Deadly Vows - Chapter 16 (Patreon)

The first thing I register as I come to is the warmth. My body is tucked snugly underneath a massive comforter, and warmth is radiating from the blanket, seeping heat into my body. I don’t want to open my eyes for fear of something I may regret, but I open them anyway. I am still in the torture room, except I am not chained to anything. There is a fire going in the fireplace that is keeping the room comfortably heated. This is heaven compared to being in that ice chamber.

I have no idea how long I was left in that miserable room, but I was glad when I lost consciousness. That room is something I never want to experience again. It is dark and cold, and time is nonexistent. My body feels exhausted. Like moving is a hassle for my muscles. I shift and look around the room to see if Luca is anywhere, but it is empty. Thank God.

I finally sit up in the bed, letting the sheets fall around my waist. I am dressed in a T-shirt and underwear, but that is about it. The stupid collar is still latched around my neck and hooked onto the headboard. There is also an electric blanket folded and sitting on the bedside table neatly. It seems that when I have been unconscious, Luca has taken care of my body. I could scream from the situation I am in. I lie back down, pulling the blanket over me, and stare at the ceiling. It makes me angry to no end, and I don’t know what I can do about it. How is any of this fair to me? What have I ever done? I have always been an obedient child and never given my father a reason to hate me other than the fact I was born a girl.

Oh, shit.

I’ve completely forgotten. Luca revealed I have a brother. A half-brother that was born around the same time I was. I know I should feel some bitterness about it, but I can’t help but feel curiosity. Who is he? Does he know who he is? Does he know who his father is? The thing that upsets me the most is that my father had gotten rid of my mother behind him.

But one thing is for sure: I need to find him. Luca hasn’t specified whether or not he is in this line of work or not, but I hope he isn’t. I hope he is good and kind and nothing like my horrible father. Now I have a new purpose to survive, to want to get out of here.

One thing is definitely for sure; Ari and my brother are the only close family I have. And I need to protect them at all costs. The rest of my family … well, I have no idea what fate awaits them. But the way Luca speaks of them, it can’t be good. Luca is crazy. He must have some kind of mental disorder or something to think that his behavior is, in any form, okay. But I can’t really say that because of whom he has been raised by. In this line of living, to be born without a conscience and a low-tolerance mind-set is to be perfect. And that is what Luca is. He has no tolerance for any inconvenience in his life.

As if he has sensed the hope in my thoughts, the door to the far side of the room opens, and in strolls Luca. He is looking down at a box in his hand and doesn’t notice that I am awake. So I do what any sane person will do. I close my eyes and fake sleep. I hear his footsteps get closer and do my best to calm my breathing. Luca is a trained killer, so I am pretty sure he will be able to tell that I am faking sleep. The edge of the bed dips, and I hear more shuffling. The blanket is slowly pulled back off my body, and I try my best to remain calm.

Instead of feeling Luca’s groping hands like I’ve expected, I feel him lift the T-shirt and pull my underwear down a bit. Then something cold is rubbed in a circle near my hip bone. A sharp prick startles me from my focus, and I jolt up with a shout. I immediately rub my burning hip and look at Luca. He has an amused smirk on his face, and his head is tilted to the side as he watches me.

“I knew you were awake, baby.” He leans in and gives me a light peck on the lips. “Nice try, though.”

I am still trying to rub the sting from my side. Luca gave me a shot of some kind, and I am beginning to freak out. “What did you inject me with?” My voice comes out groggy and rough, but I don’t care.

Luca walks back to me with an even larger needle and a smile on his face. My eyes widen in fear. There is no telling what this is all about. I mean, he has fucking locked me in a deep freezer for God knows how long before he has pulled me out.

“That, my sweet, was a numbing agent. And this …?” He wiggles the needle through the air for emphasis. “Is your new microchip implant.”

I am completely taken aback. “W-what?”

“The little stunt you pulled made me realize something in the months you were gone. I gave you too much freedom. And because of that, I had trouble finding you. So just in case you feel like doing something stupid in the time coming, we’re going to keep a GPS on you. You know, safety measures, of course.” He winks at me, and I can feel my anger bubble up.

“Are you crazy? I’m your wife, not your pet! I refuse to have that … thing put inside my body!” I shout at him, but his smile grows even wider. The look on his face is almost as if he were daring me. Just waiting for me to do or say something stupid so he can do something in return.

Suddenly, his smile drops and he crawls across the bed, coming closer to me. The look on his face keeps me rooted to the spot, afraid to move. I can’t even run if I want to, because he has me bolted to the bed. He gets even closer to me, entering my personal space and keeping his gray eyes locked on mine. His eyes flicker to my lips, and he opens his mouth slightly.

I still can’t move. He reaches a hand behind my ear and pulls me in closely before his eyes flicker from mine back to my lips. I can’t think straight with him this close. He pulls me in, and I can feel his warm breath fanning on my lips. Then he kisses me. Soft and warm.

Not possessive like it usually is. I feel a dull pressure against my hip, the same area that Luca swabbed earlier. Shit.

I finally get my wits about me and shove him off me. Hard. The syringe is empty, and the chip isn’t in the tube. So it is now in my body. Luca distracted me. I look at him in horror, and he is smiling. Pure amusement is written all over his face. He turns away from me and drops the empty syringe on the metal tray.

“You’re right, Elise, you are my wife. My wife.” He walks closer to the bed, and I can see the malice slowly forming in his eyes. Malice toward me. He begins to unbutton his shirt and slowly pulls it off, revealing his gun holster.

“So imagine my utter shock when I find out that it may possibly be my wife’s fault my father is dead.”

He begins to unfasten the holster and drops it to the floor with a loud thud the gun is obviously loaded. My eyes are wide and filled with fear. I have no idea what he is talking about. I had nothing to do with his father’s death. He crawls in the bed and comes toward me. I don’t dare speak.

Luca is a ticking time bomb. I know the topic of his father is very tender, so I don’t want to say anything that may set him off. He is finally in front of me and pushes me so that I am lying on my back. He crawls over my body and straddles it and begins playing with my hair.

“It’s like every time I think there is no more horrifying news regarding you, I find out more.”

My heart rate begins to skyrocket. I have no idea what he is talking about, but whatever it is can’t be good. He doesn’t speak for a moment, just keeps playing with my hair. Then his hands move down and begin tracing my face. Starting with my cheek and running over my lips.

“The man we interrogated from the shooting told us who was behind it. Your filthy bloodline, of course. But he only recently spilled how he got the information of your father’s then-impending doom.” He traces his finger from my jawline to my throat. His eyes are roaming over my face slowly. Without warning, his hand tightens around my throat, and he shoves me roughly into the bed.

“Imagine my shock when I find out that Ariana Gudierri is the one that told the information to the fucking attackers.” My eyes widen in shock, and I try to pry Luca’s iron grip from my throat, but he is not having it. His eyes are filled with such a deep rage.

He drags me up the bed, slamming my body into the head- board, causing me to cry out in pain. Luca is in my face the next instance, shouting at me.

“How could you do this to me? You’re supposed to be my wife! You’re supposed to be loyal to me! Not any of them! Your last name is Pasquino now, not Trovoli! You do as I say! You keep my secrets! You stay loyal to me!”

Luca is so angry I can see a vein popping out of his neck. He jerks me away from the headboard, only to slam me right back into it. My head bounces off the wooden headboard, and stars explode across my vision from the impact. His hand is growing even tighter around my throat, making it even harder for me to breathe.

“This will never be good enough, will it? You will always try to go back to them, be only loyal to them!” He spits the words out as if he were disgusted. I can feel my head begin to pound from the impact and lack of oxygen. I try to open my mouth to say something, but as soon as Luca sees the action, he immediately jerks me off the headboard, only to slam me back up against it again. His face turns murderously angry.

“Don’t you dare fucking speak!”

He lets go of my body, and I fall forward, coughing and sputtering, trying to catch my breath. I don’t even have time to be in shock. Luca has a hold of the chain and drags me out of the bed. Literally. He jerks hard enough that the collar pulls me off the bed and I hit the ground. I am being dragged across the floor by my throat. I struggle uselessly.

Luca finally stops and looks at me, no emotion in his eyes. The same as last time, when he has dragged me into the deep freezer. And I hope to God he isn’t about to put me back in there.

* * * * *

Twenty. Twenty and counting. Luca has me chained to some kind of overhead rafter. My arms pulled above my head. This time, though, my legs are touching the ground. But I can barely hold myself up. Luca has been whipping me for I don’t even know how long. Not just on my back this time, but all over my body. And not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough for me to feel pain.

He stands in front of me with a look of rage.

“L-Luca, please. I … I’m sorry.” I can barely get my words out from trying to catch my breath. I have been begging, hoping for some form of mercy from him, but I have gotten none. If what Luca has said is true and Ari is behind this, then it is all my fault. I have been the one who has told her about my father. The truth behind his death.

“I didn’t know she was going to tell, I swear.” I choke on a sob. My body is in pain, it is freezing cold, and I am naked and chained to the ceiling. This is misery in its purest form.

Suddenly, my arms are released and I drop to the floor in a miserable heap, still bawling in a pile. I hear Luca’s footsteps come toward me, and he picks me up slowly, cradling my body as he carries me somewhere. I still don’t open my eyes, though.

I just want to die. This isn’t a life worth living. And I now know I have no one. Ari has betrayed me in more ways than one, even if she doesn’t know the consequences. She should have thought of what will happen to me if we are found out. But she hasn’t. And now I am suffering.

Luca steps into a room that is abnormally warm, and I open my eyes.

We are in the bathroom. There is water in the large tub, with small vials of different colors perched on the side. My body is still burning in pain from Luca’s torture. He lowers me slowly into the tub, and the pain grows even more as the heat from the water deep- ens the pain. Luca takes a seat on the side of the tub. His face is blank. He reaches for one of the vials and pours its contents into the tub. After a moment, the pain subsides.

Luca stands up to leave, but I reach out and grab his arm in desperation. Water from the tub splashes out everywhere, and I look into his steel depths, pleading with my soul for him to hear me.

“Kill me.”

The words hang in the air. It is completely silent except for the sound of the water rippling in the tub.

Luca looks as if he doesn’t quiet comprehend what I am saying. “Please. I … I can’t live like this.” My vision grows blurry, and fat tears roll down my face. “I don’t want to live like this. I don’t want to live, period. I have nothing, Luca. I have no one. I’ve never had anyone. Just please …” I take a deep breath. “If you really love me, just kill me now.”

Emotion finally graces Luca’s face. But only for a moment. Not long enough for me to comprehend what it is. He moves so quickly I don’t have time to register what is happening. Somehow, he wrenches his arm from my grip, and the next thing I know, my head is being plunged under the water of the tub. I have no air in my lungs, so suffocation for me begins immediately. My body’s instinct for air kicks in, and I begin struggling.

My chest is burning from lack of air. This is it. This is what I’ve asked him for in the first place. And now he is giving it to me. The edges of my vision begin to turn cloudy, and just when I think I am going to lose consciousness, I am yanked above the water by my hair. As soon as I break the surface, I take in huge gulps of air. I cough up water and gasp for air all at the same time. My chest is still burning from the lack of oxygen in my system, and my throat is raw from all the coughing. I open my eyes, and Luca is standing in the tub right in front of me, his face still blank of emotion.

“Don’t ever ask me that again. You are all I have. And I am all you have. I told you before, I will kill anyone, anyone, that gets in the way of this. We’re married. We belong to each other, with each other. Which is why I can forgive you for your wrongs.” He leans in closer to my face and finally lets his blank expression drop. And what I see chills me to the bone, even in this heated bathtub.

“But what I cannot do anymore is forgive the Trovolis. And I swear on my father’s grave, I will make every single one of them pay for his death. I’ve had it with that filthy bloodline. And I refuse to let them live any longer.”

He stands up and walks away from me before I can form a coherent thought, slamming the door behind him.