Dreadnought (Nemesis #1)(60)

“What’s going on, Lucifer?” the one who seemed to be older than the twins asked.

Lucifer … That name gave her chills.

“I’ve told you; the family is being threatened. That is all you or anyone else needs to know.” His voice had risen as he addressed all of his men, not just the one who stood before him, making them all scatter across the building to prepare. “Every fucking one of you will protect me and this family. No matter what.”

The three seemed skeptical of Lucifer before they finally noticed her. They stared intently at her for a moment, their eyes gazing down at her scarred face.

Chloe held her breath, unmoving, as the identical twins stalked toward her. The two then parted off at different times, walking around her slowly in a perfect circle, looking down at her like a hawk does before it strikes its prey.

“Who is this?” one of the twins asked as he passed in front of her to walk around her back.

Lucifer grinned evilly. “My prize.”

The other twin passed her front while they continued to circle her. “We’ll watch over her for you then. Won’t we, Matthias?”

“Yes,” Matthias agreed, smiling as his eyes swept over her body.

The two were mirror images of each other, even down to their tattoos. She had no clue how to tell them apart.

Chloe swallowed hard and deeply, her eyes travelling to the third guy who had first spoken to the devil. He hadn’t taken his piercing gaze off her, sending her already shivering body into more violent ones.

He stalked close to her now, until he stood right in front of her, staring down, his eyes roving over her scarred face. This close to him, it was obvious to her exactly who he was. His beard had hidden his identity from far away, but up close, you couldn’t miss the fact that he was Lucifer’s son.

When he walked behind her, she prepared herself for what he was going to do to her. Then she felt something warm over her shoulders, and then her arms.

Looking down, she saw that he had placed his jacket over her. It was warm from being worn, and it heated her bone-chilled body, giving her some relief.

All she could see was his back when he walked away from her, now jacketless, until he resumed his spot of watching her from afar.

She looked down at her wringing hands and her wrists that were becoming sore. The many men that filled the room with their guns made her feel a strong shift within herself, a feeling that intensified the strange thing between her and Lucca. It made her lose all hope of wanting Lucca to even save her.

If Lucca were to come, it could cost him his life, something she wouldn’t be able to live with. Not only because she would hate herself for it, but because she now knew what it was like to be safe with him.

Chloe shed one last tear. Don’t save me; I’m not worth it.

Seconds seemed to pass into minutes, minutes seemed to pass into hours. She continued to sit there, her body becoming sore and frozen, her wrists becoming raw.

The men in the warehouse only grew more antsy, while Lucifer only grew more crazed. Meanwhile, the three men continued watching her, the twins continuing to circle around her like a slow and broken clock as time crept on.

Chloe could feel the energy of the men change in the room, one by one, as the sound of cars started roaring closer, headlights illuminating the bleak, abandoned warehouse.

Looking down at her wrists, she could see trickles of blood flowing.

The twins stood on each side of her now, closer than they had stood, as Lucifer came to stand behind her.

The men all filed around the building, pointing their guns toward the massive door, with Lucifer’s son standing in front of the line.

“You will await my orders. I have waited many years for this moment,” Lucifer proudly ordered. “Today is the day we take back our city.”

The door flew open, revealing many clean-cut men in Italian suits.

Tears brimmed her eyes. She could already feel the loss of him. Lucca, don’t!

Gasps filled the air, and Lucifer’s men started backing up. Some of them were practically shitting themselves in confusion.

“The Carusos! You didn’t tell us it would be them!” was heard whisper-hissed around the room.

The intimidating suits split up, taking different sides of the room.

Her eyes grew wide when she saw Nero, Vincent, and Amo standing in the middle. They looked different to her. Stronger, older, scarier. They didn’t even look like themselves.

When her eyes landed on Amo’s, she could see the pain in them, and the regret he felt for putting her here.

When the three of them split, they revealed Sal, who was holding a chain in his hand that led to a man who no longer looked human. He was just skin and bones, covered in dirt, burns, and both new and old wounds.

She and the Lucianos stared at him with the feeling they knew him, but his matted hair and disfigured eyes made it hard for them to tell who it was, until it hit them all at once.

“Holy fuck.” The men all took a step back.

She thought she was going to throw up from looking at him, seeing the finger that had once held his gold horseshoe ring was now gone …

She knew exactly who had made him this way.

When Sal pushed the tortured man down to his knees, Chloe’s breath froze with her body, not thinking it was possible to feel any number than she had felt before his blue-green eyes met hers.

Lucca …?

Her eyes roved over him, never before seeing him like this. Lucca’s hair and beard had been trimmed, and every part of the suit he wore was as black as night. His rough appearance now gone, in its place was something more menacing, frightening, and deadly. This was the darkness in its true form. The boogieman.