Page 103 of His Kidnapped Queen
But can I? Can I trust a single thing she says?
“Sophia, I?—”
I realize, too late, that there’s a scuffle in the other room, that I can hear Diego shouting out for help. I scramble to stand up and Sophia looks at me, her head tilted, confused.
“Get under the bed,” I command, and Sophia just stares at me. “Now!”
My raised voice seems to jolt her into action. She does as I say, grabbing my phone before getting under the bed. She scrambles under just before the door bursts open on its hinges.
I reach for my gun, but it’s too late. There’s a pistol trained on me.
The man stands there, oddly familiar, dark hair falling over his face, but I can’t quite make him out. The camouflage mask he wears throws me off.
“Who are you? What do you want?”
Another masked man sweeps into the room, gun drawn, and he kicks open the closet, clearly looking for something.
I grit my teeth, telling myself not to look down at the bed. They’ll know.
The second man comes up behind me, painfully twisting my arms behind me, and I go down to my knees when he pushes.
I don’t look under the bed. I make it a point not to.
“Under the bed,” the masked man in the doorway says.
“No!” I cry out but a third man comes into the room, also masked, and reaches under the bed. Sophia screams when he grabs her ankles, but he manages to pull her out from under the bed. Her index nail breaks as she drags it along the carpet.
Her panicked blue eyes meet mine and the sounds of her muffled screaming as they drag her out sounds like the end of the world. My phone falls uselessly to the floor. I hope she managed to get out to someone. Even if it all ends in me being arrested, I hope she finds a way out.
“If you touch a hair on her fucking head, I swear to God I’ll kill everyone you ever loved,” I spit at him. God, there’s something so familiar about his eyes…
I fight the man holding me back, but it’s no use. My stitches pull and I’m not at my best because I’ve just been injured. They’re going to take her.
The masked man staring at me slowly lowers his mask, revealing a full mouth and…
Nico.
That’s why his eyes are so familiar. They’re just like mine.
“That’s an empty threat, brother. I’ve never loved anything.”
“Maybe that’s why you’re like this.”
He stalks forward and pistol whips me across the face. A ringing starts in my ears. I spit blood onto the floor and Nico just laughs.
“You and Father, both so stupid,” he drawls. “I’ve been off the coke for weeks, and neither of you so much as noticed.”
“Probably because you were still acting like an idiot.”
Nico grins, pointing a finger at his nose. “And that’s why neither of you caught on. I should have been heir to the Rossi empire, Luca.”
I scoff. “Yeah? And why’s that?”
“Because I deserve it. Because I’veworkedfor it. Kissing Father’s ass all these years, being his good little soldier.”
I laugh out loud, unable to help myself. “You were spoiled. Babied. That’s all. He never trusted you with anything.”
“And that’s exactly my problem. If you’d onlytrusted me…” he trails off and I stare up at him, still shocked.
