Lucca (Made Men #4)(55)
Squatting down besides the man’s head, Lucca then held open his right eye, not letting him blink, while he took the cigarette out of his mouth with his other hand and hovered the burning end over the eyeball.
“Did you lie to me about anything else?” he demanded.
The weak man tried to move but couldn’t. “NOOO! I swear!”
“You’re right”—Lucca brought the burning stick closer to the eye he held open so tightly it looked like it was about to pop out at any second—“I would have killed you.”
Shoving the cigarette down, he smashed it into the man’s pupil until it no longer burned, using his eye as an ashtray.
Only Lucca and the concrete walls laid witness to how a man’s screams sounded when he went blind in one eye. And then again, a few moments later … as he took the sight of the other.
Thirty-Seven
This Time Felt Different, More … Final.
Chloe sat on Lucca’s bed, holding her knees to her chest and rocking herself back and forth. The pit in her stomach had only grown since her nightmare this morning, making her sick. The air around her felt heavy, making her suffocate. She could feel something coming. Something very bad was about to happen, and she was afraid her fate would be fatal this time.
The horseshoe ring, along with the devil’s ominous black eyes, wouldn’t leave her mind.
He’s coming for me … He promised.
Drago was alerted to a presence on the security monitors. A car was pulling into the long driveway. It had a sign on top of the vehicle, showing it was food delivery. He hadn’t ordered anything, so he quickly called Lucca to see if he had. However, the call went straight to voicemail, his signal most likely blocked from where he was.
When the car stopped in front of the house and a man in uniform got out with a pizza bag, he figured Lucca had ordered it to feed Chloe since she hadn’t eaten anything and he was most likely going to be gone for a while.
Getting up, he headed toward the door and got to it just as the delivery guy knocked.
He cracked open the door with his hand on his pistol at his lower back, seeing the uniformed man holding the pizza bag.
“Delivery for Lucca Caruso.”
Drago nodded then pulled his hand from his pistol, opening the door wider.
The delivery man placed his hand inside the bag …
POP.
When the shot fired through the bag, Drago realized his grave mistake.
Going for his gun, he took a step toward the man, when …
POP.
Both shots had hit him in the chest before his gun was at his side.
Lifting up the gun, he saw now that other men had gotten out of the car, all holding guns.
POP.
He pulled the trigger, but his aim wasn’t true as a bullet lodged itself deep in his own arm.
Knowing he wasn’t going to make it, his only hope was to warn her.
“Chloe, hide!” his voice boomed.
POP.
Refusing to go down, he went to tackle the man.
POP.
Drago’s body slumped to the floor as his mind began to fog. He had failed.
I’m sorry … Chlo—
When Chloe heard the loud noises, she held herself tighter.
“Chloe, hide!” she heard Drago’s muffled yell.
She moved a millimeter before a familiar voice spoke to her, freezing her in place.
Stay still, little girl …
More shots rang out before there was only silence.
… Or it’ll just hurt worse.
A tear fell from her eye. A real, single wet tear touched her cheek.
The door slowly creaked open, and the figure of a man stood in the doorway. He looked just how he had four years ago, like he had come out of her nightmare, his black eyes still glowing with evil.
She closed her eyes. Chloe, wake up and everything will be okay.
“I’ve missed you, little girl.”
Lucca walked out of the place he held his captive prisoner, waiting for his sins to wash away once the fresh air hit him, like they always did. This time, however, they didn’t, and his heart sunk deep as the feeling he and Chloe shared began to fissure, telling him something terrible was happening.
Grabbing his phone out of his pocket, he saw he had a missed call from Drago. Quickly, he called him back.
ANSWER!
There was no answer.
Now running to his car, he called Sal, who picked up on the first ring.
“House, now!” was all he said before he hung up, throwing himself into his Cadillac and starting up his car.
Sal would be able to see what was happening on his computer. He would be able to help and assess the situation since he was closer to the house.
Lucca drove at breakneck speeds. He was too far away from the house. Too far away from Chloe once again. This was now the third time this wretched, hopeless feeling had taken over his body.
However, this time felt different, more … final.
Stay with me, Chloe. Please don’t leave me.
He’d had her now, tasted her, felt her. Living even this short amount of time with her, he knew one thing for certain.
I won’t be able to live without you.
Thirty-Eight
Pressing Play