CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

S tefano pulled at the fake skin on his cheek. The shit was itchy as hell despite it being put on by professionals. Sometimes humans came in handy.

Well disguised, he pushed through the doors that led deeper into the Moretti royal prison. By his calculations, he had about six minutes to find his brothers and grab Sofia, remove their ankle cuffs, and teleport out. Outside the perimeter of the castle, his team was waiting in a van, ready to evac them.

Stefano patted the pocket of his fake Moretti uniform for about the tenth time to be sure the metal cutters were still there. He did not know if they’d work to remove the device, as he’d never seen the damn thing before, so he was going to have to wing it. If he only had time to get one of them out, he knew which one it would be—the one without an appendage between her legs. He knew because he’d had the pleasure of being there himself. But not recently enough.

Stefano’s cock twitched.

Soon, he’d be running his hands up her thighs and enjoy dipping into her creamy wetness once more.

As he continued along the hallway, Stefano wondered if Sofia had been thinking about him. He knew she hadn’t wanted him initially, but despite his pushiness, he suspected her body would want him again. They weren’t mates, but together with her smart mind and tight, sexy body, they could be a power couple.

Would be a power couple.

When she was finally by his side every day, Stefano would delight in the complete access he had to her body. He would sink deep inside her, lick her, taste her, and she would take his long length down her throat whenever he pleased.

He turned the corner and went through the last door, nodding to the two Moretti vampires standing outside. Sweat built on his forehead. He wiped his forearm over it, grimacing. The mask was only temporary, so he had to be careful. Not that he’d need it much longer.

As he walked past the cells, Stefano took in the faces of the prisoners. Some he recognized, barely—he wasn’t chums with his staff—and because he wasn’t familiar to them, no one paid him any attention. Then he saw his two brothers, lying their lazy asses on two aluminum bed frames with a thin mattress.

Stefano glanced around and caught sight of a set of buttons on a panel. He assumed one would open the door to their cell, but not yet. He didn’t want to draw attention until he knew they could teleport out.

“Russos,” he said, knowing they’d recognize his voice. “Step up to the door.”

Both of them sat up, staring at him, mouths gaping.

“I said step the fuck up to the door.”

“Is that you...?”

Christ, he should have known Marco wouldn’t use his brain. “No talking. Get your asses over here.” Stefano heard shuffling from the other cells around him, and his sweating increased. He dabbed at his forehead and felt the fake skin move.

Whirr.

He glanced up and saw the camera moving to face him. He was running out of time. Everything happened really fucking quickly after that. Stefano leaped to the button and pushed it, the door of their cell opening.

“Get out here and cut that fucking thing off your ankle,” he instructed, throwing the cutters on the ground as the two vampires finally got moving.

“Stefano, is that you?”

“Of course it’s fucking him,” Luca muttered. “Shut up and give me those. I’m going first.”

Stefano ignored his idiot brothers and moved fast along the row of cells, looking for Sofia. It wasn’t a large prison, so within forty seconds, he knew she wasn’t in there.

“Where is she? Sofia, where are you? Show yourself!” he yelled in case she was hiding when she heard his voice. Then he turned to his brothers, who were on the floor cutting away. “Where is she?”

“Who?”

“Sofia Ferrero,” he demanded. “ Where. Is. She? ”

“Why—?” Marco began to ask

“They took her. A few days ago,” someone nearby called out as the lights shut off and a red flash began. They were out of time.

“Where did they take her?” he called out.

“Don’t know. One day they took her, and she hasn’t been returned,” the vampire answered.

Stefano heard the second ankle device fall on the floor. Luca and Marco rubbed their legs, obviously relieved to have it off.

“Tell her I’ll be back,” he ground out, furious. “Tell her Stefano Russo will be back for her, and this time, she’ll be mine for keeps.”

Then, because his brothers didn’t know where they were headed, he grabbed his brothers’ arms and teleported them to the van awaiting them.