiful pair of threes.

She snorts, rolling her eyes. “You could just admit I’m a better player. I still managed a straight without all the cards being available.”

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