Page 102 of Unmasking the Diamond
Before Charlotte could answer, a sudden bang reverberated through the cell door. She jumped, stumbling back.
“Stop your yapping!” a deep voice barked, followed by the harsh scrape of metal. Through the lower slit, a coarse piece of bread was shoved onto the floor. It tumbled across the dirt and came to rest near her slippered feet.
Charlotte stared at it, her stomach clenching with hunger. The sight of food should have been welcome, but the thought of eating something that had touched this filthy ground made her throat close.
“I know it isn’t much,” Lydia said. “But it’s all we get. Once a day.”
Charlotte crouched, eyeing the small hunk of bread. It was stale, gray at the edges, speckled with dirt. She hesitated, torn between pride and survival.
“How are we expected to live on this?” she asked.
Lydia didn’t respond. The silence on the other side of the wall spoke louder than any words could.
Charlotte sank back against the wall, the piece of bread lying untouched. Her heart pounded in her chest, the fear threatening to overwhelm her. But she forced herself to draw in a breath.No.She wouldn’t give in—not to fear, not to despair, and certainly not to death.
Tears blurred Charlotte’s vision, and she made no attempt to stop them from falling down her cheeks. What was the use in pretending to be strong when there was no one left to see it?
Her thoughts turned to Luca. The very memory of his smile—half-mischievous, half-tender—tightened her chest until she could scarcely breathe. She could almost hear his voice teasing her and see the spark in his eyes when she dared to challenge him. The ache of missing him was almost worse than the fear of dying in this dreadful place.
She pressed a trembling hand against her heart. How foolish she had been—to deny what she felt for so long, to hide behind her pride and her fear. She had pushed him away with sharp words and stubborn silence, believing that would protect her heart. But she saw the truth now, with cruel clarity. Loving him had been as natural, as inescapable, as breathing itself.
A quiet sob escaped her. “Luca,” she whispered. “Please… find me.”
But even as she spoke his name, a shiver ran through her.What if he never knew?What if she had waited too long to tell him? What if the last words she had spoken to him were barbed and careless, and he never learned how completely she had given him her heart?
Her tears came harder, her body shaking with the force of them. She tilted her head back against the cold stone wall and closed her eyes, clutching that single, desperate hope to her chest.
She loved him. She knew that now. He wasn’t just someone she wanted to be with, but he was the one she never wanted to be without.
But was it too late?
Luca sat behind his desk, his fingers riffling through the disordered heap of papers that littered the surface—ledgers, reports, correspondences—anything that might contain a clue as to where Charlotte was being held. The usually tidy office now looked like a storm had torn through it. The weight of his failure pressed heavily on his chest. Every second that passed was another moment Charlotte could be suffering because of him.
Alcott paced the cramped room like a caged beast, his agitation filling every corner. “This is a waste of time,” he barked. “We should be back at my townhouse, waiting for Charlotte’s abductors to make contact.”
“What am I missing?” Luca muttered, half to himself as he scanned another page, his mind racing to connect threads that refused to align.
Alcott stopped mid-stride. “Are you even listening to me?”
“I am,” Luca said, not looking up. “But I am trying to think. Where would her abductors take her?”
“We don’t even know who took her or for what purpose!” Alcott shot back, frustration sharpening his tone. “What if one of her suitors abducted her and they’re halfway to Gretna Green right now?”
Luca’s jaw tightened. “I doubt that.”
“But you don’t know with certainty, do you?”
He leaned back in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “It has to do with our investigation. Why else would she be taken now?”
“She is the diamond of the Season,” Alcott countered.
“Yes, but why now?” Luca pressed. “Why not last month, or the month before? No—this was deliberate.”
Alcott scoffed. “Why not now? Tell me, what other secrets have you been keeping from me?”
Luca met his friend’s glare, exhaustion mixing with guilt. “I told you everything on the way here—everything I know.”
“You don’t know much,” Alcott said dryly. He turned away, dragging a hand through his hair. “Good gads, this is my sister, Luca. Mysister.I was supposed to protect her.”
