Keeping My Bride by Angela Snyder
Chapter 60
Verona
“DANTE, PLEASE, LISTEN to me,” I beg him for the millionth time.
He’s been sitting at his laptop, staring at the screen for what feels like over an hour. I don’t know what he’s looking for, but it can’t be good.
As time ticks by and Luca doesn’t show up, I fear the worst. Maybe he is dead.
No.No, I can’t allow myself to think that way.
Luca is coming for me. I can feel it deep down in my bones.
I just need to keep Dante distracted and away from that laptop. “I’m really thirsty,” I tell Dante. It’s not a total lie. I am thirsty, but I’m willing to do anything to get him away from whatever he’s keeping track of.
Dante glances up at me, frowns, and reluctantly rises from his chair. He goes to the kitchen and pulls a bottle of water out of the plastic case. He unscrews the lid as he walks towards me.
My entire body shakes the closer he gets. I have so much pent-up fear, anxiety and hate towards him that it’s seeping through my pores. I can’t even pretend any more. I hate him.
When his fingers sweep across my chin, I pull back like I was just bitten. His frown deepens as he gauges my reaction to his touch. Then, more roughly, he grabs my chin, pinching it between his thumb and index finger as he brings the top of the water bottle to my lips. “Drink,” he instructs.
I open my mouth as he pours a little bit of water into my mouth. I swallow quickly. He doesn’t try to drown me, ironically. No, he’s gentle, patient…and kind. And it makes me hate him even more. After what he did to my mother, how could he possibly be so nice to me?
“Enough,” I tell him after the third sip. I can’t bear to have him touching me any longer. And it hurts me to think that soon I might not have a choice in that matter. “How long are we staying here?” I ask, curiosity getting the best of me.
“Not long,” he says cryptically. “We’ll head out in the morning. I have a flight already booked for us.”
“A flight to where?” I demand, panic setting in. If I get on a plane, Luca will never be able to find me.
Dante screws the lid back on the bottle and returns to the table, his attention back on the laptop. “You’ll see,” he says cryptically.
I hang my head, tears threatening to spill over, and I let them. I silently sob when I think about never seeing Luca again and spending the rest of my life with the man who murdered my mother.
Suddenly, Dante stands up, knocking over his chair in the process. My head snaps up just as his eyes meet mine. “How the fuck did he find us?” he demands. He reaches for something on the other side of the table. A gun. “Did Luca implant a tracker on you?”
I stare at him and refuse to answer. I know how they found me. The phone. Luca tracked the phone call. But Dante doesn’t know about the phone. He never saw or heard it. He’s assuming they found me by some other means.
Elation fills my body as I realize Luca is coming to save me. But that feeling is instantly crushed by the sight of the gun in Dante’s hand. He’ll never let Luca take me. This can only end badly and in bloodshed. Dante will make sure that someone’s not going to make it out of this cabin alive.
Dante hurries over to me, untying the ropes holding me down so fast my head spins. Then, he hauls me up and out of the chair, pressing the gun to my temple. “He can’t take you from me,” Dante says hurriedly. “I won’t let him.”
And then I do the only thing I can do. I fight back.
