Page 230 of Mine Again
“A joint international task force is being assembled. Officials say they intend to apprehend him dead or alive. Meanwhile, the U.S. government has doubled its reward for information leading to his capture, raising the bounty to fifty million dollars.”
My chest squeezes so tight I can barely breathe.
Everyone will be hunting Luca now, with at least fifty million reasons to betray him.
A price tag on the man I love. The man the world thinks is a monster.
Hale chuckles, pleased. “Quite the wanted man you married, Isabella. Dead or alive, they say. How very fitting for a love story like yours. You might soon be a widow. But a woman like you will never be short of suitors.” He adds a suggestive wink that makes me want to retch.
I block out the rest of his words, my blood running cold. All I’m hearing isdead or alive.
I picture Luca’s body sprawled across some nameless street, his face plastered on the evening news not as the man I love but as the criminal they’ve branded him.
Luca can’t trust anyone now.
I curl my nails into my palms until it hurts, forcing my voice to be steady.
“This is your doing.” I pierce Hale with my stare. “You love setting up this hunt on Luca, don’t you?”
Hale’s eyes gleam with triumph, his grin widening like I’ve handed him a compliment.
“Oh, I really do. There’s nothing sweeter than watching the fruits of my labor ripen. A man like Luca… he thrives on being untouchable. So what better punishment than to make him prey? To turn the world into his hunter’s field, where every port, every alley, every stranger is a threat. Each day he stays alive, he’ll bleed more of that arrogance away.”
He leans back in the armchair like a king surveying his kingdom, basking in my anguish.
“And the best part? Every bullet fired at him, every net cast to drag him in… all of it will bear my fingerprints, but none of the blame. He’ll be remembered as the monster, not me. That, Isabella, is the true art of power.”
I swallow against the bile in my throat, my pulse hammering so hard it shakes me. But I won’t let him see it. I straighten, forcing steel into my spine.
“You’re wrong,” I grit out. “Lucawilltake you down. He’ll strip away your crown and your games and grind you into the spineless nothing you’ve always been.
“And when the world sees the truth, they’ll know you were never a king, only a coward hiding behind shadows, lies, and monstrous acts.”
For a split second, his smug mask flickers, the grin tightening at the edges.
I cling to that sliver, that tiny crack in his armor. It’s like oxygen.
We hold each other’s gaze, the air between us hostile. His eyes glitter with malice, mine burn with defiance. For a breath, neither of us moves, as if the whole room has narrowed to this single standoff.
I’m sure he’s relishing this. To him, this isn’t just a game. It’s a performance, and my resistance makes it all the more depraved.
The television seizes our attention. The anchor falters, a paper sliding across the desk.
Hale’s calculating smile slinks back into place, curling like smokethrough the air until it clogs my lungs.
A chill spreads beneath my skin, seeping outward from my chest, wrapping around my ribs and down my arms until even my fingertips prickle with dread.
Urgency bleeds into every word on-screen.
“We interrupt with breaking news. Another cyberattack has been confirmed, this time targeting a major pharmaceutical storage facility in Berlin, Germany. Authorities report critical losses of medication intended for European hospitals. This attack bears the unmistakable digital signature of the Venom.”
Berlin. My pulse stumbles.
The anchor swallows before continuing.
“In a message delivered minutes ago, the Venom renewed his demands: two billion dollars annually, paid in cryptocurrency. If the ransom is not met within forty-eight hours, he warns that he will strike again. One new facility each day until payment is received. And with every day that passes, the ransom will rise by fifty million dollars.”
My hand flies to my mouth. Acid surges in my throat, the bile hot and bitter. I don’t need to ask who sent that message. Hale’s pride radiates off him. It’s suffocating.
