I gnashed my teeth at the thought.
Selfish.
The truth of Dante’s characterization of me was a dagger to my heart. I’d always been selfish when it came to my relationship with Nora. Everything I’d done with her—even trying to make her happy—had been for my own benefit, my own pleasure.
She’d just been punished in the most sadistic way because of me. Why would she think of me in the aftermath?
Yes, I’d been selfish to let her treat my wounds. To claim a kiss from her lush lips. I’d warned her to leave me, but I hadn’t tried very hard to make her obey. I’d been too desperate for her touch, for the distraction of her soft submission. Dominating her made me feel powerful, and I’d indulged in that rather than facing the truth of my captivity and shame.
She’d suffered because I was too weak to turn her away.
The weight of my self-loathing crushed my chest, shoving all the air from my lungs. Even if I could rail at Dante for being a fucked-up bastard without risking my friends, I didn’t have the breath to shout. My throat was already raw from bellowing my helpless rage as he’d hurt Nora, and I’d been forbidden from saying a word in protest. I would’ve begged on my knees by the end if it meant she would be spared.
As it was, my knees remained locked, and my hands were still pressed against the wall. My chest heaved as I sucked in oxygen, willing the sick, dizzy feeling to abate.
Dante’s watch beeped, and he ended his kiss with Nora to check it. His lips brushed her forehead.
“Time for dinner, darling. You haven’t eaten today, have you?”
She stiffened and blinked, a glimmer of awareness returning to her lovely eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off before she could say anything.
“Don’t lie to me. I don’t want to punish you again so soon.”
She pressed her lips together, and her throat worked as she swallowed hard.
He stood and helped her to her feet. She swayed, legs unsteady in the aftermath of the devastating things he’d done to her. He wrapped a supporting arm around her waist and guided her toward the door to my cell.
His glittering green eyes met mine, his satisfied smile sharp enough to cut. “You’re coming with us,” he announced. “You’re going to see how I take care of my wife.”
“Haven’t you hurt her enough?” My demand was hoarse from my raw throat.
He shook his head at me, his grin maniacal. “I didn’t say you could speak. Nora took one punishment for your friends’ sake, but that won’t happen again. Not when she’s blameless for your next actions.”
I wanted to snap at him that she hadn’t done anything to deserve the torment he’d just inflicted, but in his mind, she was partially responsible for our kiss. When it was all my fault. I’d been the one to grab her hair and tug her toward me so that I could claim her mouth.
And now if I dared to speak again, he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt Gabriele and Lorenzo.
“Don’t try anything stupid,” he warned. “Remember what will happen if you try to fight me.”
As though I needed reminding. He’d already crushed my will. How much more humiliation could I bear?
I gritted my teeth and straightened my shoulders. For my friends’ sake—and for Nora’s—I could bear it. I didn’t have a choice.
He retrieved a key from his pocket and unlocked my cell. I stood rooted to the spot, pressing my hands tighter to the wall to prevent them from wrapping around his throat.
He smirked at me and lifted Nora up in his arms, turning his back on me.
“Come,” he commanded, not bothering to watch to ensure I complied.
My feet stuck to the concrete floor, the order grating on my already raw and wounded pride.
But he was carrying Nora away from me. I had to follow.
I wrenched my hands from the wall and fisted them at my sides to prevent myself from snapping his neck. Each docile step pained me like knives piercing my bare soles, but I didn’t attack my enemy. Instead, I watched the top of Nora’s head where it peeked over his shoulder. I wished she would turn her head and glance back at me, but it was probably better for us both if she remained in her detached state. If she looked at me with desperation pinching her delicate features, I wasn’t at all certain if I’d be able to stop myself from killing Dante, and that would condemn Gabriele and Lorenzo.
We strode up the stairs and through a maze of corridors. I marked the path, memorizing the layout of the mansion. I’d already explored a significant portion of the house when I’d hunted for Dante yesterday, after I’d killed his guards and briefly escaped.
But I’d never really been free at all. The bastard had been waiting for me with yet another trap: a gun to Nora’s head. It hadn’t even been loaded.
