He gnashes his teeth and an eerie sound comes from his throat. “Because you both fucked up my plans. It was going to be me and you who got married. Me and you who moved from this fucked-up town. Me and you who were going to have children. He took everything from me and you fucking let him.”
“I hate you.” Now it’s my turn to bare my teeth at him. My voice is as cold as ice. “I hate you, and I hope you rot in hell. And that Luca is the one who puts you there.”
Just as I say the last word, my phone starts ringing. I look down at it on the floor beside me then frantically reach for it. Right as my hand touches it, Theo’s boot lands on top of my fingers. I cry out at the shooting pain and snatch my hand back.
I hold it to my chest as he stomps on the small device until it’s in several pieces. My hopes crumble. It was my only means to call for help. I have the other phone, but haven’t memorized anyone’s number. I could call the police, but from experience, I know they won’t make it here in time. My only hope is that Luca sees my message and comes for me. I have no doubt he will, I just don’t know if he’ll make it before it’s too late.
Luca, please help! I scream silently.
When he’s done smashing the phone, he reaches down and grabs me by the hair. I cry out when he yanks me to my feet.
“Shut up, bitch,” he growls menacingly.
“What are you going to do?” I yell.
He puts his face so close to mine that spit flies out and lands on my cheek when he barks, “We’re going to have a little reunion.”
I start to struggle against him, clawing at the hand in my hair and kicking out with my feet. I manage to hit his shin and he hisses out a curse. The backhand hit he delivers has me seeing stars. For a moment, I’m disoriented, but it’s not long before I’m struggling once again. I’m thrown to the bed and before I get the chance to bolt away, he’s sitting on my lower stomach. He grips both of my wrists then maneuvers them into one of his hands. He bends down until our noses touch.
“This is what you did the first time I took you, Jules,” he taunts, then licks my cheek. I fight back the bile rising in my throat. “If it makes you feel any better, you put up a good fight, you just weren’t strong enough.”
He buries his face in my neck and sucks a piece of my flesh into his mouth.
“You taste so fucking good. Better than I remember,” he mumbles. He pulls back and looks at the spot on my neck his lips were just at. “My mark looks so good on you. Just how it’s supposed to be, and how it will always be.”
Anger, white-hot and fierce, gives me courage, and I lift my head and spit in his face. “I’ll never be yours,” I seethe.
His retaliation to my claim is ripping my shirt open. “We’ll see about that.” He grabs my breast through my bra and twists hard.
Ignoring the pain, I buck my hips and try with all my might to pull my hands free. The bones in my wrist scream in protest as he tightens his hold. When he dips his head and bites my nipple, I whimper in pain. Not willing to give up, I lift my head and grab a hold of his ear with my teeth. I bite down as hard as I can, and blood fills my mouth. I yank hard and part of his ear comes away with my teeth. I spit the chunk of ear out then gag at the taste of blood.
“Motherfucker,” he screams and falls to his side, grabbing his mangled ear.
I roll several times, trying to make it to the other side of the bed. His fingers graze my foot right as I reach the edge. I roll to my back and kick out with everything in me. My foot hits his chest and he flies backward. Unfortunately, my momentum is too great, and I launch off the other side. My head explodes in pain when my temple clips the corner of the bedside table.
Darkness descends, but it doesn’t last long. Visions, one after the other, assail me.
Walking into the tattoo shop and seeing Luca for the first time. The instant attraction I felt for him.
Him cornering me at the tattoo shop before Nicole and I left, demanding my phone number, me giving it, and him giving me the most passionate kiss of my life.
Our first conversation on the phone that same night. It was two hours long. I know, because I was so giddy that I timed it.
Our first date.
Our second, third, and fourth kisses, and every one that came afterward.
The strong connection I felt toward him.
The moment I knew I loved him.
The first time I said it and the beautiful way he repeated it.
The night we made love for the first time.
Standing in front of the judge at the courthouse. The pure happiness and the feeling of rightness when he announced us husband and wife.
Every day that we spent together. Every single moment of the short five weeks we had together.
I also remember Theo trying to coerce me into leaving Luca. His adamancy that he and I belonged together. Him forcing his lips against mine. The sick feeling it left in my stomach. The anger Luca portrayed when I told him what his brother did. The worry I felt when he stormed out of the house to confront Theo, and the relief when he came back home.
Then come the memories of the evening after we were married and our plans to leave town. Luca refused for me to give up my dream of earning a degree in interior design, so we were moving to Westerly until I got my degree, then were going to move back closer home so he could take over his dad’s shop.
I was waiting on Luca, who was due to pick me up later that evening. When I pulled open the door, I thought Luca was early. It only took me seconds to realize it wasn’t him, but his brother. Paralyzing terror. That’s the only way to describe what I felt as I saw him standing there. The pain, oh God, the pain of what Theo did to me was excruciating.
He brutally raped me in my own home. He was so mean and hateful with his actions that I must have blacked out. When I came to, I had never been in so much pain in my life. I thought he had left because he was nowhere around. I got up, but right as I found my phone, he came out of the hallway. The blow he delivered to my head knocked me backward, and I hit my head on something hard. After that, everything is black. Until the day I woke up in the hospital a few weeks ago.
Coming back to the present, I blink up at the ceiling. My head pounds and my vision is distorted around the edges. I feel like I’m floating on air. I can’t move, but I know I should. I need to get away as fast as I can, but my limbs won’t work.
A face appears over me and blood drips from his ear and onto my chest. The drops are scalding hot and they burn like acid on my sensitive skin.
“You’ll regret doing that, Jules,” Theo sneers, and reaches for me.
I scream. I scream so loud it pierces my ears and my throat feels like it’s on fire. Another sharp pain meets my head as his fist lands against it.
White stars and black space fill my vision. As I lie limply on the bed and my mind blanks of everything that’s going on, one last memory surfaces.
What I found out the day Luca and I got married. The news I couldn’t wait to share with him.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Luca
MY PHONE RINGS FOR the second time in the matter of minutes. Normally, I ignore calls while I’m inking a client until I get to a stopping point, but something’s nagging at me that I need to answer. I set my machine down, grab a paper towel, and spray some cleaner on the design I’m only halfway finished with.
“Take five. I need to grab this,” I tell Thomas.
“I need to take a piss anyway,” he responds, getting up from the chair.
I pull off my gloves and snatch up my phone. Two missed calls from Kale, the guy I have watching Theo’s house. Unease settles in my gut.
There’s also a text message from Jules that I don’t remember hearing the notification for. I pull up her message before calling Kale back.