The Choice (House of Sin Book 6)

by Elisabeth Naughton

  The Choice

  House of Sin - Book Six

  Elisabeth Naughton

  Copyright © 2020 by Elisabeth Naughton

  All rights reserved.

  Editing by Linda Ingmanson

  **Note: This book was previously published as part of UNDONE by Elisabeth Naughton**

  This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locations are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  1. Natalie

  2. Luc

  3. Natalie

  4. Luc

  5. Natalie

  6. Luc

  7. Natalie

  8. Luc

  9. Natalie

  10. Natalie

  11. Natalie

  12. Luc

  13. Luc

  14. Natalie

  Thank You!

  Also by Elisabeth Naughton

  About the Author

  The House of Sin

  The Choice - Book Six

  No one escapes the House of Sin…

  They tried to destroy us. I almost lost him. But our connection was too strong. Our passion, too powerful. Together, we are unbreakable.

  Which means we are in more danger than ever.

  The dark forces in this world will stop at nothing now to get Luc away from me. And while I’m trying to remain brave, to be the woman Luc needs so we can find a way out of this nightmare, in my heart I fear this might be the end. Because this time the threat isn’t only from them. It’s from me. In lies and secrets made to keep him safe.

  In a betrayal my heart screams he will never be able to forgive.

  After all this time, after everything we’ve been through, it’s finally come to this.

  To living or dying in the House of Sin…

  Books in the complete House of Sin Series:

  THE SECRET - Book One

  THE FALL - Book Two

  THE BETRAYAL - Book Three

  THE VOW - Book Four

  THE PRICE - Book Five

  THE CHOICE - Book Six

  “I lost my way all the way to you, and in you I found all the way back to me.”

  —Atticus

  1

  Natalie

  Luc barely spoke on the flight back to Italy.

  He was a rumbling volcano of stress I was afraid might blow at any time. And I was the reason for every moment of his physical and mental anguish.

  Marco and Felicity had still been in Scotland on holiday when Luc called them. I wasn’t sure how Marco had reacted to Luc’s call, but he and Felicity had rushed right back to the estate, and Marco had arranged for the jet to be fueled up and waiting for us within hours.

  I was pretty sure he’d covered for my lie with Luc, but I hadn’t had a chance to speak to Marco alone to get the details. And at the moment, I was too worried about Luc to leave him to find out what was going to happen when we reached Italy.

  I squeezed Luc’s hand where it rested on the armrest between us on the fancy private jet. His fingers curled around mine, but he didn’t look back at me. Just continued to stare out the window at the view far below as he’d done for the last hour.

  I wasn’t sure how to read that. I didn’t have a clue what I could do to make him feel better. I only knew that he did not want to go back to Italy.

  And it was the last place in the world I wanted to be as well.

  “I love you,” I whispered. “And I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you about Gio earlier, but I didn’t want to upset you. I do—”

  “It’s okay.” He squeezed my hand again but still didn’t look away from the window. “It’s not your fault.”

  It was, though.

  Tears burned my eyes. Tears I was not going to be able to hold back much longer. I looked away from him.

  “Natalie?” Felicity called from the galley. “Do you want a drink?”

  “Yeah.” I let go of Luc and swiped at my cheek, desperate to keep from crying in front of him. I pushed to my feet. “I’ll help you.” To Luc, I said, “Do you want anything?”

  “Nothing.”

  He still didn’t turn toward me, didn’t look my way. Didn’t do anything but continue to stare out that window. And unable to stand the guilt any longer, I walked away from him.

  As soon as I stepped into the galley, Felicity shoved a glass of clear liquid into my hand. “Drink this.”

  I sniffed. “What is it?”

  “Vodka. You need it. Drink all of it.”

  I didn’t even try to protest. I felt like I was about to crack into a thousand pieces from the stress and guilt. I downed the shot with a grimace and held the glass out to her. “Another.”

  Felicity refilled my glass and watched me as I downed the second shot. “For the time being, you two are staying with us. I called ahead and had the cottage made up for you.”

  I nodded and set the glass on the counter in front of me.

  “You’re safe on and off the property now, but Marco and I figured you’d feel more comfortable there.”

  “Thanks. I will.”

  She glanced into the main cabin, where Luc was still staring out the window, oblivious to us. “Marco picked up on your lie right away. He didn’t give anything away to Luc.”

  I nodded again, but that sickness was swirling inside once more.

  “That was a smart way to get him to go back, but Luc’s going to figure out pretty quickly that Dante’s still missing.”

  “I know.” I raked my hand through my hair, dreading that moment. “I don’t know what I’m going to tell him when he realizes I lied to him.”

  “Don’t say a word. With any luck, he’ll think Gio’s the one who lied.”

  I glanced her way. “That won’t help matters. If he goes after Gio, shit’s going to hit the fan.”

  “Marco and I don’t think he’ll go after Gio. Regardless of how much he hates Gio, he won’t do anything to put you in danger. Everything he did was to keep you safe, Natalie. He won’t risk that just because he thinks Gio lied.”

  I closed my eyes and swallowed back the bile pushing up my throat. He would if he knew what Gio had done to me. Or what Gio had threatened to do to me.

  Felicity’s hand squeezed my shoulder. “It’ll be okay so long as you hold it together. You kept Luc centered before. It’s imperative you do that again. He’s going to need you now more than ever.”

  I forced my eyes open and glanced back toward Luc, still staring out the window with that unreadable expression. I could do that. I would do anything for him.

  I was just deathly afraid once he found out the truth of how I’d betrayed him, he’d never want me anywhere near him again.

  It was nearly dusk when we walked back into the guest cottage on Marco and Felicity’s property near Siena in central Italy.

  The villa was just as I remembered. Uneven stone walls, an arched brick ceiling, aged wood floors, and old-world furnishings accented with golds and browns and pale blues.

  Luc and I had fought in this cottage. We’d ignored each other in this cottage. And he’d made me fall in love with him all over again right here when he’d told me that I was his and he was mine and that no one else in the world mattered but us.

  As Felicity and I moved deeper into the villa, Marco dropped our bags on
the hardwood floor, then set the keys in his hand on the entry table. “I’m leaving these here for you,” he said to Luc at my back. “Do you want me to go with you?”

  “No, I’m fine,” Luc said in a low voice. “I can handle it.”

  “I really don’t think you should go over there on your own.”

  They were talking about his parents’ house. I shoved aside the nostalgia and turned toward both of them, intent on being that calming force I knew Luc needed. “He won’t be going alone. I’m going with him.”

  “Good girl,” Felicity said at my side.

  Marco’s shoulders relaxed, but Luc shot me a blistering look, one I knew was laced with disapproval. “That’s not a good idea.”

  I refused to be shaken by the fact it was the first time he’d looked at me since I’d told him about Gio. Straightening my spine, I walked toward both men standing in the entryway. “Too bad. I’m your wife. Through good times and bad, remember? I’m going.”

  “Cristo santo.” He looked toward Marco. “Talk some sense into her, would you?”

  Marco shook his head. “Sorry. I’m on her side.”

  Luc sighed. “It’s not safe.”

  “It is safe.” Marco slapped him on the shoulder. “You made it safe for her. Stop arguing with the woman and just accept she’s right. You’re not going to win this battle, and you’re not going alone. In fact, the sooner you learn your woman here is always right, the easier your life will be.” He looked past Luc toward me. “You should probably drive.”

  “I can drive a damn car,” Luc snapped. “I’m not an invalid.”

  “No, you’re a powder keg waiting for a spark,” Felicity muttered under her breath.

  Marco smirked. To me, he said, “Give him a few shots of Macallan before you go. That should chill him out.”

  Luc frowned and rested his hands on his hips. “I’m right here, you know. I can hear every damn word you’re all saying.”

  Marco only grinned. “Back to your same stubborn, brooding self. I’d say he’s been rehabilitated. What do you think, Fee?”

  “I think you may be right.” She moved up on Marco’s side in the entryway and slipped her arm around his waist. “Be nice to your pretty wife. She doesn’t want to be here any more than you do. And, for the record, we women are always right.”

  As the two slipped out the door and it closed at their backs, Luc’s gaze slid my way again.

  His eyes weren’t quite as hard as they’d been before, but they weren’t all that inviting either. “I still don’t think you should go.”

  “I know.” But there was no way in hell I was letting him do this on his own. I moved toward him and stopped when I was only a few inches away. “I’m still going with you.”

  “Natalie...” He closed his eyes and drew in a shuddering breath. “I don’t know how I’m going to react when I see them.”

  “That’s why I’m not letting you go alone.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my cheek to his chest. “You need me there even if you don’t want to admit it. And I need to be there to keep you safe.”

  For a heartbeat, he didn’t move, then he sighed and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. And as his warmth and familiar scent surrounded me, my heart raced just as it did every time I was enveloped in his love.

  “You can’t protect me from them,” he whispered into my hair.

  “I will, though.” I held him tighter and closed my eyes against the sting of tears once more. “They can’t have you. You’re mine. You’re only mine, Luc. I’m going to make that clear to them.”

  He leaned down and pressed his face into my hair, holding me even closer. “Non lasciarmi mai.”

  I held him to me, unsure what he’d said. But I didn’t need the words to know what he felt. It was the same thing I felt. That together, we were unbreakable.

  I squeezed my eyes tighter and prayed he still felt that way after tonight.

  As soon as I turned onto the Salvatici property in the rolling hills just outside Florence, I knew I’d made a mistake.

  I should have grabbed Luc and run. We shouldn’t have come back here. Memories of that depraved ritual I’d seen in the woods the last time I’d been here filled my mind, mingling with flashes of that awful ritual in which they’d raped and tortured my husband.

  Luc’s hand slid across the console and closed over my thigh, his fingers gently massaging the muscle beneath my slacks. The sensation jolted me out of whatever trance I’d slipped into, and I blinked, only to realize I’d stopped the car right in the middle of the long drive.

  I looked over at him, my mouth dry, my mind spinning with a thousand thoughts and options. The loudest of which was telling me it wasn’t too late to grab him and run.

  “It’s okay.” His voice was soft, and for a man who’d looked ready to detonate all day, he was surprisingly calm. Way calmer than me. “Marco was right. You’re safe.”

  It wasn’t me I was worried about.

  He squeezed my thigh. “Nothing’s going to happen here tonight, angioletto. I’ll make sure of it.”

  I didn’t know what that meant. And I didn’t want to ask. I just wanted to run. “Luc—”

  A horn honked behind us. I startled at the sound and glanced up at the rearview mirror.

  Twisting in his seat, Luc looked back then muttered, “Merda. So much for the element of surprise. Pull over so he can pass.”

  My heart pounded hard. I wasn’t sure who “he” was, but I did as Luc said, pulling the Mercedes to the right so the car behind us could move by.

  As the red Lamborghini drew up beside us, I turned to look, then wished I hadn’t. A blonde sat in the passenger seat, but it was the driver I focused on. The lights from the dash illuminated Gio’s long dark hair and the devilish smile he cast my way, one I recognized from our ill-fated date back in New York. One that sent sickness surging in my belly all over again.

  His smile widened to a predatory grin, then he stepped on the gas and tore ahead of us up the hill, sending gravel and dust flying in the air. The blonde never once looked our way.

  Luc’s jaw clenched hard as he stared after Gio’s red taillights in the dark. “Stay close to me just in case. Even though he’s got a kitten with him, I don’t trust that porca puttana.”

  I didn’t trust Gio either. With or without a kitten to distract him. And I had no intention of letting Luc out of my sight.

  Knowing there was no way we could run now, I eased my foot off the brake and moved back onto the gravel drive. The headlights illuminated the curves in the road and the tall trees lining each side. It felt as if it took forever to wind our way to the top of the hill where the Salvatici castle was perched on the highest point south of Florence, but that was probably only because I was dreading what would meet us when we arrived.

  Giovanni was helping the blonde out of his sports car when I pulled around the sparkling fountain lit up from below and shifted into Park. My stomach twisted as he stood under the lights illuminating the circular drive and the front steps of the castle.

  I hadn’t gotten a look at him in the dark in Edinburgh, but he was exactly as I remembered—wavy dark hair to his shoulders, olive skin, pale blue eyes, and a muscular body. He was just as tall and broad-shouldered as Luc, but not nearly as handsome. And tonight, his expensive slacks and white dress shirt open to show off his chest hair didn’t impress me as it once might have. It only reminded me he was a predator. A slimy and vile predator who enjoyed hurting and murdering innocent women. Women like my long lost-friend Elena.

  A bitter rage brewed inside me. One that gave me strength. I reached for the door handle, but Luc stopped me with a hand on my arm. “Wait.”

  I turned toward him, suddenly realizing he had to be freaking out more than me. But when our eyes met, I saw he wasn’t on the verge of a breakdown. His stormy gaze was very focused and glinted with a dangerous gleam. One I’d seen only once before. Behind that phantom mask back at that party in New York when he’d watched me wi
th Gio.

  My nerves shot straight up. “What?”

  “He needs to know where things stand.”

  I had no idea what he meant. Then he slid his fingers into my hair, tugged me toward him, and devoured my mouth with a kiss that curled my toes in my sensible heels.

  I was breathless when he finally let me go. Breathless and aching for him to kiss me like that again because for that brief moment, nothing had mattered but us.

  He reached for his door handle. “That did the trick. Come on.”

  My head was in a fog, but somehow, I climbed out of the car and even remembered my cardigan and my purse. The night air was much warmer in Tuscany than it had been in Scotland, but I was still cold. Chilled to my bones. Scared to death about this night.

  Slipping the strap of my purse over my shoulder, I moved around behind the vehicle and grasped Luc’s hand when he reached for me. Giovanni and his kitten were gone. We were alone as we moved up the front steps toward the open double doors ahead.

  I glanced toward Luc, dressed in slacks, a gray dress shirt that matched his eyes and was unbuttoned at the collar, and a silky soft suit jacket I knew had to cost a fortune. Marco’s staff had filled the closets for us, and I loved what they’d picked, but I couldn’t wait to get back to the villa so I could tear those clothes off him. So I could show him just how serious I was that he was mine.