Page 56 of Undeniable

“Maybe, but she is the only lead that we have. Don’t kill the only trail we have out of anger.”

Luca’s jaw works in overtime as he watches me for a few moments before he releases Tasha and takes a few steps away from her. I didn’t notice the tension in Tasha’s shoulders before but when they slump down, I can now see how scared she really was. Guess this only proves that she is one hell of an actress.

Before I can go to her or her to me, Luca rears back and slams the butt of the gun against her temple. She instantly drops to the ground as I fight every instinct in my body not to break her fall. Instead, I remain still with clenched fists at my sides as I watch him, something heavy and not fucking good passing between us. He knows that I will never let him kill her, not willingly. This is about to be a big fucking issue, but I bought her a little time. At least for now.

“Take the fucking rat to the cells,” Luca snaps at a few soldiers who I only now notice have been hovering in the doorway.

They nod quickly, sending nervous glances to me before lifting her body into their arms and carrying her down to the hidden dungeon beneath the house. It has 6 cells and 2 rooms dedicated for inflicting as much torture as possible before finally killing those who find themselves down there.

Ashlynn is still a blubbering mess behind Luca and how I know that he is really fucked up is that he won’t even console her. After a few moments, he walks towards me, grabs me by the throat and pins me against the wall. I don’t fight him. What is the point? He is pissed and if the tables were turned, I would be too.

“She has till the end of the night to squeal like a pig. If not, her head will be mounted on my fucking gate for the world to see. Clear?”

I grit my jaw and nod tersely before he storms past me and makes his way to the hidden entrance that leads to the cells. In a daze, I slide down the wall until I am on my ass, head in hands and feeling more fucked up than I have in over 6 years.

Chapter Twenty Two

Tasha

When I come to, I feel the cold bite of metal wrapping around my wrists as my arms are lifted above my head. My head sways from side to side as I blink my eyes open to see a stone faced man locking my wrists in the chains connected to the ceiling. My bare toes barely reach the cold stone floor as I dangle there like a barbed piece of meat.

“Wake the fuck up!” Luca snaps sharply. “I am sick of waiting for you.”

My eyes bounce over to see him standing a few feet away from me, that same murderous rage heavily imprinted on his face. When Luca came home, Ashlynn and I were lounging by the pool with the kids after a swim. It all happened so fast. One moment, we were laughing as Ashlynn told me some ridiculous story about her and her best friend Kiki and the next Luca was lifting me up by my neck and dragging me into the kitchen before tossing me to the floor, his hand still firmly wrapped around my throat.

Ashlynn screamed at him and yelled, but he didn’t release me. His fingers were like a vice, the undiluted fury in his eyes told me that he had no intention of stopping, until Alessandro ran inside and threw himself in between us. Luca looked down to him and released me for a minute before grabbing my arm in that same iron grip as he shouted at Ashlynn to get the kids out of there.

She looked at me with panic filled in her eyes before she did so, pulling a protesting Alessandro out of the room. That is when Luca turned to me and told me that Dimitri had given him a personal call. Apparently one of his men had spotted Gio and I out at dinner the night before. He was under the impression Luca was holding me as leverage. He agreed to stop the attacks if Luca gave me over. Luca is a smart man though. He knows that you never trust a snake, especially one as lethal as Dimitri.

Besides two surly looking men in either corner of the dark cell we are currently in I also notice another man, Gio. At least I think it is Gio. It looks like him, but the distant look he is giving me makes me feel like we could be perfect strangers. Like he is just seeing me for the first time.

The look of utter betrayal and devastation that he wore when he heard my full name will forever play on a loop in my mind. I knew there was no point in doing anything but owning up to it all at that point. I shut down, pushed all my fears and feelings aside and became an emotionless robot, at least that was the goal.

When Luca asked how long I had been spying on them, he didn’t believe me when I told him that I wasn’t. It was all too suspicious. As soon as I came into the picture, the Chernoff’s come out of hiding after 6 years. Hell, I wouldn’t believe me either.

If I had known that my family was who the Mariano’s were at war with, I would have run a long time ago, feelings be damned. I was completely blindsided by that piece of information.

I tried to steel my resolve when I heard the front door open. I knew it was Gio. I could feel it. I tried to prepare myself for the worse. But the total heartbreak that he displayed was more painful than any blow I ever received growing up.

“Gio,” I rasp roughly.

His silver eyes seem to glint dangerously in the dark room, but he doesn’t move a muscle, instead keeping himself plastered against the back wall, fists tight at his sides. His previous hurt that he wore so visibly has vanished, a stony exterior in place instead. He watches me impassively, like a foreign species, something insignificant and meaningless. I can’t deny that it breaks me inside to see.

“Don’t try to manipulate your way out of this you fucking bitch!” Luca snarls before the sharp sting of his hand ripples across my cheek.

I grit my jaw from the impact but mask my pain quickly, bringing my blank face up to Luca’s cold eyes. I can tell by the way his scowl twists that he was hoping for more of a reaction out of me but what can I say, a little slap is nothing compared to what I have endured.

“Now, where are the Chernoff’s?” Luca snaps.

“I don’t know,” I say flatly. “I told you-”

“Yeah, why the fuck would I believe that?”

“Besides it being the truth?” I bite back.

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because I quickly get a heavy fist to the ribs in response. It knocks the air out of me causing me to wheeze as I attempt to catch my breath. Before I can get my breathing under control another 1,2 combo is delivered to the identical spot, a sharp crack sounding through the room on the last one accompanied with a piercing pain.

I let out a sharp whimper as my body attempts to curl up within itself out of instinct, trying to protect myself as best as I can. The sharp pain tears through me from head to toe and I know instantly that I have a rib or two now broken. My eyes flick up to find Gio’s heavy ones on me. I look for sympathy, for rage or maybe even pain of his own. But I find nothing. His normally expressive eyes remain blank and his face stoic.

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