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But I just kept counting.

I didn't want to know anything, not about what they were doing or where they were taking him. The less I knew the better. At least that was what I figured.

There was talking, whispering, and hard grunts filtering into my head. “How the fuck did she get loose?” The shadowed man spoke with assertion, demanding the answers he looked for.

I could tell by his voice that he was pissed, the darkness to his tone poured salt on my wounds.What is he going to do with me?

The episode was passing and everything around me was coming back in. The smell, the dripping pipe . . . It was all there.

Vince was speaking so soft I couldn't hear what he was saying. But I heard the other man clear as day. He didn't bother one bit to cover up his anger over what went down.

“You fucking piece of shit. Rope—you used fucking rope?Do I need to do everything around here? Can't you jerk-offs even handle one simple fucking task?”

There was a quick mumble that was immediately cut off by the dominant man. “No.” His tone was harsh and commanding. “Don't you say a fucking word, Vince.”

Their silence was brief, making me wonder if the man was holding the gun to his head, too. Vince was begging, his plea shaken and filled with fear.

Quiet words went soundless through the air, the man's voice filling the empty space. “I don't care. You fuck up anymore, and I swear . . .” Vince let out a weak but audible yelp. “So help me, Vince,I will kill you too.”

Shit! What the hell do I do now?Burying my head into my knees, I tried to think.

But I was empty. There was nothing to do but wait.

Footsteps clicked beside me, stopping with a heel scuff. “Get up.”

I didn't move or open my eyes. I let the numbers keep rolling.Fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-three . . .

The voice came in again, louder and more demanding.“Get up.”

Bracing myself, I opened my eyes and looked up. Drawing in a quick breath, his face was no longer dark and unknown. I knew the man who saved me. And my heart sank like lead deep into my chest, my pussy clenching for a momentary second.

Dante Pisani.

I remembered him and the night his soft lips had left their mark on my skin. It was the only memory that hadn't been tainted by pain or torture in the past month. He seemed so unlike the person whose name had been mentioned in distaste and hatred.

That night I felt a side to him that went unseen. And all that was left by an introduction and kiss to the back of my hand.

Right then, right in that dusty room, I saw what everyone else talked about. The room was dark but his presence was darker. The air was thick and warm, but it was his breath that caused it.

He was the oldest son to the biggest crime family around, a man whose reputation for instilling fear went far beyond his name. Dante was part of a line of Pisani's who ran the city and everything in it.

A bright gray suit painted his body, hugging his broad shoulders, and curving perfectly in at his ribs. It looked like it was made specifically for him, trimmed to fit every trench and arc of muscle his frame had to offer.

His skin was a deep olive tone, hair black as night. But it was his eyes, the deepness I saw, and the stillness beneath; that was what scared me. The brown was highlighted in gold sparks, pupils so black I could see my reflection hovering inside.

Shoving my palms into the harsh ground, my back slammed deeper into the cement wall.“You?”

His gaze bore into my gut, holding me frozen in place. “Did you hear me? I said get up. Don't fucking piss me off any more than I already am.” His hands were hanging by his sides, fingers still wrapped around the butt of his gun.

“Why are you doing this?” Fear had kept me down, leaving my legs numb, and my skin crawling with millions of tiny bugs. Sweeping my arms over each other, I tried to wipe the feelings away.

They didn't leave, only enhancing into tremors that I couldn't stop.

Squatting down, his eyes were ice across my skin. Goosebumps shot over my flesh, my lungs engorged and failing me at the same time. Leaning in, his lips rested beside my cheek. “This is the last time I'm going to tell you to get up.”

The heat off his mouth radiated over my skin, forcing my body to warm. Swallowing hard, I pressed my hands into the floor and pushed myself to my feet. “Did Remo send you for me? Is he behind this?” Any thought I might have had before about my current state of dress had completely dissolved.

I was naked from the waist down, dirt layering my knees, sand sticking to my cheeks where the tears had spread. But I didn't care, I wanted answers.