“I can do anything I fucking want,” he whispers. “She is mine.”
The last words detonate inside me, and I swing.
But before I can make contact, someone grabs my arm mid-strike, twisting it behind me. Pain burst up my shoulder, and I am forced to my knees. A punch cracks across my jaw, then another, until the metallic taste of blood floods my mouth.
De Luca watches, bored, while his men beat me.
A boot slams into my ribs, and I feel something crack. I choke on a groan.
Another kick comes… then another.
My vision starts to blur.
“Enough,” De Luca says, at last.
I’m panting, bracing on my palms as blood drips from my mouth onto the dusty concrete.
He crouches down in front of me, watching me like I am a bug he is getting ready to squish.
“You owe me a debt,” he says softly. “For the man your brother killed and for the daughter you are hiding from me, I let you both walk free and play hockey, now it's time to cash in.”
He grips my chin, forcing my head up to look at him. “So here is how you will repay me.”
Every muscle in my body goes rigid.
“You will bring Julia to me. She belongs with her family. With her future husband. And if you don’t…”
He taps my cheek lightly. “... I will collect her myself.”
A colder threat that he didn't have to speak wraps itself around me.
“And Michael?” He rises slowly. “That beating?” He smiles down at me. “That was a mercy.”
The men step back, and the door screeches open behind me.
“Midnight tomorrow,” De Luca adds. “Bring her home.”
As I stagger to my feet, my ribs screaming, blood dripping from my jaw, I realize three things:
De Luca never wanted a debt repaid.
2. He wanted leverage.
3. And he will burn the world down to drag Julia back into his cage.
But that can’t happen if I burn him first.
Chapter 20
Mikey
Istumble out of the warehouse, one hand braced against the wall while the other is holding my ribs in place. It feels like shattered glass grinding under my skin. My jaw throbs in time with my heartbeat, and blood is dripping down my neck.
Behind me. The metal door slams shut, ringing in my head like a cell locking and a countdown starting…
