His hand reaches out.
I try to pull back, but there's nowhere to go. The wall is behind me. The mattress is beneath me. And he's in front of me, his fingers brushing against my cheek like he has every right to touch me.
"Such a pretty face." His thumb traces along my cheekbone. "Such a waste."
My stomach heaves.
I turn my head and gag, bile rising in my throat. His touch feels like poison on my skin. Like something rotting. Like death itself has reached out and marked me.
"Don't touch me."
I stumble sideways, away from him, away from his hand. My knees hit the concrete floor and I retch, but nothing comes up. I haven't eaten in hours.
He watches me.
He doesn't move to help. Doesn't move to hurt me either. Just watches with that empty expression, that dead smile, like I'm an insect he's studying before he crushes it beneath his boot.
"Your husband has some more hours." He steps back toward the door. "Enjoy them. They're the last you'll ever have."
The door slams shut behind him.
I stay on the floor, shaking, my hand pressed against my stomach.
Bruno will come.
He has to come.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Bruno
Isit in the back seat. Every muscle fiber burns. Nothing matters except the woman they took from me.
The woman carrying my child.
Valentino drives. His knuckles are white on the steering wheel, his jaw set in that hard line I've seen before every fight we've ever been in together. Nico sits beside me, checking his weapon for the third time in five minutes.
None of us speak.
The radio crackles. Liam's voice cuts through the silence.
"All teams in position. North entrance has four guards visible. East entrance has two. South entrance appears clear but thermal shows two bodies inside the loading dock."
I press the button on my earpiece. "What about inside?"
"Eight total, like I said. Four on the main floor, two in the loading dock, two more in what looks like a basement level." A pause. "That's where they're keeping her."
"Breach in three minutes," Pietro's voice comes through. "All teams hold for my signal."
Valentino takes a hard left, and the industrial district spreads out before us. Abandoned buildings. Empty lots. The kind of place where people disappear and no one asks questions.
"Liam's contact came through," Nico says quietly. He's not looking at me. His eyes are fixed on the window, scanning the streets for threats. "The Castellanos haven't called for backup. They're confident we won't find her."
"Confident." The word tastes like ash in my mouth.
"They think they covered their tracks." Nico finally turns to look at me. "The phone was a decoy. They cut off her ring in case we'd put a tracker in it."
My hand curls into a fist.
