Page 98 of Deadly Vows

“Luca,” Nicolai calls to me, and when I look at him, he’s watching Alexander’s computer screen, his skin pale as he looks back at me.

“You might want to see this,” I note that his voice is trembling as he speaks.

I quickly round the desk, and it takes me seconds to register what I’m seeing. Elise is being beaten with a belt that has jeweled embellishments. And each strike takes a chunk of her flesh with it. I narrow my gaze, sifting through the footage.

Alexander has many videos, all of which he is torturing her—beating her within an inch of her life. Some, he has her bound while he chokes her until she passes out. She was here. She was here when I came, and I missed her.

I shift my attention to Alexander.

“Where is she?” I ask.

He musters all of his strength, flinching in pain as he attempts to speak.

“That’s the question of the century,” he says. His voice is cracked and hoarse, barely more than a whisper.

I feel Nicolai’s hand on my shoulder as he attempts to calm me down.

“Luca…think about Elise,” he says.

I slap his hand away, moving past the desk to Alexander. I put my gun away, pulling a knife out of its holster as I come to stand over him, and his eyes follow the motion.

“I won’t ask again,” I say.

Alexander smiles wickedly. “I knew you would come back for her sooner or later. I just planned to have her mangled corpse waiting for you when you did. You should have heard her screaming for you as she watched you leave her all alone…,” he says.

I lunge at him, but Romelo has me this time, his grip tight as he holds me back.

“This is what he wants. He wants you to kill him quickly, and then you’ll have no lead on Elise. Calm down, Luca.” It’s Romelo’s voice of reason that calms me out of my haze.

“I’m fine!” I shout, pulling away.

They sit me in the chair, and Romelo walks closer to Alexander, ripping his shirt up to expose the nasty scarring beneath. “How’d you get those stitches?” he asks.

Romelo studies them closely, not waiting for a response.

“They look fresh. Very thick tissue damage also. Like someone did that frantically. Not calculated, but in a panic. And definitely not strong enough to get a clean slice,” he says.

I study the stitching. He’s right.

“We found these in that car down the road.” Romelo pulls out a set of keys, dangling them in the air. “Along with some blood in the seat.”

He points to a button. “This works your garage, and I assume these are your keys. But that wreck didn’t cause this damage, did it?” he asks.

“Is Elise here or not?” he finishes.

Alexander still doesn’t budge. He glares at Romelo with all the hatred he can muster.

“You know where she is? Dead. I left her in the storm after I found her barely conscious in my car. I’m sure the wolves must have gotten to her body by now,” he chuckles.

I see red as I lunge across the room. This time, Romelo can’t catch me as my hands wrap around Alexander’s throat.His eyes are wide as he claws at my grip, but he is weak from his injuries. His pulse becomes weaker beneath my fingertips along with his struggles, but before I can end him completely, my body is jerked backwards, and I watch in disappointment as Alexander hunches forward, coughing violently, holding his reopened wounds.

“I will never forget the sound of her screams as she begged me to spare her. Her cries as I ripped her apart slowly and painfully!” he tries to shout with his cracked voice.

I can’t bring myself to move as Romelo holds me. He is lying. I won’t believe it. I refuse to.

“You should have seen the fear in her eyes. It will keep me smiling in my dreams for a long time,” he laughs.

Suddenly, Nicolai’s fist collides with Alexander’s face, knocking him instantly unconscious. Silence fills the air as no one dares to be the one to speak first. Not even me, as I try to come to terms with what he said. She can’t be dead. It’s impossible. He’s lying to get a rise out of me.

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