Under My Skin

Chapter 13

Darkness enveloped me in its cold embrace. It shrouded my senses and nulled my perception.

String made from a scratchy material bound my wrists in a V-shape to a solid object. Mirroring my wrist, the twine constricted my ankles. Someone tied me into an X-shape. As gravity weighed heavy on me, I hung on display like a sinner.

The light flickered on. It was a singular bulb that continued to flicker despite the electricity coursing through it. The door opened, and I recognized the black-haired man who attacked me in the woods.

Although he no longer wore his suit jacket, he still wore his black button-down, dress pants, and dress shoes. The mud from the woods clumped on the edge of his soles. He rolled up his sleeves, and he took off his watch. Enzo did that before he killed Barbieri's cousin.

I swallowed hard, but my mouth was dry. My legs stung from all the cuts, and dirt and blood covered my half-exposed body.

"Lucia Colombo, I finally found you." Underneath his Italian accent, the man sounded like a snake. His dark brown eyes pierced mine and swallowed up my soul.

"You have the wrong girl. I'm Lucia Giordano."

My head snapped to the left as the man backhanded me. His signet ring cut into my cheek as he did. I forgot that Enzo also did that when Barbieri's cousin spoke.

"Sorry, babe." The man rubbed his hand with falsified remorse. "You don't get to speak unless I permit you. Capisci?"

What's new? Are all these mafia guys carbon copies of each other?

Whoever this Lucia Colombo was, she hurt this man beyond forgiveness. A seething animosity dwelled under his maniacal smile. His sunken clean-shaven cheeks scrunched up at the corners of his lips as if he had too much skin and not enough flesh.

"Let me introduce myself in case you forgot. Seeing as you want to pretend you're not Lucia Colombo, I am Niccolò Barbieri."

Air got lodged in my throat and I nearly coughed in his face. This guy was related to the cousin that Enzo had killed, which meant he wanted revenge. In other words, I was going to die.

"Oh, so, you recognize our name? You're quite easy to read, Miss Colombo."

I shook my head when he addressed me by someone else's name. Niccolò's fist burrowed into my gut with a violent force. The cough that emanated from my body was dry and airy.

"That counts as talking, babe."

Niccolò wiped his hand off with a dirty rag.

"Now, I know you've lived as this Lucia Giordano, but they really should have changed your first name too if I wasn't supposed to find you."

Was Niccolò related to my adoption? No way. Could I be this 'Lucia Colombo'? Wait, I let this man manipulate me. He's a Barbieri. This is because of Enzo - not me.

"Normally, I'd go about this arrangement differently. However, my fiancé has lived in our enemy's house as his little puttan and I will simply not tolerate such erotic behavior."

When I realized I was this fiancé he spoke of, my eyes widened and my lips parted. My chest tightened as my own body choked me in order to survive. I sank into the wood posts keeping me over a foot off the ground, but putting space between Niccolò and I was futile.

His eye morphed into place holes as Niccolò glowered at me before unleashing a flurry of blows on my vulnerable body. My arms tugged at the restraints and the abrasive texture tore through my thin skin. I needed to do something, not that I thought I stood a chance against him. Small streams of blood trailed down my forearms.