“This is going to end in war, isn’t it?”
Lucca’s voice went cold as he looked back over his shoulder. “The war started years ago; we just didn’t realize it.”
“Where is she?” Lucca asked the moment Drago entered the living room.
“She’s still in her room.”
Lucca stared at him, dumbfounded. “She hasn’t left it?”
Drago shook his head. “No. She’s just staring at the wall.”
Furious, Lucca went into his office, shutting himself inside.
Fuck! He slammed his hands down on his desk before angrily swiping the contents off and smashing them onto the floor. He was trying to be as nice to her as he could, letting her come out on her own after she was comfortable, but she hadn’t come out in two days. The only time she had come out of the room had been on the morning of the first day.
He wanted her to be comfortable here, to be comfortable with him, but Chloe was making it difficult.
A knock sounded on the door.
“Come in.”
“Everything all right?” Drago asked, opening the door.
Nodding, he almost let Drago close the door before he stopped him.
“I need you to do something for me.”
Taking up the whole double-door doorframe, Drago waited for his order.
“Tell her, if she wants dinner, she has to come downstairs.” Lucca paused for a brief second, deciding to continue his order. “Tell her that if she wants to eat again, she has to leave that fucking room.”
Drago nodded before leaving, closing the door behind him.
Over the last two days, Lucca had seemed to forget that he wasn’t going to baby her like the rest of her little friends had. Being nice never worked for me, anyway.
Six
Playing With Fire
Chloe sat on the bed, staring at the wall, her stomach growling even louder now. She hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday and had only been able to eat a couple of bites of her sandwich then.
If you’re hungry, you will eat downstairs from now on, her mind repeated the words the huge man named Drago had said.
She felt like she would rather starve than have to leave the safety of her room. It was strange, but something in her told her that, as long as she was in the room, they couldn’t harm her, like they were giving it to her as a safe haven. She had come to this conclusion over the course of the three days because she hadn’t been touched, and now Lucca was trying to draw her out.
Yep, I’ll starve.
There was a knock on the door before Drago entered. “Dinner is ready.”
Chloe held her arms tighter to her. “N-No, thank y-you.”
Hearing him sigh made her look over at him. No emotion had been shown by the man. Every time he had come in, he had simply said in very few words that food had been prepared, only for him to leave right after.
“You’re playing with fire.” Drago’s brownish-red eyes glowed at her. “You’d be wise to realize this door doesn’t lock from the inside. Even if it did, it wouldn’t stop him from coming up here and beating the door down if you keep disrespecting him. If you’re smart, you will get your ass down there while he still has a little patience left.”
The door slamming behind him made her practically jump off the bed.
You’re playing with fire.
Her eyes moved to the doorknob that held no lock, proving to her that she wasn’t as safe as she had thought she was in this room.
She didn’t know what to do. She was just trying to figure out which option gave her the best chance of survival. In the end, though, she knew Lucca was going to get what he wanted from her, and it wasn’t going to matter if she was on this side of that door or the other.
Taking a deep breath, she followed the path to her captor, taking her time as she slowly dragged her feet. With each step, she could feel the life she thought she was going to have in California slip through her fingers.
Downstairs, she lifted her eyes to see Lucca sitting at the dining room table. With the slight smile he gave through his eyes upon seeing her, she felt that life fully slip away until it was just a dream.
Lucca motioned for her to join him. “Sit down, darlin’.”
Looking at the table, she saw two plates already filled, one in front of Lucca, who sat at the head of the table, and the other in front of the chair next to him. Chloe was going to have to sit close to him, and by the look on his face, that was exactly what he wanted.
I should have … She realized her mistake then; that her chances were better off in the room.
“Sit.” His voice came out harsher.
She could no longer feel possession of her own feet as she walked up to the table, following his order.
His eyes turned green for the briefest moment as she stared down at him, holding her breath, while carefully taking the chair. It was almost like looking into the eyes of a different man. She saw something unusual in them, but before she could figure it out, they flashed and his normal shade of blue-green was back.
She looked down at her clutched hands in her lap.
“Thank you for joining me for dinner. I’m not sure what foods you like, but I hope you like this.”
She glanced at her plate of chicken parmesan and noodles, then back up at him. He seemed proud of his dish.
“Y-You made t-this?”
Lucca smiled as he picked up his fork and knife. “Yes. Why do you look surprised?”
“S-Sorry. You just don’t look”—her eyes drifted to his black T-shirt that hugged his broad muscles before she snapped her eyes back to her plate—“l-like the cooking type.”
“I got sick of ordering pizza after my mother died, so I taught myself to cook.” His voice seemed to have turned somber.
Although Nero had told her once that their mother had died, she felt like Lucca had just revealed something very personal to her. Why?
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
She realized she had picked up her fork and began picking at her food.
Setting the fork back down, she could barely get the words out, “W-Why am I-I here?”
“I already told you.”
I brought you here … to save you. Seeing that he still believed that made her realize he was even more insane than she had ever thought. Lucca needed to be the one locked up, not her.
She couldn’t understand the point in keeping her here. She just wished he would do what he wanted to her already and put her out of her misery.
“You’re just going to keep me locked in that room forever?”
“I never said you had to stay in that room, darlin’. You can go almost anywhere in the house. Drago will tell you when you can’t go into a room.” Lucca cut deeply into his piece of chicken. “You can even go in the backyard if you like.”
Admittedly, she didn’t know that.
“S-Still, you just expect me to stay here and do nothing for the rest of my life?” If she were able to cry, she would have. “I was going to college.”
Setting down his fork, he pointed toward the living room’s coffee table. “Do you see that laptop over there?”