Chapter 4

CHAPTERFOUR

LUCA SAT FROZEN, his breath coming in such quick, shallow pants that he thought he might pass out. Again. Because wasn’t that how he’d gotten here in the first place? The last thing he remembered was walking toward his dorm, and the next thing he knew he’d woken up here, unable to move, unable to see, screaming out with no one responding.

At least until he heard the sound of locks unlatching and his heart had practically stopped.

Keep breathing. Whoever this is has just gotten you confused with someone else. You’ll get out of here. Breathe…

Not such an easy thing to do when staring at the drain his chair sat over. The one the man had just said would stay unnecessary if Luca told the truth.

A drain… Why would they need a drain?He shuddered at the first thought that popped into his mind, but there was no way it could be something that cruel. That kind of thing only happened in movies.

Maybe he was having a nightmare. He’d made it to his room, passed out looking over his schedule, and was now dreaming about a sinfully sexy torturer hellbent on extracting some kind of information from him. Over a drain. In what looked like a windowless basement in God knew where.

Yes, just a dream. A seriously fucked-up one.

“Right. Let’s begin, then, shall we?”

Luca shivered at the cool and composed statement coming from his kidnapper, and wondered how someone who was threatening his life could come off as both sinister and sophisticated at the same time. But then again, wasn’t that how the devil would appear?

Again. It’s just a dream.

“Luca Davis, of New Haven, Connecticut. So far we have a name and place, so let’s go with an easy question for your first round while I’m feeling…generous. How old are you?”

Not about to test this guy’s patience, Luca immediately replied, “Twenty-four.”

“Very good. You can tell the truth.”

So that was a test? Luca let out a breath, relieved he’d gone with the truth. It wasn’t like he had any reason to hide.

He fiddled with his fingers behind his back and only hoped whatever else this guy wanted from him was that easy. If this was a dream, surely Luca could steer him in that direction right? Maybe he could ask Luca his favorite color…

“Do you think your parents would care if you never came home again, Luca?”

The shock of the question made Luca’s eyes widen. So…not a dream? Fuck.

“Um, I—”

“Not an answer.”

“Sorry, I— Yes. I think they’d be destroyed if I never came home.”

Luca’s captor cocked his head to the side. “Why?”

What kind of question is that?“Because they’re my parents and they love me.”

“Hmm. Are you sure about that?” The man turned away, clasping his hands behind his back, and Luca’s eyes immediately fell to a gold cuff link that caught in the light. It was the only shiny thing in the otherwise grungy room, and it was enough of a distraction that he forgot the question.

“Answer me.”

The change in the man’s tone had Luca snapping out of his thoughts. “Wh-what was the question?”

The dark eyes watching him narrowed, and the man came to stand so close that Luca had to arch his head back to look at him—not because he wanted to, but because he feared the man’s wrath if he didn’t.

“For a college boy, you’re really not as attentive as I thought you’d be.”

Luca held his tongue. The cold and pain were kicking his frustration and panic to another level, and how could anyone focus under these circumstances?

But he wasn’t about to say that part out loud. Not when the look in this man’s eyes told him he’d probably hurt others for much less. It surprised Luca, though, when he finally opened his mouth and words he hadn’t expected to say fell out.

“Yes, my parents love me, they’re good people, and yes, they’d miss me if I went days without being in touch. I don’t understand what that has to do with anything or why I’m here or who you are or where I am or—”

In a flash, the man had moved, and it wasn’t until Luca saw the glint of the knife that true fear struck his heart.

“Oh God.” He barely heard his words over the loud rush of blood in his ears, but he couldn’t miss the way his voice shook.

He couldn’t look. He couldn’t watch what was coming.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Luca said, “Please…whatever it is you want, you can have it.”

When he didn’t feel the pain of a knife, he wondered if the man had heard him, or was at the very least reconsidering hurting him.

Please, please.

“What an intriguing offer.”

Luca felt the weight of the man’s presence move back and realized he’d been holding his breath. As he slowly opened his eyes, he saw only the back of the black suit his kidnapper wore and slowly exhaled. He hadn’t been killed—yet. Whatever he’d said had caused the man to pause. What did that mean? What did he want so badly he was willing to hurt Luca for it?

He watched as the man in black walked to the door, knocked on it twice, and then turned back to face Luca.

He stared at the door expectantly, his entire body tense. But really, could anything be worse than what was already in the room with him? He felt like he was sharing space with the devil himself.

The clanging of bolts sounded, then the door yawned wide. But unlike the first time around, Luca could see exactly who was coming through that door. Two hulking behemoths stepped into the room, a man’s arms slung over their shoulders as though he were strung to a cross. His body was limp, his toes dragging along the concrete floor as they hauled him into the room.

“This here is Ennio,” Luca’s captor said as the men came to a stop. But Luca was too focused on Ennio’s right hand, where there was a gaping hole and blood flowing down his fingers to the ground. “He wasn’t as good with the questions and answers as you were. But don’t worry, he has one more chance to prove himself worthy to stay alive.”

Bile rose in Luca’s throat, and when he finally managed to swallow it down, he turned to the lunatic who seemed completely unfazed by the carnage he had inflicted.

“Get his attention,” the man said to his henchmen, and one of them slapped the passed-out guy a couple of times on the cheek.

“Wakey, wakey, asshole.”

A low groan rumbled out of the guy, and he jerked in their arms as his head snapped up. What they’d done to his face was a horrific sight to behold. One of his eyes was completely swollen shut, cuts and bruises surrounding it, and his lips hadn’t fared much better.

“Ennio, it’s so nice to see you again.”

Ennioglanced in the man in black’s direction, and then spat blood on the ground by his feet. “Fuck you, Dom.”

Oh my God.

A name.

I finally have this psycho’s name—Dom.

“Aww, is that any way to talk to me? You’re still alive, aren’t you? And there’s a reason for that. I’ve spared you for one reason and one reason only.” The man—Dom—nodded toward Luca. “Tell me what you see.”

Luca didn’t know how Ennio could see with only one eye, and a half-open one at that, but the minute he looked Luca’s way, shock crossed his grotesque features. An audible gasp left his throat, and Dom smiled in a way that made Luca’s stomach drop to his feet.

Ennio couldn’t stop staring at him, but when he said, “What have you done?” Luca knew the question wasn’t directed at him.

“The impossible. I found him.”

Him? Who?Luca looked to the side and then behind him, but of course there was no one else here. These monsters were talking about him, staring at him like there was some secret piece of information they knew that he didn’t.

And why had Ennio looked surprised when he saw Luca? Even beaten to a pulp, he knew there was no way he’d ever met the man before. Guys like that didn’t hang out where he was from, and his parents certainly didn’t have friends like Ennio.

“You can’t do this.” Ennio was visibly sweating now.

“Can’t? You think there’s anything I can’t and won’t do? Especially to those who’ve fucked with me?” When Ennio didn’t respond, Dom stepped in close. “Do you?”

The way Dom could switch from smooth to cutthroat in the blink of an eye was almost scarier than his knife, and Luca prayed that somehow he could get out of this. That there’d been a mistake. Anything.

“You’ll go back and tell your boss we’ve got him. And unless he’s willing to give us what we want, then it’s not going to end well for young Luca here.”

Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my—

“This isn’t a good idea. You know that, right? This changes everything.”

Then, in a voice that would haunt Luca’s nightmares, Dom whispered, “I’m counting on it.”