Page 11 of Dark Masquerade
He smiled down at her, his eyes soft. “I asked Aldo to come here, to see if you would be tempted, to see if you were true to me,” he said. “I had to get him here, so that you could be tested, my darling. And you failed. You fell in love with Aldo Constanza and let him put his hands on you.” He crouched next to her and grabbed her wrists, winding a rope around them. “He will find you here, stabbed to death. It will destroy him, and that’s all I want. Well, apart from seeing you die and your beautiful skin split under my knife. I’m going to butcher you, my darling, put my knife into your belly over and over until you are dead. Right now, Elli …”
Elli kicked out and caught him hard on the knee. Indio went down, howling, and Elli flipped over and started to pull herself away from him. She couldn’t believe this. Indio, her beloved Indio, a killer.
It wasn’t enough. Indio recovered and plunged the knife into the small of Elli’s back. Elli cried out in agony, and laughing, Indio stabbed her again, an inch away from the first wound. Elli gasped for air as Indio flipped her onto her back and ripped open her dress. Elli’s back arched as he drove the knife into her, pain ripping through her as he stabbed her again and again. Elli was losing consciousness from the pain.
“Stop,” she whispered, weakening. “Stop. I’m dead …”
But Indio’s bloodlust wasn’t sated. He stabbed her again, smiling as she moaned in agony.
Hot, sticky blood pumped out of her belly. Indio leaned over and kissed her mouth. “This is even better than marrying you might have been. Enzo knew the truth. Why do you think he warned me away from you all those years ago? Yvetta—poor, sweet Yvetta, loving me while knowing I could never love anyone but my Elli—still believing it when I put this very knife into her. You might call poor Yvetta a practice run.”
No. No, she couldn’t believe this. She wouldn’t believe her Indio was a killer—and yet …it had always lingered in his beautiful eyes. The violence. Had she mistaken it for passion?
“Why?” she whispered with the last of her strength as the last of her blood left her body. “I love you, only you, Indio.”
Indio smiled. “And you always will, for eternity, my love …” And he slid the blade between her ribs, into her heart …
“No!” Elli screamed, bolting up in bed, then scrambling across the dark room. She tripped on something or other and went sprawling, nearly striking her head against a wall before she caught herself. Drenched in cold sweat, she trembled as she watched a figure rise in the bed a few feet away, broad shoulders turning toward her.
“Elliana?”
She relaxed slightly at Aldo’s familiar voice, but not completely. Tension still sang through her, making every muscle ache.
“Elli?” he said again, getting out of bed and approaching her. Immediately, she stiffened against the wall, feeling the knife in her body and smelling her own blood.
“Elli,” he murmured, stopping a few feet away and crouching. “Cara mia, what is it?”
The tenderness in his voice drained some of the terror from her veins. She moved hesitantly toward Aldo and he closed the narrow gap between them, his face wracked with shock and concern as he put his big, strong arms around her, not to hurt her, but to comfort and love.
“Sweet girl, what is it? You’re safe here, you’re safe …please, calm down, Elli.”
She rode out the panic attack, breathing deeply and resting against his solid body. His lips were on her forehead as he stroked her back, whispering soft reassurances. “I’m sorry,” she managed eventually. “It was a nightmare. God. Horrible, and stupid, and not real.” Thankfully, he didn’t press her for details.
She was sweating, but shivering violently. Aldo swept his hand onto her forehead. “Jesus, you’re burning up.”
He lifted Elli back into bed, and she was glad of it because she really was starting to feel sick, the nightmare receding in the face of real pain.
Aldo leaned down to kiss her gently and drew back at the expression of agony on her face. “I’m calling a doctor,” he said firmly, and Elli didn’t have the strength to protest.
Aldo’s billions commanded the highest level of service. The doctor arrived within the hour and wasted no time examining Elli and prescribing much-needed pain relief. While she rested, waiting for the pills to take effect, he spoke to Aldo just outside the room. Shortly, Aldo returned, sat on the edge of the bed, and held her hand. “Better, darling?”
“Much.” Her eyes followed his lips as he pressed them to the inside of her wrist. “The doctor gave me the good stuff. What did he say?”
“Post-concussion syndrome,” Aldo told her. “It should resolve itself in a few months, but he wants to do a CT, just to make sure nothing more insidious is going on.”
“Can this really happen from a fall?” she asked. “I didn’t think it was that bad …”
He laughed humorlessly. “Elli, I’m the one who picked you up after that fall. You bled all over me on the way to the hospital. It was bad, sweet girl. Trust me. I’ll set up an appointment for the scan in the next couple of days. And don’t give me that look. I’m not dictating, love. I’m taking care of you.”
Elli wrapped her fingers around his big hand. “I know. I know. But I’ve already missed enough work—”
“I called Vivienne—” he held up a hand, forestalling her immediate protest. “I knew she’d want to know, even if you might not have told her. She said to tell you that there are only a few days before you’re off for the Christmas break anyway. You should take the time off and call her to let her know you’re improving.”
“Post-concussion syndrome,” Elli muttered, shaking her head and immediately regretting it. He was just trying to help. She knew that. Why was she reacting so moodily? She reached for her iPad and batted Aldo’s hands away as she started to do some fast research. After a few minutes of scanning different pages, she sighed and put the iPad aside. “This explains a lot.”
“What does?”
“The symptoms list anxiety and irritability. If you knew me better, Aldo, you’d know that I’m pretty easy-going, but lately, I’ve felt on edge.”
