Chloe began begging, “P-Please, don’t do it. Don’t hurt him.” Closing her eyes, she reached out, touching his arm. “Please, Lucca, don’t hurt him.”
Lucca stopped stalking him, but his heavy breathing, along with the heat that came from his body, showed her he hadn’t been persuaded yet not to rip his throat out. Therefore, she wrapped her hand around his strong arm as she brought herself closer to him, touching her body to his. She held on to him as hard as she could, hoping he wouldn’t move, afraid that the slightest movement would end in Amo’s death.
Finally opening her eyes, she saw Amo’s face from behind Lucca’s arm and regretted ever opening them.
Chloe had done it again, except much worse. Now she had completely shattered his heart.
“Take him to my office,” Lucca directed toward Drago. cutting his fierce eyes deeply into the man before him.
Stepping inside the room, Drago grabbed Amo roughly by the arm.
Chloe closed her eyes again, hiding behind Lucca, unable to look at how heartbroken Amo was any longer. She tried to melt into Lucca in hopes of disappearing.
She might have saved his life for now, but it sure felt like she had killed him, anyway.
I’m so sorry, Amo.
Amo had to look away from the girl he loved, unable to stand the fact she was touching another man. He had only touched her once before today, when she had run into his arms. Now she couldn’t wait for him to let go of her; couldn’t stand the feel of his touch. She had been completely repulsed, jerking away from him as if he had hurt her, as if he was a monster, as if I was holding her captive.
However, that didn’t happen when she had touched Lucca.
He could feel her slipping through his fingers.
Amo had always thought himself one step ahead of Lucca by becoming friends with her, hiding the family and the things that made him a soldier, only ever showing her the good in him. He even had the one-up of being closer to her in age and protecting her at school. Now, he was sure Lucca had always been a step ahead of him.
Drago pushed him, making him walk faster down the stairs.
“This is fucked up what he’s doing; what you’re doing to her,” Amo spat to the man behind him.
Drago pushed him again. “Shut the fuck up. You don’t even know what you’re talking about, kid.”
“I know there is no fucking way she agreed to come here. She’s afraid of him.”
“Did she look afraid of him to you?” Drago questioned.
Silence was his answer.
“To me, she looked afraid of you … when you touched her.”
Amo stopped walking. His jaw flexing.
“Don’t be a dumbass. I’ll kick your ass, and that girl won’t be able to stop me.” He shoved Amo’s shoulder to get him to start walking again.
“I’m going to kill him,” Amo said under his breath.
Drago quickly pushed him into the office, closing the door behind him. “You are a fucking dumbass for even thinking those words, let alone having them come out of your fucking mouth,” he told Amo with a look of warning.
“What, you going to tell him? Is Lucca your family no—”
Drago grabbed him by his jacket. “Get your shit together. Then maybe, by the time he gets down here, he’ll spare you your fucking life.”
Amo spat in his face. “He’s a fucked-up piece of shit who should be nowhere near her. He took away the girl I love, and you’re crazy if you think I’m leaving here without her.”
Letting him go, Drago laughed in his face. “You better pray to God that girl is doing everything she can up there to save your ass.”
Fucker! The thought of Chloe up there, touching Lucca, sent him in a rage.
Amo went to punch Drago, but he grabbed Amo’s fist, squeezing it so tightly that Amo could feel his bones starting to bend.
“You fucked up by touching her. Touch her again, and he will kill you. Chloe is his. Get that through your fucking skull before you get yourself killed.” When Drago heard something snap, he released him.
Amo held his broken hand to his chest. “I see how it is. The family over family. I guess Lucca is your blood now.”
“You don’t get it, do you? You think he’s done all this just to steal away your high school crush?” Drago started to leave, opening the door, but then paused and looked back. “He’s the underboss; you are a soldier. Learn your fucking place.”
Amo wanted the last words before Drago could close the door. “Thanks for the advice, Uncle.”
Thirty-One
A Nightmare That Will Have You Begging Me Not to Wake You Up
Even after Drago closed the door behind them, Chloe continued holding on to Lucca, not wanting him to change his mind and go after Amo. Her heart thumped out of her chest now that she was alone with him. She had no idea what to expect from him as he continued to remain still. All she knew was that he was still. Too still.
The heat from his body began to warm hers. It was like she could feel the darkness boiling inside. Like a bottle that had been shaken too many times and was about to burst. Somehow, in some way, she was going to have to try to contain it to keep her friend alive. Unfortunately, she knew that was going to come at a price.
Lucca suddenly moved, turning around and grabbing her, then pushing her up against the wall of her room. It made Chloe gasp at how quickly he had turned the tables. Now all that heat and darkness were directed at her.
He pinned her with his body, keeping her caged in. Both hands firmly gripped her hips as he leaned forward, resting his head in the crook of her neck and taking deep breaths.
She stood there stiffly, too afraid to move. She wasn’t afraid for herself, though, knowing by now Lucca would never hurt her. Not even the darkness would.
“W-What are y-you going to do with him?” she managed to get out.
“He touched you. I told you what I would do if anyone ever laid a hand on you,” Lucca spoke with finality.
“H-He won’t do it again. I-I won’t let him get close enough to, if that’s what it takes.”
“Baby, I’m not ever letting anyone get that close to you again.” He removed a hand from her hip and gently grabbed the wrist that had been touched by another man, lifting it up to eye level. “Did he hurt you?”
She knew her reaction to Amo touching her made it seem like he had, and in a way, he did, but it hadn’t physically hurt her. It was only mentally. “N-No, it just felt … strange.”
“How so?”
She stared at his thumb as he rubbed it back and forth over her wrist. Why doesn’t it feel this way with him? “Like it felt wrong.”
He brought the inside of her wrist up to his lips, his cool breath hitting a sensitive area. “Good.”
Chloe bit her lip hard, knowing exactly what he was about to do, and when his lips touched her skin with a kiss, her heart stuttered from his tenderness. It was like he was trying to replace the touch that wasn’t his, washing away any trace of another man. She had expected it, prepared for it to sting, never before having a man’s lips touch her, but that wasn’t what happened.