The world shrank to darkness and I saw Alessia in the dark behind my eyes. She pressed a breathing mask on my face, begging me to breathe. She always looked at me like that, begging. Fuck, she was innocent. Too innocent for this world. She was alone, scared and hopeless.
I needed her alive, so I pushed myself up, fists clenched as the road tilted beneath me. A stranger’s voice called, “Are you okay?” and I ignored him.
Blood coated my hand as I gripped the bike. I hauled it upright, every muscle burning, and swung back on. The engine coughed once before roaring awake.
I needed her and I would fucking find her.
Chapter Twenty-five
Alessia
“You didn’t really think Iloved you, did you?” Marco sneered, his words dripping with disdain. “God, you were nothing but a means to an end. How else was I supposed to get to your father? But no, you and your pathetic little fantasy of a relationship ruined everything. I should’ve had what I wanted by now, and if it weren’t for your stupidity, you wouldn’t even be here.”
If someone had told me I would come to hate this man, I would have laughed in their face. But now, looking at him, I felt nothing but pure disgust. He wasn’t hiding his resentment because I never gave him what he wanted.
Renat had left the room, but Marco lingered. He reached out, his fingers trailing my face. I turned away, revulsion curling in my stomach. “Relax, we are just getting started,” he murmuredwhile brushing his lips over my jawline.
“What the fuck is taking Renat so long?” Elena huffed impatiently from across the room.
“Calm down.” Marco chuckled, his words laced with venom. “There’s no way Rodion would come looking for her. Selling her to Leonid meant she was no use to him anymore.” He leaned in closer, smirking. “But we? We have a few questions for you. Answer them, and maybe we will be done.”
He was right. Rodion wouldn’t come for me. And in the hands of these three, I knew how this would end.
“Are you happy?” I asked Marco. “You destroyed me. Are you happy?”
He scoffed. “Your father destroyed you. He is a man in demand. But that’s beside the point.” His expression turned bitter. “I’m here because you’re the reason my brother is dead. You know that?”
“I—”
“You fucking sold him out,” he snapped, his eyes burning with raw hatred. “You think I would let that go?”
“Salva lied to me.” I struggled, but his grip tightened around my throat. “I did what you asked, but you lied to me.”
“No. If you had done what we told you, this would have been over by now. But you didn’t because you’re a worthless bitch.”
He stopped when the door slammed open. Renat stormed in. He shoved Marco aside and took his place.
“Here is what you’ll do,” Renat said, pulling out his gun. “You’ll give me answers. And in return, I’ll let you live.”
“No—”
My words died when his palm cracked against my cheek, the force snapping my head to the side. A sharp sting spread across my face, pulsing over my already aching head. This was Renat, who almost raped me. I knew this side of him, and I knew this wouldn’t end well.
“Renat, what happened?” Elena asked.
“Dmitri is in town,” he spat, his fingers tightening around the gun. “He just murdered my man.”
“What? I thought you said he doesn’t like this town?”
Renat turned his head toward her and glared at her. “Oh? And what do you think? That I fucking knew he would show up? We need answers. If we get to know who Luigi is, we will find him first, and use him to take that fucking Rodion down.”
So, Rodion was after Luigi, his greatest enemy, while Renat was also pursuing Luigi, hoping to ally with him against Rodion. Luigi must be dangerous.
Renat’s eyes returned to me, “Listen to me, Alessia. You can tell us the truth, and this will end.”
“I… I don’t know who Luigi is.”
The response earned me a savage blow to the face with the barrel of his gun. I gasped as pain exploded across my cheek, blood pooling where the skin tore open.