Page 235 of The Carnage We Keep

“You know, I’ve never had a real girlfriend,” I murmur with a grin. “Let alone a wife.”

Bella laughs quietly.

“What I mean is, I’ve never told anyone besides family that I love them,” I frown. “So this is all new territory for me, too.”

“Well…” She bites her lip as her gaze pierces mine. “You’re doing a pretty decent job. I mean, the plane was a big win.”

I chuckle as I tug her tighter against me and cup her jaw. “I love you,” I murmur. “Wanna get out of here?”

She beams at me. “Is that your smooth segue into suggesting anal again?”

I chuckle, rolling my eyes as I wrap an arm around her waist and lead her out of the hangar toward the car.

…Which is when we’re grabbed from behind, and Bella is torn from my arms before a black bag is yanked over my head.

I roar and lash out when I hear her screaming.

Then I feel a sharp jab in my neck, and my world dims to nothing.

41

DAMIANO

The first thing that hits me is the cold.

Wet, rank, industrial cold that rips me from the haze I’ve been floating in.

The second thing is the smell. Copper. Rot. The chemical burn of bleach.

But then what hits me as I slowly drift up from the darkness is pain. A white-hot spike of it lances through the top of my left shoulder, and when that registers, I am wide the fuck awake.

My eyes snap open and I choke out a harsh, jagged roar as my vision swims, then focuses.

I’m on my side, shirtless, my cheek pressed against a cold metal grate. I try to shift, but instantly that piercing bolt of pure agony stabs through my shoulder again, locking my entire body.

Another ragged breath bursts from my throat.

My wrists are cinched behind my back with what feels like a zip-tie, tight enough that the plastic is cutting into my skin.

I blink away the lingering fog, then slowly twist my neck to see what the hell hurts so much.

Well, fuck.

That would do it.

A fucking meat hook is protruding from a ragged hole ripped into my left shoulder, jutting out between my collarbone and the tendon of my neck. My pulse races as I stare at it for a second, trying to process the reality of seeing thick, heavy steel piercing my flesh.

It’s inserted from the back, the cruel point of it glistening with blood as it curves out the front of my body. A heavy chain clinks against my back when I twist again, running from the hook itself up into the dark rafters high above.

Where the fuck am I.

And where the FUCK is Bella?!

A fresh wave of pain slashes through me, and I groan. Blood flows from the wound in my shoulder, running in sticky red ribbons down my chest and over my slightly outstretched left arm before it drips down through the grate I’m lying on.

Drip.

Drip.