Chapter 58
Somewhere in the back of his mind, irritation flared at the layers between them. Too many clothes. That stupid Scalese pizza T-shirt. Jeans. Insulting, really. He could make it work.
“I need you to talk to me, Vee,” Luca whispered into her ear. “Tell me what you love. I like dirty p>
Heat was blooming under her ribs. This was the trap. She knew it. And still, her body leaned in. “I like how you kiss my neck,” she said.
“Hmmm… more His fingers slid beneath her shirt, skin to skin now, tracing slow lines along her waist, learning her again.
“I like to feel you get hard against my thigh,” she continued. “Makes me feel powerful p>
Luca answered without words. He pushed himself further into her thigh, exactly as she’d described, letting her feel the evidence of how badly she had him. “You are powerful,” he murmured.
“You know what I would really like to do right now?” he asked.
“What p>
“I want to slide these jeans down, get on my knees, throw your legs around my neck and bury my face deep inside your pussy and lick all of your juices.” He did not rush the sentence. He wanted every word to land. To stay.
His fingers brushed her nipples gently through the thin barrier of fabric. Her body reacted instantly, a sharp inhale, a betrayed shudder, heat flaring where she did not want it to.
Vee moaned. Her hands came up to his shirt, fingers curling into the fabric, fisting it.
Then Luca reached over behind her once more and switched off the sound button.
“Now smile for the camera, love,” Luca said lightly, the cruelty in his tone dressed up as charm, “’cause your boyfriend is going to watch this in a bit. Original, isn’t it p>
The room seemed to tilt. Vee’s eyes widened, shock slicing through the haze. Her hands fell from his shirt.
“You tricked me?” she asked, disbelief cracking through the words.
Luca shrugged, unapologetic, his expression infuriatingly calm. “It’s what you wanted, isn’t it p>
The answer never came. Instead, her arm swung back on instinct. The slap landed hard. His head snapped to the side.
“You son of a bitch!” she screamed, already moving, shoving past him, maneuvering her way away.
Luca turned slowly, tongue pressing briefly to the inside of his cheek. “What’s got your panties in a bunch?” he asked mildly. “You said you wanted him to watch you p>
He had a point. The logic twisted inside her. If it were fake, if it were controlled, if it were just another performance, then maybe she could live with it. Maybe she wouldn’t feel like she was tearing Cassidy’s heart out with her bare hands.
“What are you trying to do to me, Luca?” she demanded. “Break me? I’m already broken.” Her chest heaved. “You have taken everything away from me. My sister. My life. My choice p>
“No,” Luca snapped. “Your choice has always been yours. You make the fucking choices. Do you want to know what it means to have your choice taken from you?” His eyes burned into hers. “It means I won’t give a fuck if you say no, Vee. It means I’ll do whatever I want, fuck you whenever I want. You want this!” he roared. “You want me p>
And that was the cruelest part. It was the way her body betrayed her even as her heart shattered, the way desire and hatred coiled together until she couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.
She stood there shaking, broken and furious and wanting, and Luca watched her.
“Then take that too from me!” Vee shot back. “Leave me with nothing! You play all these games, Luca. You play with my body.” She pressed a hand flat against her chest. “I’m human. You forget that part too easily. You’re throwing feelings at me I never asked for, never had to deal with. What the hell do I do with them except give in to them p>
He watched her, dark eyes narrowed. “What are you really afraid of, Veronica?” he asked. “Are you afraid you’ll fall in love with me? That you’ll fall in love with the monster you despise so much p>
He took a step closer, lowering his voice, forcing her to hear every word. “Or are you already there p>
“I told you,” she said, and this time her voice was deadly calm. “I can never love you.” She met his gaze head-on. “You are evil. You ruin people’s lives without blinking. You destroy families, futures, and then you go to sleep like nothing happened. No one can love you, Luca. You can buy the whole world. You can own this entire city, brick by brick, soul by soul. And still, no one will truly love you.” She paused. “Neither can I p>
She turned away from him then, walking toward the door. At the threshold, she stopped, glancing back over her shoulder.
“Oh,” she said lightly. “The police want Tina to call them or they’ll declare her missing.” Her eyes flicked over him. “Whatever you want to do with that information is up to you p>
She glanced back at him.
Then she was gone.
Cassidy watched the entire scene unfold in silence, his wrists bound behind him, shoulders hunched forward. One of Luca’s men held the tablet inches from his face, close enough that he could see every detail. Luca sat casually on the desk across the room, one foot hooked around the leg, posture loose and unbothered.
From the very first moan that slipped from Vee’s lips, Cassidy felt something inside him fracture. Not crack. Shatter. His chest tightened violently, breath catching. His vision blurred, the image smearing as tears burned hot and humiliating behind his eyes.
“Enough!” he choked out. “Enough p>
Luca didn’t even look at him right away. He simply nodded once, a small, almost bored gesture. The man holding the tablet switched it off instantly, the screen going black. The silence that followed was deafening.
Luca slid off the desk and rose to his full height. He walked toward Cassidy with unhurried confidence.