Lahat ng Kabanata ng His Pretty Little Liar - The Devil’s Snare - Book 1: Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

LucaThe walk from my bedroom is more complex than I thought. The look of horror and disappointment in Emma's eyes was already plaguing me just as much as her crying words as she begged me not to leave her alone in the dark bathroom.Am I overreacting?Is there more to this than meets the eye?Surely not, as my father says, coincidence is not a factor in our life.But even with that said, I struggle to put one foot in front of the other as that niggling voice tries to convince me otherwise."I don't know whether I should shoot you now or have my fun before I end your fucking life," I mutter as I walk into the cell that Mass and Enry are holding Niko in.Unbelievably, Niko dares to look at me with confusion, believing that faking through this encounter is his best bet."Why am I down here? Where's Emma?" He asks, looking behind as if he's expecting her to jump out and reveal something, anything."Emma is none of your concern, Niko."He chuckles, throwing his head back as the sound reve

EmmaAfter seeing the incriminating photos back in the bedroom, my heart races with the need to protect Niko at all costs.I grab my knife and strap it to my ankle, and I'm about ready to fall into hand-to-hand combat with Luca if needs must. But I hope it doesn't come to that.Racing through the house in a sprint, I note the angry stares of a few of Luca's men, but they don't stop me as I walk down the stairs leading to the house's base level, the cold seeping into me instantly. My anxiety about the past haunts me, and memories surface just as quickly as I blink the days spent below my father's home in the name of training.I can't dwell on the past, not now, not when Niko's in grave danger for no good reason because of me. God knows how much time has passed and how much time Luca has had to do whatever he deemed fit in the name of punishment. I can't explain it, but there's something pulling me to protect him, to ensure his safety despite the fact that I barely know him.Bianca stop

EmmaWe struggle despite Niko trying to aid Bianca and me in getting him up the stairs. He's a dead weight and is moaning far too much with every movement.I worry about his organs and his blood loss, but I have to grit my teeth and concentrate on the task at hand.Eventually, we get him up the dark stairs and into the lower level of Luca's home. He half-limps there as Bianca and I shoulder some of his weight to his office. Luckily it isn't far from the basement door because he's a wall of fucking weight despite being a lean man."Stay here with him whilst I find Anna," I stipulate to Bianca as he falls into his bed dramatically. Her eyes widen with fear, but I ignore the niggling feeling and turn to leave. "Wait—." She calls after me as I reenter his office, hoping to look for Anna."What is it, Bianca?""Are you sure you'll be safe out there...by yourself?" She asks with deep interest."I'll be fine; go watch him. Please?"She huffs but nods anyway and then turns back and walks i

"Your mother warned me that you seemed off the other night, but I didn't want to admit that perhaps this takeover has put too much on your shoulders too quickly. But this," he bellows, stabbing his pointer finger into his phone. "This is very, very disappointing.""I'm sure it is, father.""I never raised you to be this type of man," he adds with a fist on the desk."We sell women to the highest fucking bidder; we hurt women every day of our lives. Force them to uproot everything they know, to lose their families and dreams and aspirations to sell them to the next man, one that probably has a weird ass kink that the girl has never even heard of yet a few measly marks on my wife's neck is too much for you to handle?" I scoff. "Oh yeah, besides that, you never taught me to lay my hands on a woman.""We sell women to men that are vetted. They are safe, fed, looked after," he shakes his head. "I have a team checking on each girl that passes through our hands at least once every few months

The mafia business follows mafia protocols. Luca obviously upset his father enough to provoke this reaction from him. Besides, I'm not sure I want to argue with him after he's lost an evidentially large amount of blood.I pour us both a drink, passing one tumbler to him as he assesses me with hooded eyes. I have no clue what he's thinking right now, and for once, I see the pain etched on his handsome face. The liquid burns my throat as I swallow the tumbler full, but after the last few days, I feel that I need something to steady me and look at his arm.I'm not squeamish, not really, but I was right. After ripping his shirt open, I note his shoulder is a bloody mess with flesh sticking out of a close proximity shot from what I can only presume is a pistol. Blood trickles out the hole and down across his skin as I assess him flexing the hole."You need a doctor; it's still inside—," I note as the gold bullet shines back at me and the blood surrounding it dribbles down onto his peck."