The Villain Duet by Bella J.

Chapter 36

Elijah

Iknew what fear felt like. I spent most of my childhood living in fear, constantly feeling the terror of sheer panic. Feeling your muscles tighten and your stomach turn while you struggled to breathe wasn’t a new experience for me. But this…this was beyond fear. It was like the dread of hell had been ignited in my veins, horror boiling in my blood as the devil himself held a knife to my throat.

They had pulled a bag over my head, but not before I witnessed the bastard hit Charlotte over the head, knocking her unconscious. I lost my shit in the back of that fucking car, wanting to tear their motherfucking hearts out without seeing a goddamn thing. Even after they stuck a needle in my arm, I still fought and cursed them to hell, wanting their blood to stain my hands…until there was nothing.

Next thing I knew, I woke up, tied to a goddamn chair in total darkness with a rope tied through my mouth. It smelled like sewer and rotting flesh, the air damp and humid.

I couldn’t see a thing, and I tried to call her, tried to say her name, but the damn rope made it sound like nothing but the desperate groans of a man ready to slaughter an entire fucking village to get to the woman he loved.

I pulled at my wrists and felt the plastic cable ties cut my skin. But I didn’t feel the pain. I didn’t care if I had to saw my own fucking hands off. All I cared about was making sure Charlotte was okay, that these fuckers didn’t hurt her more than they already had.

The light flicked on, and it blinded me, causing me to shut my eyes. The rope was pulled from my mouth, the harsh fibers cutting my lip.

“Where is she?” I demanded, my voice echoing in the darkness while I still struggled against the bounds around my wrist. “What did you do to her?”

“She’s right here.”

I blinked rapidly, my eyes adjusting to the light. “Jesus,” I breathed when I saw Charlotte across from me, tied to a chair, still unconscious with her head hanging down. There was blood on her coat, and my heart wanted to crack through my ribs as panic soared.

“Charlotte!” I cried. “Charlotte, wake up.”

“She’ll wake up soon enough.”

My attention snapped in the direction of the voice just as Julio Bernardi revealed himself, stepping out of the corner.

“You son of a bitch,” I spat at him. “Let her go.”

“Not yet. I need something from you first.” He grinned, and the scar above his upper lip curled. “Give me what I want, and I’ll consider letting her go.”

“I know you want her, but it will be a cold fucking day in hell before I’d let you harm her in any goddamn way.”

“Oh.” Julio paused. “I don’t want her.”

I recoiled, narrowing my eyes, not trusting this son of a bitch one little bit.

Julio frowned. “You thought I wanted her?”

I didn’t respond, my mind racing.

“Oh, no, Elijah.” Julio cackled. “How wrong you are. I don’t want her. I never wanted her.” He mimicked a gunshot in my direction with his fingers. “It’s you I want.”

Me? What the fuck was he talking about?

“Well, not you, but rather something you have.”

“Then what the fuck is she here for? By having her here you’re only pissing me the fuck off.”

He laughed, those mouse-colored eyes of his filled with amusement. “You know how long I’ve been searching for you?”

“I don’t give a fuck,” I bit out, still pulling at the cable tie around my wrists.

Julio pulled his fingers through his shoulder-length hair, auburn strands falling back to fan his ugly motherfucking face. “I’m pretty sure when it comes to her,” he walked up behind her, placing his filthy hands on her shoulders, “you give quite the fuck.”

“Take your fucking hands off her.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll cut your motherfucking hands off right before I tear out your goddamn liver.”

Charlotte stirred, moaning softly.

“Oh,” Julio smirked, “look who’s waking up.”

“Keep her the fuck out of this, Bernardi!”

“You know,” he leaned down, bringing his face closer to her, “all this time I was searching for you, I never thought I’d get two for the price of one. Yet here we are. The man raised by Gianni Guerra, and the dead man’s granddaughter.”

“Elijah,” Charlotte whimpered, lifting her head, dried blood covering the side of her face.

“Charlotte!” I jerked, yanked, and fucking pulled at my tied hands. “Charlotte.” I cut my glare to Julio. “Let her fucking go.”

Julio leaned closer, pressing his face against her cheek, taunting me. “Get away from her!”

“Give me what I want.”

“I don’t fucking know what you want!”

Julio bit his lip as he straightened, and his amused expression turned to stone. “I have spent years looking for you. I’m not wasting another fucking second.” He pulled a gun from his back and held it against Charlotte’s head. “Tell me where it is.”

“Jesus Christ.” Every muscle in my body was coiled tight, my insides wrapped in barbed wire as I stared at the glint of a gun held against Charlotte’s head.

She blinked and cringed, moaning. “Elijah.”

“I don’t know what you fucking want!” I screamed at Julio. “Tell me what you want!”

“Gianni’s diary, that’s what I want!” Spit erupted from his mouth. “I want his motherfucking diary.”

“Listen to me,” I pleaded like a desperate fucking idiot willing to give his last breath in order to save his wife. “Gianni didn’t have a diary.”

Julio shifted. “Everyone knows he kept a list.” He waved the gun around. “A fucking manifest of names.”

Stunned, my eyes widened. “That’s what you’ve been after all this time? His fucking pocket Bible?”

Julio’s eyes widened. “He kept the list of his victims’ names in his pocket Bible? How fucking ironic.”

“Why do you want it?”

Julio lifted a brow. “You know how we hate loose ends. Knowing that list is floating around is just too risky. I need it so I can fucking burn it.”

This was the opportunity I had waited for, finding something I could use to my advantage, turn this entire situation around so it played out in my favor.

I glared at him. “If you hurt her, you’ll never get your hands on that Bible.” I made sure my threat was laced with confidence and unbreakable determination. “If anything happens to her or me, I can guarantee you that the next person to see that fucking list carries a badge.”

“Don’t fuck with me, Elijah.”

“No!” I snapped. “Don’t you fuck with me. You underestimated me, you fucking son of a bitch, and that was your biggest mistake.”

Charlotte’s fearful gaze locked with mine, tears slipping down her cheeks. God, I could see her trembling. But I pushed my own fear back, determined to show Julio he no longer controlled this fucking situation. I did.

Julio glared in my direction, studying me, and I could practically hear the fucking wheels turn inside his head.

Sweat trickled down my back as I anxiously waited for Julio to make his move, which would determine what I would do next.

He rubbed his jaw with his thumb and forefinger, his pensive expression pissing me the fuck off. “You’re right. I did underestimate you. I had every fucking contractor search for you, but no one could find you after you escaped New York. Not even the infamous Musician—who cost me a fuckton of money, I might add. How did you do it? How did you manage to escape us all this time?”

A laugh ripped from my throat, mocking him. “Of course the Musician couldn’t find me.” I cleared my throat, smiling. “You stupid fuck.”

“I would advise you to watch your mouth since I’m the one with the gun here.”

“Heed my warning, Julio. If you hurt Charlotte in any way, you better be sure to kill me. Otherwise, I will come for you, and I will peel your motherfucking skin off inch by inch right before I cut out your tongue. I will kill you, Julio. But it will be a slow, agonizing death. I swear to God.”

Julio glowered at me, and for a brief second, I saw fear flash in his eyes. I’d seen that look enough times to recognize it. This fucker was weak, a piss-poor excuse of a man who pretended he had the balls to rule the world.

He wiped at his nose. “I promise you, Mariano, this will end with you taking your last breath.”

Gunshots went off around us just as someone burst through the old door, dust and pieces of broken wood exploding into a cloud of smoke. Mayhem erupted, my ears ringing from the fired shots that echoed through the confined space.

Men came storming in, and Julio raised his gun. That was the moment I prayed. I fucking prayed to a God I was sure didn’t exist until right now. I didn’t care if I made it out of this alive, as long as she did. As long as Charlotte was saved—that was all that mattered to me.

Another gunshot fired, and Julio fell to the ground, blood gushing from his chest. It would have been an exquisite sight, something to savor if it wasn’t for my instinct to get Charlotte far away from here—to make sure she was safe.

Charlotte screamed, the sound scraping against my spine. I wasn’t sure if I yelled or not, but the moment I felt the ties around my wrists get cut I launched from my chair. There was no other sound but Charlotte’s cries, the adrenaline in my veins demanding I protect her.

“It’s okay.” I grabbed her the moment one of the men loosened her wrists, and she slammed into me, sobbing against my chest, shuddering. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”

Thank you, God. Thank you. That was the only thought that repeated itself in my head, my heart on the verge of bursting.

“Elijah.” Charlotte grabbed my shirt with her fists, clutching me so fucking tight. “I was so scared.”

“I know, baby. It’s okay. You’re safe now.” I hugged her tighter, weaving my hands into her hair, relief flooding my system. Nothing else fucking mattered. Nothing. It was only her. Her safety. Her protection. Her security.

Saint walked in, fastening the buttons of his coat. “You two okay?”

“God, yes.” I didn’t let go of Charlotte. “You got my message?”

Saint lifted a brow. “Obviously.”

I took a deep breath. “Remind me to give that concierge a huge motherfucking tip.”

“I’ll give it to you, my friend. Your instincts are spot on.”

After doing a little background check on the man I noticed in the hotel's reception the night before, I came up empty. I couldn’t find anything on that man. Nothing. It was as if the man didn’t exist, and that was highly un-fucking-likely. Everyone had a trace. Everyone. Not finding anything on that man set off all the alarm bells.

Unable to ignore my instincts, I instructed the concierge to call me when this man left the hotel. If he didn’t get hold of me, he was instructed to send the man’s name to Saint with my message. “Ghosts don’t exist.” I knew Saint had the means and the resources to figure out who this man was. Everyone had a story, no matter who you were.

Saint patted me on the shoulder. “Our ghost led us here.” He glanced at the ground by the door where our ghost’s dead body bled out. “You’re lucky I figured it out.”

“Never doubted you for a second.”

Saint smirked. “Because you know I’m smarter than you.”

I rolled my eyes, clutching Charlotte tighter.

Saint glanced from her to me. “Get her out of here. Once she’s safe, and I’m done here,” his expression hardened, “you and I, we need to talk.”

I knew that look. I also knew that whatever Saint wanted to talk about, I wasn’t going to like it. But that was a problem for another time. Right now, all that mattered was Charlotte.

I eased back, gently wiping her hair from her face—strands of raven curls sticking to the crusted blood on her cheek. “We need to get you checked out.”

She nodded, wiping at her tears. “I’m okay.”

“I just want to make sure. It’s a nasty hit you took.”

Her hands trembled, and her body shook. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “After what you’ve just been through, you’re worried that I’m hurt?”

“All I thought about was you, praying they wouldn’t hurt you.”

“I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

I cupped her cheek. “Yes. And I’ll be even better after I get you out of here.”

Charlotte snuggled into my side, and I slipped my arm around her shoulders, keeping her steady as we walked out.

A loud crack sounded, and my ears popped, followed by the sound of Charlotte’s screams. My body went numb—my legs, my arms, everything but this searing pain that spread like fire through my insides.

My thoughts went quiet. Silent. My body falling…falling…until it all went dark.