Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 40

Scarlett's POV"When the sun radiates on your beautiful face, then I know I want you more every day..."The voice floated through the air like poisoned honey, off-key and haunting. Silvio sang while he worked, his brush moving across my face with the concentration of a Renaissance master creating his final masterpiece.The bristles tickled my cheekbone. Cold paint dragged across my skin, thick and chemical-smelling. I couldn't see what he was doing and couldn't move my head to check my reflection in any of the mirrors that lined the magic room's walls.Because my hands were bound.Thick rope circled my wrists, secured to the arms of an ornate chair that looked like it belonged in a museum. Or a torture chamber. The line between the two had blurred somewhere around the third coat of foundation he'd applied to my face.We were alone inside the room. But outside, through the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the garden, I could see them. Guards. At least a dozen, positioned at pre

Scarlett's POVThe doctor arrived twenty minutes later.I heard him before I saw him. The soft click of expensive shoes on marble, the rustle of a medical bag being set down, the murmur of voices speaking Italian too quickly for me to follow.Then he was there. An older man, probably seventy, with silver hair and wire-rimmed glasses that caught the light as he moved. He wore a three-piece suit under his white coat, the kind of formality that screamed private practice for the very wealthy.The kind of doctor who made house calls to monsters."Dottore Marchetti. " Silvio's voice had transformed completely. Gone was the sobbing, emotional wreck from minutes ago. Now he was all business, controlled and precise. "Thank you for coming on such short notice.""Of course, Silvio. You said it was urgent." The doctor's eyes found me, bound to the chair, face still covered in drying paint. If he found the scene unusual, his expression didn't betray it. "This is the young lady?""Yes. She claims t

Cade's POVThe villa felt like a tomb.I couldn't stand still. Couldn't sit. Couldn't do anything except pace the length of the operating room while Russo's men spread blueprints across every available surface and spoke in hushed, urgent Italian that I only half-heard.Giovanni's architectural plans showed seventeen potential entry points to Silvio's mansion. Russo was methodically eliminating the ones with too much security, too much visibility, too much risk of detection before we could reach Scarlett.But all I could see was the clock.11:47 PM.Silvio had called twenty-four hours ago. Twenty-four hours since I'd heard Scarlett's voice, terrified and desperate, before the line went dead. Hours of planning when we should have been moving, acting, getting her the fuck out of there."Cade, you need to look at this." Russo tapped a section of the blueprint. "The service entrance Giovanni mentioned is here. Two guards maximum, rotating shift change at midnight. If we move in the next te

Cade's POVThe phone rang again. Russo's contact at the airport.I snatched it from his hand before he could answer. "What?""Different terminal." The voice was rushed, urgent. "Not the main private aviation. There's a smaller, older facility on the north side. Used for cargo mostly, but I just saw a convoy pull through. Three black SUVs. They're loading someone onto a Learjet."My heart stopped. "How long ago?""Five minutes. Maybe less. They're rushing the pre-flight, skipping standard protocols. Whatever's happening, they want wheels up fast."I was already moving. "Which gate?""North terminal, Gate 7. But Cade, there's security, and if you make a scene…"I ended the call. Threw the phone back to Russo."North terminal. Now."We didn't bother getting back in the vehicles. Just ran. Straight across the tarmac, ignoring the shouts of airport personnel, weapons drawn and visible now because stealth was a luxury we couldn't afford.The north terminal was exactly what the contact had s

Scarlett's POVThe jet's cabin felt like a tomb.I sat in the window seat, as far from everyone else as the confined space allowed, staring at nothing. My reflection in the window showed a stranger. Hair still perfect from the styling Silvio's staff had done. Silk dress still clinging to my body. Makeup still flawless despite everything.I looked like someone who belonged on a magazine cover.I felt like someone who'd watched a man's head explode.The image kept replaying. The casual way Russo had raised his weapon. The deafening crack of the gunshot in that enclosed space. The way Silvio's body had jerked, then slumped, held upright only by zip ties and gravity.The blood. So much blood.I'd thought I wanted to see it. Thought I needed to witness his death to believe it was real. To know he could never hurt me again.Now I couldn't unsee it.My hands were shaking. Had been shaking since we'd left the warehouse. I pressed them flat against my thighs, trying to still the tremors, but m