Chapter 29 A Kiss For A Life
SANCIA
Three SUVs were parked at the curb outside the hotel, men in black suits stood beside the vehicles. Fabio led me to one of them and opened the door for me. I swallowed and glanced back at the hotel entrance.
Hoping and praying Lorenzo wouldn't kill Antonio, I was trembling from head to toe; fear and anxiety had taken root inside me and wouldn't let go. I turned and started walking towards the entrance.
“If you go back inside, he will kill him,” Fabio said, still holding the door open, waiting for me to get in. My step falters, and I whirl helplessly to stare at him.
“But he wouldn't kill him if I didn't?” I asked, torn between doing what my heart says and listening to this stranger.
“I don't know. Right now, Capo is enraged, so I'm not going to assume I know his mind, but what I do know is you going back there won't help Antonio in the least.”
There's truth in his words: what could I possibly do to stop Lorenzo, as bitter as the truth is, I know I can't help Antonio in any way. But I couldn't just sit inside the car and wait; I was about to say to hell with it and storm back inside, when they finally came out.
Lorenzo, in the front, faced as hard as marble, while two others dragged Antonio, who was barely conscious, from behind. I bolt towards them, my intentions clear, but before I could reach where he was, Lorenzo snagged my hand and yanked me to him, my back against his chest.
“Why the fuck is she not inside the car?” he gritted, glaring at Fabio. I tried to yank my hand out of his, but his grip was vise-like. I gave up with a huff, painfully aware that he could not only hold me against my will, but he could do much worse right now.
“Hey! Where are you taking him?” I asked, panicking when I realized Antonio was being thrust into a different car. I tried to move past him; Lorenzo dragged me back and glared at me.
“Get in the car while I'm being nice, Sancia,” he ordered darkly.
“Nice?” I scoffed, voice choked with anger and hate, “You don't know the first thing about being nice. You just shot him like he was an animal.” He moves closer, towering over me, his voice low.
“You're right.” He tugs a strand of my damp hair and wraps it around a single digit. Staring at me, rubbing dispassionately. His dark eyes held mine.
“I'm not nice, and if you don't get your ass right inside the car right fucking now. I will do much worse; to me, he's not an animal. He's dust.” I glare at him and move my hair. He lets go, but when I try to yank my hand from his touch, he won't let me.
I honestly can't decide what facet of him frightens me more. The sociopath who grins manically, or this version of him. Dark, controlled, and, at the same time, thrumming with tension.
I frown as I try to free my hand for the last time. Just when I thought he wouldn't let go. He takes his hand off and steps back.
“Get in.” That order was given in such a low, dark tone that it threatened. Helplessly, I get into the car. What else could I do? He shut the door, rounded the car, and got in, sitting beside me in the back.
Fabio and another man were in the front seats. A Spike of anxiety pierced into my fear-induced thoughts as the car Antonio was in took a different route.
“Where are you taking him? Are they taking a different route? Are you going to kill him?” I asked, glancing back, barely keeping myself in check, instead of shaking or choking him up like I wanted to.
“I might, and I'll be within my rights to do so. What kind of Capo would it make me if I allowed the man who kidnapped my fiancée and was planning to marry her live?” he said darkly.
“But he didn't kidnap me…”
“Semantics, he might not have kidnapped you this time, but he has every intention of doing that. Isn't that right, Katarina Savarino?” he drawled, my throat close up.
“He's a fucking idiot.” his voice was hard; I blinked back tears and bit back the sharp retorts sitting at the tip of my tongue. He turned around and grabbed my chin hard, staring into my teary eyes.
“There's no place you could have run to that I wouldn't have found you. Hear me now, Sancia, you can run to the end of the world, and I will chase you all the fucking way.”
“Don't kill him, please,” I pleaded, hating the fact that I'm begging this man for anything, but this is Antonio's life we are talking about. His darkened, a muscle in his jaw ticked.
He grinned wickedly, his other hand yanking me unceremoniously, dropping me on his thighs, his broad hand on my waist, the hand holding my chin slid into my damp hair and tilted my head up to stare into his eyes; my eyes widened as a tremor raced through me.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I hit his chest and tried to shove him so I could get down from his legs. This was too close and intimate, and for whatever reason, my heart was racing like crazy; there was a weird knot in my stomach. It must be fear; Lorenzo terrifies me. Hitting him was futile; the man was like a wall of steel.
“Stop tigress, your fighting does nothing but get me hard,” he warned because it was a warning. There was a faint smell of alcohol in his breath that told me he'd been drinking before coming here.
And true to his words, I felt that part of him was hard as a rock; I gasped, making him chuckle darkly as I hit him harder.
“Cease this nonsense and answer me, what are you willing to do for me to spare his life?” he said. I stop fighting him instantly, hope kindles in my heart, which is stupid.
Lorenzo is the devil; he doesn't know the meaning of the word mercy; he said so himself, but what if? My eyes searched his face, wondering if he was joking with me or if this was some kind of a trap or test.
“I assume you want to save him, right? Or am I wrong?” he drawled with a wicked grin. My heart pounded in my chest. I don't know what to do or think, but I would take any chance to save Antonio.
“You just told me you aren't nice.”
“I'm not.”
“Then why are you offering this? Is this a trap? Are you toying with me?” I whispered, staring into his brown eyes, sitting on his thighs, one hand on my waist, the other in my hair like he has every right.
We were too close for two people who obviously hate each other. And I know Lorenzo hates me; something tells me he has a reason for coming into my life, only I don't know what, but love is definitely not it. The man isn't capable of understanding anything beyond violence.
“It's not a trap. I'm giving you the opportunity to save the idiot you love…”
“Antonio is not an…” I started, but winced when his grip on my hair tightened.
“Don't say his name again. Or I'll rescind my offer,” he said, his deep voice hard as gravel.
“You hate me, so why would you care if I lose the man I love?”
“I don't. I only care what I get in return.” Just as I knew, he didn't deny that he hates me.
“What do you want?”
“A kiss,” he said. My heart hammered as his eyes lowered to my mouth.
“Just a kiss and you will let him live.” I can't believe I said that or that I'm even considering kissing the same man who had shot Antonio. But in the grand scheme of things, what's a kiss compared to Antonio's life?
Using the hand he has in my hair, Lorenzo pulls me closer, gazing at me with dark, possessive eyes until there's barely an inch between our lips.
“Yes,” he whispered. My stomach clenched with some weird emotions, probably nerves. I place my hand on his broad chest and push back.
“Swear it, promise me now that you won't hurt a single hair on his body and that you'll have him taken to a doctor.” his dark eyes met mine. His brow arched, eyes narrowed.
“Please,” I said, his eyes lowered, and he bit his lower lip.
“I swear,” he whispered darkly.
“I…” There was no warning as to the storm I'd invited upon myself, but when Lorenzo slammed his mouth over mine.
Every nerve ending in my brain short-circuits as he plunders my mouth savagely, just as I'd thought his mouth was softer, though right now they were rough, kissing me savagely the way I've never thought a kiss could be.
I was utterly and wholly unprepared for his kiss. He took, demanded, and stole my breath. His hands cupped my face as he turned my head around until I didn't know where up or down was.
Lorenzo sucked my tongue, licked the roof of my mouth, and let his tongue roam inside my mouth freely. When he finally let my mouth go an eternity later, I was boneless and breathing so hard, my chest lifting with every inhale and exhale.
My pulse pounded, and every inch of my skin felt hot and tight. Even my mouth felt different, branded. I wanted to reach out and touch my lips, but I didn't, as my senses gradually returned.
It occurred to me that I was still sitting on Lorenzo's legs. I jump back on the car seat as though I've been scalded by flames. Lorenzo licked his lips and grinned with satisfaction, and somehow, it felt like I had been played.
“You got what you wanted. I hope you'll keep your word.”
“I only got a taste; trust me when I say this, it barely touched the surface of what I want from you.” I swallow nervously and look away, going as far as the car would allow.
Lorenzo chuckles, sending a shiver down my spine even as regret settles inside me. I hope he keeps his word.