Dreadnought (Nemesis #1)(49)

Her peacefully sleeping in the bed next to him.

Twenty-two …

Kissing her under the gazebo while she wore a white dress.

Twenty-three …

When he hit the door in front of him, it opened with a slam, presenting the long hallway. I’m close, darlin’.

The adrenaline that still coursed through his veins had him reaching the end of the hall, opening the broken door to Nero’s place and running up the steps, praying to the God he didn’t believe existed that she was still alive.

Reaching the top steps, he saw a glimpse of Chloe in the bathroom, and a wave of relief washed over his body. Lucca found complete and utter peace in that millisecond. Knowing that her heart was still beating made his beat stronger.

The fear of losing her was now replaced by retribution when he saw Vincent on top of a man whom he was beating to death.

Grabbing Vincent’s shirt, he pulled him off the man he was about to murder. “Don’t you dare kill that fucker.”

Taking in the man on the floor, he studied him, trying to figure out who he was and what he was doing here. His gut had an eerie feeling that he already knew.

Sal came up the steps then, carrying a bat, having been notified from the security cameras.

“Fuck, man. He got Al. They should be cleaning him up, no—” He quickly shut his mouth once he saw the girls.

Taking the bat from him, Lucca gripped it, finding himself thankful he had a friend like him. “Thanks, Sal.”

Raising the bat above his head, he swung it down on the man’s leg.

The beautiful sound of bones shattering filled the space.

Vincent shouted, “Enough!” over the sound as the girls held their hands over their ears.

Lucca wasn’t close to done, though, letting the darkness have what it wanted, crashing the bat on the other leg.

Beginning to raise the bat for a final strike, Amo yelled, “Fuck! That’s enough!” which made him pause with the bat reared back.

Following his voice to the bathroom, his eyes landed on Chloe, who was sitting in the bathtub. She was motionless, nearly catatonic, staring him dead in the eyes. Fear of him was evident in her gray depths.

Chloe had yet to see him this way. She hadn’t seen what he was capable of, seen that there was true darkness in him.

Gripping the bat tighter, his knuckles grew white.

This was his moment, when he could either hide his true nature from her or present it to her; show her what was to come and the type of man she was really going to be with.

His decision was made in a split second as he slammed the bat down on the broken body one last time, watching her eyes and expression while he did it, never taking his eyes off hers.

She hadn’t flinched, moved, or changed her expression, telling him she had witnessed a brutality of that nature before.

Letting go of the bat, he took a deep breath, the smell of blood calming him.

He slicked back his hair that had fallen around his face, a smile touching his lips. The darkness was satiated.

“Now, that’s fucking enough.”

It all came crashing down, however, when Amo wrapped his jacket around Chloe’s shoulders and said, “Let’s get you home.”

The darkness that had settled came roaring back when she held Amo’s jacket to her tightly.

Watching her be comforted by another man ate away at him. Seeing a jacket that wasn’t his wrapped around her as she clung to it crushed him. The girl he loved so deeply being scared to even pass him was heart-wrenching.

She hadn’t the slightest idea the pain he was going through, the true fear he felt of losing her, or the love he had for her.

Watching the beautiful, broken girl pass him by without knowing any of those things as she walked with Amo slowly but surely started to kill him inside.





Thirty-Four





Allowing Monsters Like Him to Roam This Earth





Present Time




Chloe sat nervously on her bed with her stuff packed, like how it had been when she had first gotten here. Where is he taking me?

A quick knock on the door before it opened had Drago coming in. “You all packed up?”

She nodded nervously. “Where am I going?”

“You’re moving into Lucca’s room.” Not an ounce of sympathy was in his voice.

“I-I a-am?” That was the last thing she had expected, and it scared her more than anything she could think of.

“Yep. Let’s go,” he told her, picking up her bags.

More nervous than ever before, she shakily got up from the bed, following behind him as he headed out into the hall. Stopping, she grew confused when he didn’t go to the room across from hers and instead started heading down the hall toward the stairs.

“W-Where are you going?”

Drago stopped, turning to see she was standing in front of the door opposite of hers. “I told you. Lucca’s room.”

She didn’t understand as she continued to stare at the door she had seen Lucca go in and out of every morning and night over the past month.

“I thought this was his room.”

Drago set her bags down before walking to the door and opening it. Turning the light on, he let her see inside the bedroom.

Her eyebrows slowly came together in confusion as she walked into the room. It was nice, but felt a little young, and nothing at all like Lucca. This isn’t …