Dreadnought (Nemesis #1)(44)



Drago pushed him, making him walk faster down the stairs.

“This is fucked up what he’s doing; what you’re doing to her,” Amo spat to the man behind him.

Drago pushed him again. “Shut the fuck up. You don’t even know what you’re talking about, kid.”

“I know there is no fucking way she agreed to come here. She’s afraid of him.”

“Did she look afraid of him to you?” Drago questioned.

Silence was his answer.

“To me, she looked afraid of you … when you touched her.”

Amo stopped walking. His jaw flexing.

“Don’t be a dumbass. I’ll kick your ass, and that girl won’t be able to stop me.” He shoved Amo’s shoulder to get him to start walking again.

“I’m going to kill him,” Amo said under his breath.

Drago quickly pushed him into the office, closing the door behind him. “You are a fucking dumbass for even thinking those words, let alone having them come out of your fucking mouth,” he told Amo with a look of warning.

“What, you going to tell him? Is Lucca your family no—”

Drago grabbed him by his jacket. “Get your shit together. Then maybe, by the time he gets down here, he’ll spare you your fucking life.”

Amo spat in his face. “He’s a fucked-up piece of shit who should be nowhere near her. He took away the girl I love, and you’re crazy if you think I’m leaving here without her.”

Letting him go, Drago laughed in his face. “You better pray to God that girl is doing everything she can up there to save your ass.”

Fucker! The thought of Chloe up there, touching Lucca, sent him in a rage.

Amo went to punch Drago, but he grabbed Amo’s fist, squeezing it so tightly that Amo could feel his bones starting to bend.

“You fucked up by touching her. Touch her again, and he will kill you. Chloe is his. Get that through your fucking skull before you get yourself killed.” When Drago heard something snap, he released him.

Amo held his broken hand to his chest. “I see how it is. The family over family. I guess Lucca is your blood now.”

“You don’t get it, do you? You think he’s done all this just to steal away your high school crush?” Drago started to leave, opening the door, but then paused and looked back. “He’s the underboss; you are a soldier. Learn your fucking place.”

Amo wanted the last words before Drago could close the door. “Thanks for the advice, Uncle.”





Thirty-One





A Nightmare That Will Have You Begging Me Not to Wake You Up





Even after Drago closed the door behind them, Chloe continued holding on to Lucca, not wanting him to change his mind and go after Amo. Her heart thumped out of her chest now that she was alone with him. She had no idea what to expect from him as he continued to remain still. All she knew was that he was still. Too still.

The heat from his body began to warm hers. It was like she could feel the darkness boiling inside. Like a bottle that had been shaken too many times and was about to burst. Somehow, in some way, she was going to have to try to contain it to keep her friend alive. Unfortunately, she knew that was going to come at a price.

Lucca suddenly moved, turning around and grabbing her, then pushing her up against the wall of her room. It made Chloe gasp at how quickly he had turned the tables. Now all that heat and darkness were directed at her.

He pinned her with his body, keeping her caged in. Both hands firmly gripped her hips as he leaned forward, resting his head in the crook of her neck and taking deep breaths.

She stood there stiffly, too afraid to move. She wasn’t afraid for herself, though, knowing by now Lucca would never hurt her. Not even the darkness would.

“W-What are y-you going to do with him?” she managed to get out.

“He touched you. I told you what I would do if anyone ever laid a hand on you,” Lucca spoke with finality.

“H-He won’t do it again. I-I won’t let him get close enough to, if that’s what it takes.”

“Baby, I’m not ever letting anyone get that close to you again.” He removed a hand from her hip and gently grabbed the wrist that had been touched by another man, lifting it up to eye level. “Did he hurt you?”

She knew her reaction to Amo touching her made it seem like he had, and in a way, he did, but it hadn’t physically hurt her. It was only mentally. “N-No, it just felt … strange.”

“How so?”

She stared at his thumb as he rubbed it back and forth over her wrist. Why doesn’t it feel this way with him? “Like it felt wrong.”

He brought the inside of her wrist up to his lips, his cool breath hitting a sensitive area. “Good.”

Chloe bit her lip hard, knowing exactly what he was about to do, and when his lips touched her skin with a kiss, her heart stuttered from his tenderness. It was like he was trying to replace the touch that wasn’t his, washing away any trace of another man. She had expected it, prepared for it to sting, never before having a man’s lips touch her, but that wasn’t what happened.

Her mind had repelled Amo’s touch, only to accept Lucca’s. It shouldn’t have accepted either’s, since her mind had belonged to the devil for years.

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