Merciless Vows by Faith Summers

30

Lucca

“Get your fucking clothes back on now!” I have to practically growl for her to listen to me and see I’m being fucking serious.

With a frown, Violet grabs her top and shrugs back into it. Barely. Either her surgically enhanced breasts are too big for the top, or the top is too tight.

I think in this case, it’s a mixture of both, and it was done like that on purpose to fuck with me.

I asked her to meet me here so we could go through the paperwork together.

Last night was fucked all six ways to Sunday because not only did I not do any work, but I couldn’t find Ivy. Add the whole shit with Aria to the mix, and I’m really not in the mood for shit like this.

“Now get the fuck out,” I add, pointing to the door.

Her mouth drops, and she glares at me.

“Jesus, what the fuck, Lucca?” she counters. “You act like we don’t screw around all the time. We were together only a handful of months ago. How can you just dismiss me?”

“Violet, we were screwing around, and we aren’t anymore. That’s final.”

“Because you’re getting married to that half-dead piece of ass.”

“That’s it, get the fuck out, and don’t come back to work until I tell you can do so.”

Now she panics. “Geez, I’m sorry. You can’t just threaten my job. Please, I need the money.”

“We’ll talk about it.” I can’t have her working for me if she’s constantly throwing herself at me and making Aria feel uncomfortable. I know the type of woman she is, and truth be told, I should have gotten rid of her ass a long time ago.

She doesn’t need the money like she’s saying. I know she doesn’t. She just likes the money I filled her pockets with because I pay well, and she likes my dick.

She walks out, not looking back, and I look at the paperwork I still have to do.

I’d decided to spend the rest of the day at home working on it so I could go back on the streets with my men tonight to look for Ivy.

I haven’t checked in with Marylin yet to see how this morning went with Dr. Belmont.

Since no one has called me, I’m assuming there isn’t a problem, so I don’t want to go looking for one and break my concentration.

With that reasoning, I gather the documents and start working on them.

I get through a majority of them over the next few hours and stop when Marylin comes knocking on my door.

I assumed she was coming to tell me something about dinner, but when she walks in with a concerned look on her face, I can see there’s something else on her mind.

“Hi, Lucca. Have you seen Aria?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“I went to your room to get her for dinner, but she’s not there, or in the usual spots she hangs out. I thought I’d check with you before looking through the gardens. She came up here to see you earlier.”

“I didn’t see her at all.” Maybe that was because of Violet.

Did she come up here and see Violet with me? Fucking hell, did she see Violet topless in here with me?

That’s more the fucking question.

“She was quite upset after the consultation.”

“I didn’t know.”

“I’m sorry I would have come to speak to you before, but I thought she came to see you.”

“That’s alright. Do you know what she was upset about?”

She shakes her head. “No. She was crying and didn’t look like she wanted to talk about it, so I didn’t push the issue.”

But if she came to see me, she obviously wanted to talk to me. “Do me a favor and check the gardens. I’ll look through the rest of the house.”

“Of course,” she nods and rushes away.

I stand but reach for my phone and call Dr. Belmont, annoyed he didn’t call me if Aria left the appointment as upset as Marylin described.

He answers on the first ring like he was expecting the call.

“What can I do for you, Lucca?” he asks.

This guy is one of the only people I know outside the criminal underground I use. Everybody else is linked in some way.

Him though, no. We met in one of those unusual circumstances where it was a life for a life, and we each ended up owing the other a favor—the type of favors that don’t ever get resolved or become final.

“What did you talk about today?” I demand.

“Doctor, patient confidentiality, remember. You specifically said, and I wondered why at the time given the type of devil you are.”

“I didn’t want her having the restriction on her, knowing you’d report everything back to me.”

“ Great, so you’ve just amplified the answer I’m about to give you. You said I should tell you anything important. Things I thought you should know.”

“She’s upset.”

“I know. These sessions will be upsetting for her if she’s holding on to things her mind wants her to forget. It’s best you talk to her, Lucca. In fact, I strongly suggest you do, and I’ll tell you this, I think something bad happened to her. There’s nothing in her records from her previous doctor about that or her showing any emotion toward it. It makes me think you have something to do with it.”

“No, “ I answer quickly. “Not like that.”

“But she was one that had a lucky escape, wasn’t she? You didn’t simply meet a few years ago.”

Damn it, he knows the truth. Without information, he’ll know why I met her, and I won’t be a fucker and lie.

“No, we did not simply meet.”

“Interesting. Nevertheless, talk to her, and for fuck’s sake, be gentle. The fact she remembers you show some element of trust. If you aren’t going to be gentle and help her in some way, don’t waste my time. Don’t even send her back. I assume you can heed that advice if she met you in her past life and you allowed her to live.”

“Yeah.”

“Great. Then I’ll see her next week.”

He hangs up before I can say another word. He can only get away with shit like that because he knows I need him.

Motherfucker. He’s right, though.

I walk out of the office and head down the stairs leading to the dark side.

I can only assume if Aria’s not where she usually is, then she could be here. I hope not, though. I hope she went into the garden and Marylin finds her.

The second I dare to hope I smell her—the scent of roses lingering in the air.

I’ve been down here enough to spot the slightest difference, no matter how small it might be.

It’s not just the scent I smell, but her presence is here too among the ghosts.

I walk past Mother’s library and Jessa’s toy room. The next room is the tomb and one I’m not ready to go into again this week.

But that’s where I fucking find her.

And, fuck my life, she’s curled up in the very corner I sought when I came back here that wretched night so long ago and found my family slaughtered in this room.

I’ve always questioned myself as to why I did that. I think it was shock for the most part, but I also stayed because I didn’t want to leave them.

Now I’m wondering how this woman made her way in here.

In her hand is my sister’s rabbit, and next to her are two bottles of wine. One completely empty and the other virtually the same.

Her eyes are red and blotchy and so swollen they look like slits. I’ve never seen her like this, not even when she had every reason to..

What the hell happened today?

I walk up to her, and she glares at me with daggers and a murderous look.

“Don’t touch me,” she chokes when I reach out to her.

“What happened at the doctor’s today?”

“Leave me alone. Go back to Violet. I saw you two, just go. There’s no need for you to be here.”

“Why don’t you come lie down.”

“No. This room suits my mood. It’s sad and feels forsaken.” She mumbles, and I’m surprised she feels it too. “This is where it happened, right?”

We stare at each other.

She’s asking me about something I don’t talk about. I always give a brief overview of my family’s death, but I never go into detail.

“Marylin shouldn’t have told you that,” I answer, knowing it could only have been her. I know she wouldn’t have meant any harm in doing so, but it’s not something I wanted to share details on.

She shakes her head. “She didn’t tell me that much. I just know. I can feel it. I can feel them. All of them calling to me from the other side like I should be dead. The room is heavy with the type of darkness people like me can feel.”

A chill races over my skin. It’s a reaction I’m surprised I can have.

“People like you?” I ask.

“Those lost in the dark. Now please leave me. Don’t let me take away your precious time. I don’t think you’re supposed to leave a naked woman waiting for you, now fuck the hell off and leave me, bastard.” She reaches for the bottle to down the rest of the drink, but I take it from her. “Give it back, you asshole.”

“You’ve had enough, Aria.”

“You know what, keep your stupid wine. I have had enough, and I’ve had enough of you too. Fuck you for doing this to me, for taking me against my will and trapping me. Fuck you for making me feel for you, and fuck you for making me remember you. I wouldn’t remember anything if not for you. I hate you.”

She should, and as I look at her, I believe her now. When she said it that first time, it was just for saying it for its sake. She didn’t mean it. She does now, and I don’t want her to.

“Nothing happened between Violet and me,” I say as if it matters, and the explanation coming from me sounds strange. I explain myself to no one and never to any woman who might get close to me. I never allow it to get that far. Not ever.

“I don’t care. I don’t care who you fuck; just stay away from me.” She slurs as she tries to get up.

She stands on shaky legs and hugs the rabbit like she’s protecting it from something, from me.

“Leave me alone, Lucca.” Tears run down her cheeks.

I stand too, and she backs away from me.

“You wanted to talk to me earlier. Talk to me now.”

She shakes her head. “No, I don’t want to.”

“Something upset you, something more than me. That’s not what sent you down here. Marylin said you were upset after the appointment. What happened? What did you talk about? What did you remember?”

She staggers, and it looks like the alcohol must be taking effect. She takes in a sharp breath and starts crying.

“It was that fucking nightmare. It wasn’t a nightmare. It was a memory from when I was little.” She wobbles like it took all the energy out of her to tell me that. I have to catch her so she doesn’t fall over.

I hold and stare at her, willing her to tell me more. “It was real?”

She nods. “The dream starts with my Peter.” She winces, and I’m stunned to hear her say that name—that name she used to call me.

Peter.

My Peter.

“Peter?” I feel like an asshole for saying the name, and something inside me sinks deeper as she looks at me, and I experience for the second time in my life what it feels like to have her look at me and not recognize me.

Three years ago, when we met up again, and she didn’t recognize me, it was understandable. She hadn’t seen me in twelve years, and the last time we’d seen each other, we were kids. This is different and feels like I’m stuck in a time loop where we’re destined to repeat this introduction. But that’s not the problem here. Judging from the state of her, it’s the least of my worries.

“Peter. The boy from my dreams. He disappears right before I’m taken back to that godforsaken time. That’s the part that’s real. The part when that man comes into my room.”

Ice works its way down my spine. “What does the man do, Aria? What is he doing in your room?”

“He raped me. He raped me when I was a child.” Her shoulders drop, and her fingers loosen. The rabbit falls to the ground, and what little is left of my heart breaks for her as she breaks. “Dr. Belmont said I’m suppressing bad memories. That’s just one bad thing. What else is there, Lucca? More and worse than that? I can’t do it. I give up, and I don’t want to live anymore. Please kill me when you're finished with me. Just kill me.”

Kill her?

I couldn’t do it the first time, and I can’t do it now or anytime.

As her shoulders wrack with her sobs, I pull her to me, and I hold her close.

Rage overcomes me, and I want to kill Raphael for allowing whatever the fuck happened to her to happen.

I want to kill him more than I did before. I only tamp down my rage because she needs me.