Chapter 47 He’s Bleeding
Evelyn’s POV
He didn’t lead me into the main house. Instead, we stopped at a separate building, far enough to feel isolated, but clearly part of the mansion.
The hallway stretched long with the smell of damp stones and rust, the air thick and suffocating. Walls blackened and cracked, closed in like a cage, each corner hidden in away that feel abandoned.
Lorenzo’s grip on my wrist was brutal, his silence even harsher. No words. No glances. Just that terrifying quiet he carried when rage rotted inside him, but hadn’t yet spilled out.
“Lorenzo….” I breathed, stumbling behind him as his fingers dug deeper. “Where are you taking me?”
He didn’t answer.
His silence was to tell me that this isn't time for challenging him.
We reached a heavy metal door, the kind used to cage monsters, not human beings. He swung it open with one hand.
The coldness that hit me first was unexplainable, then, followed by darkness before the sound.
A soft, choked groan. A chain rattling against the wall. My stomach twisted, confused about what was going on.
Was he about to lock me up now? The thought of it made me feel dizzy. If he should chain me in a room like a slave then that means I will never get to see Daisy again.
“N….No….” My voice cracked. “Lorenzo…. Please don’t tell me.”
He dragged me inside.
The room was small, damp, windowless, four concrete walls stained with years of torment. A single bulb swung from the ceiling, flickering to a particular hidden corner.
And then I saw him.
Nolan.
Bent on his knees. Shirt torn. Hands chained above his head. Blood dried along his jawline. His chest rose shakily with each breath.
“Eve….” he croaked when he saw me. “No. He shouldn’t have brought you here.”
I gasped, fighting the urge to run to him, but Lorenzo tightened his grip and pulled me closer to him instead. His chest pressed against my back, his breath brushing against the side of my neck, cold and claiming.
“Look very well,” he murmured, voice low but sharp enough to remind me not to take any stupid actions. “This is what disobedience looks like.”
“Let him go,” I whispered, my heart pounding violently. “Lorenzo, he didn’t do anything.”
“He didn’t do anything?” His laugh was hollow. Dead. “He was hugging you during the ritual. Hugging what belongs to me. You think I didn’t see that?”
“That wasn’t…..”
“I should have shot him on the spot,” he snarled. “But he was lucky Gideon walked in before I could break his neck.”
Nolan lifted his head, panting through the pain. “I wasn’t touching her for your reason. She was scared. She needed someone.”
“And that someone was you?” Lorenzo snapped, stepping forward in one swift movement that brought us face-to-face with Nolan. “You? A man who should know his place and never near what is mine?”
Nolan clenched his teeth, refusing to bow his head again. “You’re angry at the wrong person.”
“Shut up,” Lorenzo growled.
“No I won’t.I don’t care who you think you are,” Nolan said through heavy breaths. “You’re hurting her. That’s why she ran.”
The air shifted.
Lorenzo moved so fast the chains rattled from the gust alone. His hand wrapped around Nolan’s jaw, squeezing hard enough to bruise.
“You helped her escape,” Lorenzo hissed. “She would never have had that courage alone.”
“I didn’t,” Nolan grunted. “Eve is not a kid anymore. She knows who is not good enough for her.”
“I don't fucking care! I'm the only one that can protect her” Lorenzo said, voice dropping to a possessive whisper.
His words sent a shiver down my spine. Not of fear, of certainty.
Lorenzo had lost control.
And he wasn’t planning to get it back.
“Lorenzo, stop!” I cried, pulling at his arm. “You’re hurting him!”
He flung Nolan’s face away and turned to me with eyes darker than ever.
“You want me to stop?” he asked quietly, too quietly.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Then listen carefully.”
He held my chin, forcing me to look into those cold, dangerous eyes.
“Any day you try to escape me again….” He pointed at Nolan without looking away from me. “He will pay for it.”
My heart plummeted.
“Lorenzo…..” My voice broke. “Please. Please don’t do this. Nolan is like a brother to me. My uncle adopted son for God’s sake. He is not what you think he is.”
“Brother?” Lorenzo sneered. “Is that what you were doing? Hugging your brother? Whispering to your brother? Running with your brother? Defying me for your brother?”
“That’s exactly who he is to me!” I shouted, tears burning my throat. “Lorenzo, stop twisting everything! Nolan is my family.”
“I don’t bloody care,” he shot back, stepping so close I felt the heat of his anger on my skin. “All I know is that he planned your escape for you.”
His voice went lower.
“I warned you, Evelyn.” His words struck my chest. “I warned you never to do anything stupid.”
Nolan jerked against the chains, voice hoarse. “Let her go, man! Leave her out of……”
“Shut him up,” Lorenzo barked.
Two of his men that have been silent until now stepped forward with long leather whips curled at their sides.
My breath vanished.
“No. No!” I rushed forward, grabbing Lorenzo’s arm. “Please don’t do this. Please. He didn’t help me escape. He didn’t even know. Lorenzo, listen to me!”
He ignored me.
“Flog him! I want to hear him scream off this roof!”
The first strike cracked through the air.
Nolan’s body jerked, his cry strangled in his throat.
“No!” I screamed.
Another strike. Then another. Each stroke more aggressive than the other.
“Leave him the fuck alone!” I cried out.
Nolan gritted his teeth, chest heaving “Don’t…..look….. Eve….”
“Stop!” I pushed at Lorenzo’s chest. “Lorenzo, stop them! He’s bleeding! He didn’t do anything!”
The next strike landed across Nolan’s back, ripping skin.
His knees buckled.
I ran forward, throwing myself between the guards and Nolan. “Don’t touch him!”
A whip grazed my arm as it missed its target.
Lorenzo’s roar shook the room. “Eve!”
I stood my ground, spreading my arms, shielding Nolan.
“He’s not going to take another hit,” I said through tears, voice trembling but steady. “If you want to hurt someone, hit me too.”
The room froze, that even the guards hesitated.
Lorenzo stared at me like he was seeing a stranger.
Then he stepped forward slowly, dangerously. “You want them to hit you?” he whispered. “Is that it?”
“Yes.” My voice cracked. “I won’t move.”
Nolan struggled behind me. “Evelyn, move! Please…..move!” He groaned in pain.
I didn’t step an inch.
Lorenzo’s jaw ticked. “You’re damn stubborn.”
“Then listen to me for once!”
He stared at me for a long while as if deliberating on what to do with me next.
In one swift motion, he grabbed my waist, yanked me away from Nolan, and threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.
“Lorenzo! Put me down!” I pounded against his back. “He’s hurt! Lorenzo! Lorenzo!”
He ignored every hit, every scream, every tear.
He walked us out of the cell, each step heavy and angrily, his arm around my waist punishing.
“Don’t you dare leave him there!” I cried, kicking wildly. “He needs help! He needs water! Lorenzo!”
He didn’t look back.
Not once.
He slammed the cell door, the metallic echo slicing through the hallway. Nolan’s faint cough followed us long after the door had locked him away.
“Eve…..!”
I kept hitting him until my fists went numb. He pushed through the hallway, passed the cold walls and flickering lights, all the way into the main house.
He kicked open the bedroom door and finally dropped me onto the bed.
The mattress bounced from the force. I scrambled up instantly, breath uneven, hair sticking to my wet cheeks.
“You monster!”