Page 84 of Read This Before the Villain falls in Love with You

Adrian catches his breath against the doorframe. "Bellini's men just breached the outer gates. They aren't hitting the docks. They're coming straight here for Nora."

Luca pulls me behind him, his fingers tightening on the grip of his pistol. "Get her to the safe room right now, Adrian."

I grab Luca's forearm to stop him. "No. Listen to me. Let them take me."

Luca spins around, his dark eyes wide with shock. "Are you out of your mind? Absolutely not."

I step closer and grip both sides of his face. "Think about it for two seconds. Bellini thinks I am your weak spot. If they get me, his entire focus shifts to holding me. While he is distracted gloating over his prize, you and Enzo hit him with everything you have outside. You wipe out his crews, take his territory, and finish him for good."

"I am not using you as bait again," Luca growls, his jaw working as his hands come up to trap mine against his chest. "If he touches a hair on your head..."

"I can handle myself until you get there," I cut in, looking straight into his eyes, unflinching. "We finish this tonight, Luca. No more running. No more looking over our shoulders. Trust me."

He stares down at me, the conflict tearing across his features before he lets out a harsh, defeated breath. He leans down and crushes his mouth to mine in a desperate kiss. "Thirty minutes, Nora. If you die, I will burn this entire country to the ground."

I give him a sharp nod. "Thirty minutes. Go ruin him."

Chapter 32

NORA

Luca slipped through the back entrance with Matteo and the men, disappearing into the shadows just as boots pounded up the front stairs. I stood alone in the empty room, smoothed my shirt, and waited. When Bellini's thugs kicked the door off its hinges, a heavy sack dropped over my head, followed by a chemical rag pressed hard against my nose and mouth that sent my world spinning into black.

Cold flagstones press against my cheek. Darkness surrounds me, thick and heavy. When I pull my hands back, metal bites into my wrists. The cuffs are bolted high into the masonry, straining the muscles across my shoulders every time my heels slip. The taste of chemical solvent coats the roof of my mouth.

Iron hinges groan. Yellow glare slices across the floor, burning my eyes. Two men step through the opening. The first has a crooked, broken nose and knuckles scarred white. The other rolls a piece of gray gum between his molars, jaws working in slow rhythm.

Nose spits a brown stream of tobacco across the flagstones. "Look who's here. Boss wants a chat."

I blink hard through the glare, forcing my chin up as I stare down his crooked snout. "Tell your boss I bill by the quarter hour and I don't do dungeons."

Gum snorts. His boot leather squeaks wet as he shifts his weight. "The bitch thinks she's funny."

I rattle the iron against the stone. "I think you need a mint. And maybe a high school diploma, but let's start with basic dental hygiene."

Keys jingle as Nose steps into my space, his sour breath washing over me. "Mouthy. I like that. Makes the quiet part more fun later when we break you."

I smile with all my teeth, holding his gaze. "Touch me without permission and I'll rearrange your remaining cartilage into modern art, you ugly prick. Fair warning."

He laughs, short and ugly, but his key clicks in the lock. The metal opens. Blood rushes into my fingers with a dull prickle. I roll my shoulders once, checking the damage. Bruised everywhere, but nothing broken.

They jerk me upright. My knees wobble, then lock into place. The hallway smells of wet concrete and stale smoke. We pass row after row of locked iron bars. Most are empty. One man sits in the dark and keeps his eyes glued to the floor.

They shove me into an interrogation room lit by a bare bulb. A steel table sits bolted to the floor between two chairs. Don Vincenzo Bellini waits on the other side, wearing an expensive gray suit and a dead, flat smile.

Don Vincenzo traces a manicured finger over a folder on the desk. "Nora Elizabeth Blake. Crisis management. London. Very impressive resume for someone who ends up in my basement."

I drop into the chair across from him and lean back, resting my wrists on the metal edge. "Your basement needs work. So do your guards."

Bellini taps a manicured finger against the tabletop. "You talk a lot for a woman in chains. The Morettis took from me. I take from them. It is simple math."

"Your math is garbage," I counter, leveling a cold stare right into his face. "I am not their property. I run my own business, and right now you're running up a massive bill."

He chuckles, a dry rasp that scrapes against the concrete walls. "You are bait, Miss Blake. While Luca panics and scrambles to get you back, I take his territory."

I lean in until the cuffs rattle against the steel. "Luca does not panic. And I don't sit around waiting to get rescued."

Bellini leans forward, his dark eyes fixed on mine. "We will see how tough he is when I send him pieces of you."