“Oh, that sounds kinda nice.” They make sure everyone’s safe. “Why do Nero and Vincent hate it then?”
“You would have to ask them. I put a lot of thought into giving them that position, and I thought they would all love it, not just Amo.” He thought about it for a second. “Well, Vincent did love it there for a while … Maybe one day, I’ll show you down there and you can find out for yourself.”
Chloe stared at him for a second, thinking he looked awfully innocent, but she didn’t know why.
“You won’t give Nero and Vincent a new job?”
His innocent act quickly changed to a sinister one. “I can, but that doesn’t mean I want to, or that I will. They need to work up from the bottom like everyone else.”
She could understand that they were new to the family and shouldn’t get special treatment. At least Amo’s happy.
Her mind instantly drifted to sad thoughts of being locked up here without her friends.
Sitting back up against the couch, she sat stiffly again without realizing she had loosened up or the fact his dark jeans had been touching her arm, which she suddenly moved.
A scent of strong, clean mint touched her nose. It was so fresh and cool, almost tingly. Taking a deeper breath made her recognize the scent was him.
Never before had she noticed his smell until now. She should still smell her own floral scent since they both had taken a shower after gardening, but it had faded and now the only scent that kept surrounding her was Lucca.
Lucca rubbed the hair he held. “What’s wrong, darlin’?”
Clasping her hands together, she wished she could wring them, but she was unable to with the bandages. Not wanting to tell him she liked the way he smelled and that it made her feel uncomfortable, she nervously gave him half the truth.
“I-I miss them.”
He went silent but continued to twirl her hair. Then his voice finally reached her ears. “Do you want to talk to her?”
Turning, she looked at him, more surprised by this than by anything else he had said all night.
“Elle? You’ll let me talk to her?”
She knew before the next few words were passed his lips that it was too good to be true. Everything came at a price.
“Yes, darlin’ … But you will have to give me something in return.”
Twenty-Six
Hovering His Fingertips Over the Top of the Scar
“W-What do you want?” she whispered, wishing she hadn’t asked.
“You will have to let me touch you …” Letting go of the strand he held, he leaned over. Then he raised his hand to the scar on her face, tracing it as he hovered his fingers from inches away. “Here.”
Her racing heart thumped through her ears. “If I-I say yes, y-you’ll let me talk to Elle?”
Leaning back in the chair, he removed the hand that was dangerously close to her face. “Yes, but only for a few minutes, darlin’.”
“W-Why are you letting me?” It was too hard to believe, even if he was getting something out of it. Lucca had proved up until this point that whatever he wants, he takes.
“I have pushed her off long enough by texting, and she’s now demanding a phone call. It’s to the point she will know something is wrong if I don’t let you talk to her.”
“I-I’ll do it.” Maybe I’ll be able to warn her.
It was like he could sense exactly what she thought as his eyes went dark. “I’ll be right here listening, so you won’t be able to try anything, Chloe. You have to make her believe you’re in California. Do you understand?”
You have to make her believe you’re in California. She understood exactly what that meant, knowing Lucca wouldn’t be above hurting Elle. “Y-Yes.”
His eyes changed back, softening now. “If you can do that, I’ll let you talk to her every once in a while.”
“Really?” She couldn’t help feeling an ounce of hope.
“If it will make you happy”—he ran his fingers down a strand of her silky hair—“then yes, darlin’.”
Giving him a smile, she couldn’t believe how she was getting used to him touching her hair in the little time she had been here. Chloe was trusting him, even when he got extremely close to her skin.
Pulling out her phone from his pocket, he pulled up Elle’s contact. “Ready?”
No!
She somehow managed to nod, silently hoping she could pull this off.
Lucca handed over the phone to her after dialing.
Holding her cell phone that she hadn’t touched in weeks up to her ear felt almost foreign. She listened to the ringing, waiting for Elle to pick up while taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Finally, the phone was answered on one of the last possible rings with a sweet and happy voice she hadn’t heard in far too long.
“Hello!”
She felt ghost tears wanting to fall from her eyes. It was indescribable how happy she was.
“Chloe …?” The excitement in Elle’s voice started to fade.
Chloe was too afraid to speak; afraid her voice would betray her and alarm Elle.
She felt her hair move and looked over to see Lucca twirling a strand. Staring and feeling the repetitive motion begin to soothe her, she calmed enough to speak.
“Hey, Elle.”
“I’m so happy you called me, Chloe. I’ve missed you so much.” Elle was now getting emotional on the other end.
Focusing on his hand twirling her hair, she kept it together. “I know. I’ve missed you, too. I still do.”
Elle sniffled before laughing it off. “How are you? How’s school? Tell me everything!”
“It’s going okay,” she told her, not wanting to oversell it. “It’s just different, I guess, and you’re not here with me, but I’m doing good. School is keeping me pretty busy.”
“Is everyone treating you nicely?” Elle asked. It was what she was obviously worried about the most.
Chloe pulled her eyes up to Lucca’s face. “Yes, no one is picking on me or calling me a freak here.”
“Oh, thank God.” A weight seemed to lift off her friend. “I was so worried about that.”
“Now it’s your turn to tell me everything. How’s college?”
Chloe listened to Elle tell her everything she had missed and what college life was like for her. She expected Lucca to take the phone away, as he had said only a few minutes, but he didn’t, seeming content with listening to her voice and playing with her hair. Strangely, she found it kind of nice.
“How’s California? Is the weather as nice as it seems?” Elle asked after she caught her up on all her life events.
“Yeah, it’s … um … sunny. The weather is great.” I hope. Not wanting to push her luck for much longer, she decided it was time to wrap it up. “Well, I have an early morning tomorrow—”
“Aren’t you three hours behind? It’s not that late there, I don’t think.” Elle sounded like she was checking the clock on her phone to see what time it was.
Quickly, she tried to think. “Uh … yeah, but I have an assignment to still finish.”
“Oh. Okay. I understand.”
“I’ve really missed you, Elle. It was good to hear your voice again.”
“Me, too. Thank you for calling me. I’ve worried about you so much.” The emotions seemed to come back to her friend.
Chloe bit her lip. “Don’t worry about me. I’m doing good.”
“Promise?”
Pausing, she found it again hard to answer, until Lucca lightly tugged on her strand of hair. “Promise.”
“Okay, I’ll let you get your work done now. Bye, Chloe.” It was obvious how hard it was for her best friend to say good-bye, and she found it equally as hard.
“Bye, Elle.”
She pulled the phone away from her ear and ended the call. It really sucked having to give it back to Lucca, but she was grateful for the time he had given her.
Blue-green eyes slowly started to travel down her scar, making her remember that a debt was to be
paid.
“Come closer, darlin’,” Lucca’s voice was dark and melodic.
Her breath caught in her throat as she watched him widen his legs, giving her room to move between them.
Following the voice, she did as he commanded, knowing exactly how he wanted her positioned by instinct alone. Chloe was on her knees now, in front of him, as close to his legs as she could get without touching them. Closing her eyes, her lashes fell to her cheeks, waiting …
Lucca moved his hand, hovering his fingertips over the top of the scar that graced the right side of her face. When the cold, light fingertips touched the top of her scar, she went deathly still.
No one had ever touched her scars. Never had she let anyone touch something that was so personal to her. Now, here she was, letting the most dangerous and frightening man she had ever met touch something that had been given to her by a man just like him.
He ran his fingers ever so gently down her scar that ran from just above her eyebrow until it disappeared right below it. Then he ran it even gentler over her closed eyelid, making it feel as if it was just the wind touching her. When he reached the continuation of her scar right under her lower lashes, he paused.
“Look at me, Chloe.”
Opening her eyes, she looked into his blue-green ones that were gradually beginning to look more green, transfixing her, along with his voice, his presence, his icy yet soft touch.
“I’ve waited for this very moment.” Moving his fingertips, he began again slowly smoothing down her scar. “Dreamed about this moment for the longest eight months of my life. Ever since I first saw you in that shop, looking at the music box.”
“W-We first met in the gazebo …” Her voice trailed off.
“I had been watching you for a week before that, darlin’.” He continued gliding his fingertips up and down her scar. “I was watching Elle’s house when a black BMW dropped her off from school. I had this strong, instinctual feeling to follow, and even though I didn’t understand it at the time, I listened to my gut. I still hadn’t seen your face before I followed you into the shop, but then, when you turned around and I saw your beautiful face, it was like the world stood still. That was when I knew”—Lucca cupped her face, using his thumb to smooth over her scar—“that you were mine.”
Chloe’s mind raced with her heart, trying to comprehend everything he had just told her.
“It was everything I could do not to take you then and there,” he confessed.
But you didn’t, not until several months later … That only made her mind and heart race more.
“Y-You said y-you took me to save me.”
“I did.”
She could feel it then. Something she had been missing fell into place as Drago’s words flew through her mind, We both know what being a real prisoner feels like, Chloe. Then Maria’s, Are you sure you’re being held hostage? And, It’s not what you think. You’re here for a reason, Chloe.
“Why am I here?” she whispered. “Tell me why I’m really here.”
Still caressing her scar, he shook his head. “I can’t tell you, darlin’, not yet.”
“You told me I can ask you anything. I need to know why I’m her—”
“You can, and I will answer anything and everything you want to know, but not this. Not until the time is right.” He pressed his hand deeper into her skin. “I need you to trust me, Chloe. Will you do that for me?”
A sudden feeling came over her as she stared into his intense eyes. She couldn’t understand it. She only knew she believed in it, trusted in it. It was … instinctual.
“Y-Yes.”
“You feel it, too, don’t you?” He didn’t need the answer, because the feeling was shared between them, like a bond.
The feeling had been there since meeting Lucca, just how it had been for him when he had first seen her. She had subconsciously pushed away the intense feeling because it frightened her, yet it only grew stronger the more she was around him.
He smiled. “It took me a week to understand it, darlin’. Let’s see how long it takes you.”
“I-I met you in the gazebo a week later … You bought the music box a week later.”
Lucca nodded.
She was unsure if she ever wanted to know what the feeling meant, more frightened of it now that she knew he felt it, too.
Taking one final swipe across her scar, he released her.
The loss was evident, not only on his face, but in his voice. “You may go to bed now, darlin’.”
Chloe stood from her knees, still in shock of what had taken place. “G-Good night, Lucca.”
“Good night, Chloe.”
The shock never left her body as she left him behind and went upstairs.
In her room, she opened the music box and listened to the beautiful tune, feeling her heart grow heavier, heavier, heavier, while the chains he placed on her body grew lighter, lighter, lighter.
She reached up, touching her scar. The loss wasn’t only felt by Lucca, but by her, too.
Twenty-Seven
His Dreams of Fulfilling His Darkest Need Would Have to Suffice
Playing back everything that had just occurred in his mind, he recalled her voice, her face, her scar. It was like he could still feel her on his fingertips. They had just left her face, and already he couldn’t wait until the next time he could touch her.
It was the most erotic thing he had ever experienced, and he had only touched her face.
Lucca only hoped he would be able to control his darkness when he finally allowed himself to take more from her. Some time would have to pass before he did, though. Not only was Chloe not ready, but neither was he. He couldn’t trust the darkness with her yet.
Until then, his dreams of fulfilling his darkest need would have to suffice.
Lucca felt like he had made up for yesterday, and then some. When he had started the day, he had felt like he had only gone backward. Now he felt like he had taken ten steps forward.
She had to face the feeling she was running from. And even though she still didn’t understand it, it was only a matter of time before she would. It would click, just how it did for me …
Taking one last look at the scar on her face, he couldn’t wait for the day he could run his fingers across it. Beautiful.
Watching her car pull away from the shop then disappear, he went back to the music box she had been looking at. It had been obvious that it meant a great deal to her.
He carefully opened it, allowing the lullaby to play once more.
The older woman came to stand beside him. “I just had a girl in here looking at—”
“I would like to purchase it.” The words came out of their own accord, knowing he had to be the one to have it.
“I’m sorry, but I have to decline. The girl who was just looking at it seems to really want it, so I’m reserving it for her.”
He closed the music box, silencing the room. “You’re going to turn down money today, even though she may not come back?”
“For her, yes. Try back in a couple of weeks, and if she hasn’t taken it, I’ll see if I’m ready to part with it.”
Lucca nodded understandingly. He respected the woman for doing that. He would have demanded it otherwise, if he hadn’t seen how much the girl had fallen in love with it.
Deciding to leave, he figured if he was meant to have it, it would still be there when or if he came back …
The shop was five minutes from closing when he came back a week later. Wasting no time, he went right to where the music box sat, finding it still there, like it had been untouched.
The woman noticed him immediately and began shaking her head. “I’m sorry, but it’s only been a week.”
Pulling out his wallet, he laid down three thousand dollars in cash.
She only shook her head again.
For the past week, he had only thought about the look on Chloe’s face when she had been looking at the piece while it played the lullaby. That was exactly how he hoped she wou
ld look at him one day.
He had met her tonight, and even though she hadn’t looked at him like that, he knew deep down that one day she would.
Lucca sat down another thousand. “This is as high as I’m willing to go.”
She seemed to contemplate it for a second, but only a second. “I’m sorry, sir, but it’s not about the money.”
“I’m not leaving here without it,” he told her with certainty, the strong feelings he felt finally making sense. “This means something very special to the girl … I love, and I have to be the one to give it to her.”
Twenty-Eight
Only Time Will Tell
Only time will tell,
How a month spent with the boogieman,
Locked away from the outside world,
Will go.
Only time will tell,
How a month spent with the broken girl he loves,
That he has all to himself,
Will go.
Only time will tell,
How unbearable it can get,
How blissful it can be,
Or anywhere in between.
Only time will tell,
When the month comes to an end,
If it’s worth repeating for her,
And if it’s everything he thought it
Would be.
Twenty-Nine
I’m Coming, Chloe
A month had passed in these walls, and what had felt like a prison now felt like a haven. For years, Chloe had woken up every morning afraid of what the day would bring at school and even at home. She had been tortured day in and day out by horrendous people who only ever made her feel like a freak. Yet, the monster who was keeping her here never harmed her and had only made her feel less like a freak every day.
Chloe continued spending her days doing her online classes, and her nights with Lucca. It was nice, calming, even safe here with him, and she trusted him since finding out she wasn’t brought here just because he wanted it so.
Lucca (Made Men #4) Page 12