Page 76 of My Sunfall

“Lucas…” Chiara’s voice whispers softly in my head.

Then there’s only darkness.

* * * *

A needling burn throbs painfully in my skull, dragging me gradually up from the dark. For a moment I just breathe, cataloging every pain in my body. My ribs hurt, one is probably cracked. Arms and legs seem fine. My nose and face are stinging and the metallic tang of blood lingers in my mouth. But the worst pain is the slow, dizzying beat in my skull. I register that I am in a sitting position, head slumped against my chest. Hands tied behind my back.

My eyes snap open, even though I keep my head bowed and remain immobile as not to alert whoever has taken me. Because this is a fucking kidnapping.

Flashes from the scene earlier replay in my head. The massive black SUV swerving into view. The crunch of metal folding around me. The world flipping as my car turned over. The airbag detonating, smashing into my face. A sharp sting at my cheek. My head hitting something. Then blackness.

Footsteps break the silence, and a pair of expensive black leather shoes appear in my line of sight.

“Well, well. Looks like you’re finally awake,” a cold voice drawls.

I know that voice. I snap my head up, despite the dizziness. There’s no mistake, Lorenzo Vitale is staring coldly down at me from a mere foot away.

“Vitale,” I rasp, my throat feels like it’s filled with sawdust. “I knew I smelled something rotten.”

Instead of a reply, his hand snaps out faster than I can brace. A vicious backhand cracks across my cheek. My head whips sideways and white-hot pain flares in my skull.

I spit blood onto the floor and grin up at him. “That’s all you’ve got? I’ve had rougher mornings.”

Another blow, a closed fist this time, splits my lower lip and makes my vision blur.

“I’d watch my tone if I were you,” he replies, wiping his knuckles with a handkerchief. “You’re in no position to negotiate.”

“Yeah?” I rasp. “Then why am I still breathing?”

Vitale smiles and I have the uneasy feeling that I won’t like what he’s about to say.

“Because killing you now would complicate things. I need you alive to make your wife listen to my offer.”

My breath whooshes out of my lungs at his words. My wife.

He sees my flinch, and another slow malicious smile curls up his lips.

“Oh, don’t look so surprised,” he drones on, circling behind me then back into view, like a lion around its prey. “I know everything that matters. Your hasty little wedding, your eagerness to keep things quiet. You thought this would protect her?” He laughs softly. “Nothing can protect her from me.”

My blood turns molten. “If you go anywhere near her—”

A brutal hook to the jaw cuts me off. Pain radiates through my skull, and my vision turns black for a fraction.

“I already have,” he replies calmly. “As we speak, she’s on her way here for our little reunion party.”

I barely swallow the growl threatening to tear out of me. “What the fuck do you want, Vitale?”

He stops moving and looks at me with a cruel smirk. “Simple. Chiara is going to divorce you, and you’re going to tell her to sign the papers.”

“Not a chance,” I bark. I start to pull at my restraints, not caring that the zip ties cut painfully into my skin.

“She will,” he says, voice steady. “And she’ll marry me. That’s the only way it ends.”

My pulse thunders in my ears, drowning out every other noise. “Why her? You barely even know her.”

For the first time his façade cracks, letting me get a glimpse of something dark and cruel underneath.

“Oh, I know exactly who she is. She’s the heiress of the Bianchi legacy. A heritage that was supposed to be mine. I made the agreement with her mother but things…didn’t turn out as expected thanks to your interference.” He sends me a venomous glare before going on. “But soon, all she has will be mine, all her family estates in Italy. Especially…” he leans in and murmurs darkly next to my ear. “...the port of Napoli.”