“Do you know anything about gardening?” he asked.
Shaking her head, she figured she was in way over her head right now.
He laughed, sensing her thoughts. “That’s okay. I’ll teach you.”
She swallowed. “Okay.”
“I’m just cleaning up the garden, getting rid of weeds and any dead flowers.” He showed her how to do so by explaining what the weeds looked like and how to spot which part of the flower was dead. “Now you try.”
Going to the next patch of flowers, she carefully removed the weeds surrounding it and clipped off a now dead bulb. “H-How was that?”
Lucca grinned. “Perfect.”
For the first time since being here, she smiled. “You were right.”
Confusion marked his handsome face. “How?”
“I do love it more.”
His features went back to his usual haunting appearance, knowing she was talking about her loving it more surrounded by flowers. “Good.”
Thirteen
Good Night
Is his leg getting closer?
Chloe focused on the television screen, trying her best to ignore the heat coming from Lucca’s leg next to her. She had thought it was getting easier, but tonight, she felt like there wasn’t enough space between them.
Strands of hair moved off her neck, causing her to look back, and when she did, her breath caught in her throat. Lucca was twirling a piece of her black hair.
“Did you enjoy today, darlin’?” His voice was as dark as the strand he expertly twirled around his finger.
“Y-Yes,” she quietly spoke.
“Would you like to help me finish up the rest of the gardening tomorrow?”
Her nerves over watching him continuously twirl her hair made her blurt out, “No!”
The stand he held fluttered to his lap, falling along with his face. “Okay.”
“No, I-I mean …” She turned to better face him. She hadn’t meant the word to come out as harsh. “I would like to, but I can’t.”
“Why can’t you?”
“I haven’t finished my calculus assignment, because”—looking down at her hands, she began wringing them—“I don’t really understand it, and I have a test coming up.”
“Oh.” He once again picked up the strand of hair, beginning the twirling motion again. “If I can get someone to help you with your calculus tomorrow, would you want to help me garden on Monday instead?”
She looked up from her hands, stunned. “You would do that?”
“Yes, darlin’.” He grinned down at her. “Even if you didn’t want to help me.”
Chloe found herself strangely smiling back. “If you’re sure you can call in Monday to get off work, then I would like to.”
He seemed to be amused by what she said. “I’m sure.”
Unsure of what she had said, something told her she didn’t want to ask.
“Okay.”
After he gave her hair a final twirl, she sensed a longing in him as the silk left his fingertips.
“You may go to bed now.”
Standing felt different than it had the other times. She felt the same release she usually did, but she didn’t feel the need to run. What’s wrong with me?
She slowly began walking away, trying to figure out this other feeling that seemed to be scratching to get out.
“Good night, Chloe.”
Turning back to him, her heart stuttered. “Good night, Lucca.”
“Where the fuck is she!” He slammed his fist down on the desk.
The two other men in the room looked down at their feet before one finally spoke up.
“We still haven’t found her ye—”
“How fucking hard is it to find an eighteen-year-old girl?” When he slammed his fists down on the table again, he shot up.
“It’s … It’s like she disappeared. Like she fell off the earth.”
Going over to them, he pulled a knife out of his pocket and put it to the man’s throat. “Do you remember what we did to her?”
The man began shaking as he nodded.
“Your daughter is her age, right?” He lightly slid the blade over the man’s now crying face. “You either find her, or I’ll show you how a girl fucking falls off the face of the earth.”
When the man nodded again, he let him go, and the two flew out of the room.
Sitting back at his desk, he leaned far back in his chair, closing his black, ominous eyes. The image of a fourteen-year-old her came to his mind as he started dreaming of the past…
The girl was starting to lose consciousness, and her now traumatized, gray eyes began to drift away. There was something he enjoyed about seeing the eyes change from the person they once were to the person they were after he was done with them. It was his mark; how he claimed them.
He had taken away the young girl she once was and made her into his beautiful creation. Her body, her mind, her soul belonged to him and always would … until he took away her last dying breath.
Her eyes rolled to the back of her head before her eyelids closed.
“Good night, my little girl.”
Fourteen
Not Even God Could Save a Man Who Lays His Hands on You
Coming down the steps the next day, she heard a voice talking to Lucca that she didn’t recognize. Has someone found me? Their voices drew nearer, and then she could see a man in a suit with light brown hair. Lucca noticed her then.
“Chloe, I want you to meet Sal.”
Chloe knew of Sal, had seen him around the Carusos when she had been with Elle, but she had never seen him so up close, never took a look into his deep black to deep blue eyes. Something about him made every hair on her body stand up and every alarm go off in her head.
“Hello, Chloe.” He gave a wicked smile. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Frozen in place, she could only stare at the well-groomed man.
“Sal came to watch you and help you with your calculus while Drago and I take care of some business matters.”
“H-He d-did?” Her shaky hands clasped together and squeezed.
Lucca stared at her for a moment before his voice turned dark. “Come with me, darlin’.”
The command made her follow him through the house and down a hall. He opened a door, and then waited for her to go in first.
Stepping into what seemed to be his office, her heart began to pound then beat out of her chest as he shut the door behind him, closing them in.
Now alone, lines of worry marked his face. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Still trying to shake Sal’s eyes out of her mind, she tried her best to speak. “I-I just d-don’t know him.”
He took a step closer to her. “Drago is much scarier to look at than Sal, and you didn’t know him, either, so don’t lie to me, darlin’.”
Biting hard on her lip, she thought she was going to draw blood soon. I don’t know why he scares me.
Lucca took another step toward her when she didn’t answer.
“I don’t know …” she whispered. “I feel like I know him, but I don’t.”
Taking a final step, he pinned her against the big desk behind her when she tried to put space between them. They were barely inches apart when he picked up a strand of her hair and twirled it in the same motion he always did.