Chapter 38 A RUMOR.
\~~~RAINA
The car door opened, and Luciano slid in beside me, his presence filling the space instantly. The scent of his cologne mixed with something darker. It was metal, smoke… and blood.
“Go,” he said calmly.
Gabriel shut the door and moved to the driver’s seat.
The car started moving and I kept my eyes straight ahead, my heart pounding so loudly that I was sure he could hear it.
Luciano leaned back in his seat like this was just another normal evening.
Like he hadn’t just destroyed someone.
And that terrified me more than anything else.
“D… did you…” I started, stammering, while my eyes still remained on my fingers that I was picking.
“Did you kill him?” The question left my mouth in a whisper.
He didn’t answer immediately.
Luciano only shifted slightly in his seat, resting an arm on the door as his gaze remained fixed ahead.
“Yes.”
Just one word and my breath caught in my chest.
“Oh…” My voice came out thin, and almost broken.
The car was silent again, except for the sound of the road beneath the tires. I swallowed hard, my fingers curling into my palm.
“You didn’t have to,” I whispered, even though I knew how stupid that sounded.
Luciano finally turned his head to look at me, slowly.
“Why?” he corrected calmly. “He lied to me.”
I shook my head faintly, my chest tightening. “He could have been punished another way.”
“There is no other way.”
His tone wasn’t angry, it wasn’t raised and that was the worst part.
“You don’t feel anything?” I asked quietly.
Luciano studied me for a moment, as if deciding whether I was worth answering.
“Feeling is a luxury,” he said. “One I discarded a long time ago.”
My stomach twisted and I hugged myself, suddenly feeling very small in the large space of the car.
“And if… if I lie?” I asked before I could stop myself.
Luciano’s lips curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile.
“Will you?”
My heart dropped straight into my stomach.
He leaned closer, just enough for me to smell his cologne again, that same intoxicating scent that now made my skin crawl.
“Because, my sunshine,” he murmured. “You of all people should be the last who would lie to me. You are my wife, my other half.”
That was not comforting at all. It was terrifying as hell.
He leaned back into his seat again, calm as ever, like he hadn’t just handed me a silent warning.
The rest of the drive passed in unbearable silence.
I stared out of the window, my reflection staring back at me pale, shaken, and trapped.
One thing was painfully clear now.
I wasn’t married to a powerful man.
I was married to death itself.
And it was only a matter of time before it realized I was lying.
_____
By the time we got home, it was already dark. We had met traffic on the road, and through it all, I kept the calmest behavior of my life.
I wasn’t even sure I had breathed once.
I walked into the room behind Luciano and went straight to the dressing table.
My fingers shook slightly as I took off my jewelry one after the other. Through the mirror, I caught a glimpse of him unbuttoning his shirt, and I quickly shut my eyes.
What if he killed me before morning?
“Luciano,” I called softly, turning to look at him.
He didn’t respond. He only moved toward the closet, and I took that as permission to continue.
“Can I… can I ask you a question?”
“No,” he replied flatly, disappearing into the closet.
I ignored him and slowly walked to the entrance of the closet.
“I heard a rumor,” I said, staring at his bare back as he pulled off his shirt.
He didn’t respond.
“I am going to ask you now, okay?”
“God, woman, leave me alone,” he growled, finally turning to face me.
My eyes dropped to the carved lines on his chest and I swallowed hard.
“I heard a rumor.”
He shook his head and brushed past me, clearly done with the conversation.
“People say you killed your f-father,” I said quickly, before I lost my nerve.
“Is it true?”