Page 23 of Deadly Vows

Click.

I release a breath once again, as relief hits me.

Bang!

I scream as an unexpected shot fires through the room. I barely felt Luca move, sliding my eyes over to see Jack’s now lifeless body with a fresh wound in his skull. His eyes are wide, and he is staring at the ceiling, his mouth still forming a grin.

“Bull’s-eye,” Luca mutters underneath me.

I quickly jump from his lap, but he grabs my arm, yanking me into his chest.

“No, no, no. We’re not done playing yet,” he says.

I push myself away from him, letting my terror fuel me as I scream.

“How are we not done? He’s dead, Luca! You shot him! You lied, you told him he would live if he won, but you lied!” I shout.

Luca watches me as I scream with a dark expression, and the moment something twisted clicks into his head, I see it. My fight-or-flight response snaps, and I take off running to the door. I pump my legs as hard as they will go, not stopping even when my lungs burn as I yank the heavy doors open, sprinting into the foyer. I don’t get far as Nicolai and Romelo grab me, stopping my momentum full force.

“No, don’t take me back to him, please!” I scream, but they don’t listen. “Please don’t! Please, I’m begging you!”

They drag me back into Luca’s office, where he is waiting calmly behind his desk. His eyes raise upon our entrance, watching me until they force me into the seat. Luca eyes me, moving around his desk. He looks at both men, gesturing as he speaks.

“Let her go. She’s not going anywhere,” he says.

He’s speaking to them, but I know his words have more meaning as he looks back at me, challenging me to prove him wrong. Both men release me, and a few moments later, I hear the sound of the door closing. Luca chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You’re too soft, Elise. You do know that I will be taking over for my father someday. My life will be a bloody one. You can’t squirm and cry at the sight of blood like this,” he says in irritation.

I don’t speak, my hands gripping the chair for dear life. Luca releases a sigh, reaching behind him. He pulls out the revolver Jack used only seconds ago.

“To be with me is to live a life of risk. You never know which day will be our last,” he says gently.

His eyes lift, meeting mine, and he smiles, holding the gun out to me.

“Show me you’re worthy of at least that…of risk.”

Chapter Ten

Elise

I would expect nothing less of Luca. He’s a man who was praised for the violence he inflicted, and now he is passing that on to me. He wants me to be like him, or rather, okay with being with him. He watches me expectantly with that wicked gaze, excitement written all over his face at the position he’s forced me into. Only the other day he was professing his twisted affection for me and now he wants me to put my life on the line for the sake of his twisted pleasure.

I reach out with trembling hands, taking the heavy weapon from him.

I’ve never held a gun before. It feels wrong, especially under these circumstances. It’s heavier than it looks when Luca holds it. It makes me wonder how he can so easily fire at his target without missing. I shift my attention to him, trying to remain calm. He reacts to me losing myself, I’ve realized. But the longer I hold the weapon, the more my brain runs in the opposite direction of following his orders.

All this time, I’ve wanted an out. I’ve never been a defiant woman, my loyalty to my father remaining even when he admitted to his lowly plans for me. But as I look into the eyes of the man who has taken control of my life, I feel a small sense of rebellion bubbling up within me. Luca has just given me my out. If there’s one bullet in the chamber, I just have to fire it enough times to hit him once. Hopefully fatally.

If I can do this, I will accomplish what no one else has been able to do up to this point. I will have killed Luca Pasquino, all because of his arrogance.

Luca’s smile drops. “I don’t have all day. You saw how the game goes. You get one try.”

I study the weapon in my hand with newfound fascination. This small thing has the power to change my life and liberate me from all the abuse and suffering I have endured. For all the pain I have taken at his hands. I grip the weapon with both hands, my heart beating loudly in my ears, and I let my adrenaline fuel me as I raise the weapon, aiming it at my smug husband, and pull the trigger.

Click click click click click click click.

Nothing.

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