Valentina.
“You were never meant to be anything more than a replacement, Valentina. It was always about Isabella.”
My legs felt weak.
If Isabella wasn’t staring at me, I was not sure I wouldn’t have fallen to the floor or ran after him after he walked away.
No.
No, no, no.
For months, I had tried to convince myself that Matteo only saw me as the replacement for Isabella. I tried to stop myself from falling for the one man I shouldn’t have.
I gasped, trying to suck in a breath, but the air felt like it was choking me. The warehouse lights flickered dimly overhead, casting eerie shadows across the cold concrete floor.
The walls, they were closing in, suffocating me.
How could he? How could he have used me like this? My throat tightened as the reality of it hit me like a sledgehammer.
Everything.. every touch, every kiss, every word whispered. It had been all a game to him.
I was nothing but a plaything.
“Look at you,” Luca’s voice slithered through the silence, snapping me out of my thoughts. “I told you not to trust anyone.”
I jerked my head up, my eyes burning with unshed tears. Luca stood a few feet away, his cruel smirk etched across his face.
He hadn’t won.
Matteo had played him till the end. Brothers in all but a mother.
“Shut up.” I hissed, my voice shaking with rage.
I wouldn’t let Luca see how broken I felt. No one should see how broken I was.
He raised an eyebrow, amused by my defiance. “Oh, sweetheart, don’t be like that. We’re still family, even if you didn’t actually marry my brother.” He sauntered closer, his hand reaching out, brushing a lock of hair from my face.
I flinched away from his touch, glaring at him with pure venom.
“Don’t touch me.”
He just laughed darkly at that, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look up at him. “You are in no position to make demands, Valentina. You have nothing. There’s no one to help you out of here.”
His words felt like another punch to the gut, but I refused to let him see me crumble.
I didn’t see it before it happened.
He shoved me backwards, and I stumbled, barely catching myself before hitting the floor. My heart raced, adrenaline kicking in, but I couldn’t show weakness.
Not now.
“Luca, stop!” Isabella’s voice rang out, sharp and desperate.
She was still on the floor, surrounded by Luca’s men, her wrists bound tightly with thick rope. Despite her dishevelled appearance, her eyes blazed with fury as she struggled to rise to her feet.
Again.
The smack happened faster this time.
Luca turned his gaze to her, his smirk widening. “Ah, Isabella. Don’t be dramatic. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about yourself right now?”
Isabella pushed herself to her knees, her breathing ragged, but she didn’t back down. “Valentina has nothing to do with this! You heard Matteo. He won’t let you become the Don for any reason, so leave her alone.” She was desperate, pleading, and it killed me to see her like this.
Why didn’t I just allow the running away plan?
Why did I have to be so stupid?
Luca chuckled, his eyes flicking between the two of us. “Oh, I disagree. Valentina is very much involved now. She couldn’t even seduce the man to get him to leave his job, but I know he loved her enough that it would destroy him to see what I would do to her.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, hard, feeling the weight of his words.
He wasn’t just trying to hurt me.
He wanted to destroy Matteo through me.
“Leave her out of this!!” Isabella snapped, managing to stand now despite the ropes binding her. She took as step forward, her eyes locked on Luca. “Get your power. And leave Valentina out of this.”
Luca raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying her defiance. “You are really in no position to make demands, Isabella. Last I checked, you were Matteo’s discarded fiancee, then you ran away from me.”
Isabella took another shaky step forward, her chest heaving. “You still want me, Luca. You can have me. But know damn well that if you hurt Valentina, you’ll regret it.”
Luca’s expression shifted, a flicker of something crossing his face.
Anger? Lust?, maybe a touch of guilt, but it was gone in an instant.
His smirk returned, crueller than before.
“You don’t need to offer yourself on a silver platter, Isabella,” He said coldly. “I can have you anytime I want.”
Before anyone could react, Luca lunged forward, grabbing Isabella by the throat and slamming her against the wall with a sickening thud.
“Bella!!” I screamed, rushing toward them, but one of Luca’s men grabbed me by the arms, yanking me back. I struggled against his grip, my heart pounding in terror as I watched Luca tighten his hold on my sister.
She gasped for air, her hands clawing at Luca’s arm, but she refused to back down.
“Let her go,” She choked out, her voice barely above a whisper. “She’s done nothing to you.”
Luca’s eyes were dark, his grip relentless. “Stay out of things that don’t concern you, Mia Cara. You’re walking on a dangerous line with me.” He turned his gaze to me, his lips curling into a sneer. “As for you, Valentina… you just need to work harder.”
Raged boiled inside me, but I was helpless, pinned down by men who were bigger than me.
Whatever hope I had that Matteo had been lying, and he would come back, was all for nought.
He wouldn’t.
I couldn’t let this happen. Not to Isabella. Not to either of us.
“Luca, please,” I begged, hating the desperation in my voice. “Let her go. You don’t have to do this.”
He ignored me, his attention still focused on Isabella, whose face was now turning pale from the lack of oxygen. “Stay out of this, Isabella. ”
He ignored me, his attention still focused on Isabella, whose face was now turning pale from the lack of oxygen. “You should’ve stayed out of this, Isabella. You always make things worse for yourself.”
Isabella’s eyes fluttered, her grip on Luca’s arm loosening, and panic surged through me.
She was slipping away.
And there was nothing I could do.
“Enough!” I shouted, my voice breaking. “If you want to punish Matteo, fine. But don’t kill us for it. Don’t be the monster you’re pretending to be.”
Luca’s hand paused, just for a moment. His grip on Isabella’s throat loosened slightly, and she gasped for air, collapsing against the wall when he finally released her.
I sagged in relief, my body trembling from the adrenaline, but the moment was short-lived.
Luca straightened, brushing off his hands like it was nothing. “Don’t think this means I’m going soft. You two are still valuable to me. And Matteo…” He chuckled, dark and twisted. “Matteo will come back for you, Valentina. I’m counting on it.”
His word sent a cold chill down my spine.
I was the trap he was setting for Matteo again. To make him give up what he loved the most.
Luca was such a fool.
Without warning, Luca snapped his fingers, and his men dragged Isabella and me forward.
“Take them,” Luca ordered. “Throw them in the cell. Let them rot until Matteo shows his cowardly face.”
I fought against the hands that gripped me, but it was useless. The men were too strong, dragging me toward the far end of the warehouse where a heavy steel door loomed.
Isabella was barely conscious, stumbling beside me as they shoved us into the small, dark cell. The door slammed shut with a deafening clang, sealing us inside.
Darkness swallowed us whole.
The cold concrete walls pressed in around me, and I could hear Isabella’s ragged breathing beside me. My hands fumbled in the dark, reaching for her, and I finally found her arm, pulling her close.
“Isabella?” My voice was barely a whisper.
She groaned, her voice weak. “I’m… okay.” But I could hear the pain in her words.
Tears pricked my eyes, but I blinked them away. I couldn’t break down. Not now. Not when Isabella needed me.
Luca’s words echoed in my mind, chilling me to the core.
Matteo would come back for us.
He had to.
“I’m so sorry.”