Untangle Me

Chapter 16

Giada

"I prefer to call it what it is. In case you haven't guessed it, I'm Enzo's torturer," Luciano finishes.

I figured as much but to hear those words? Hear him call himself torturer? I'm horrified, barely able to breathe anymore.

"Did he order this? Are you going to kill me? Was everything part of some sick joke?" I ask. Instead of a reply, I'm given another hit to the face.

My head whips to the side with a groan and as soon as the world stops turning I can taste copper in my mouth. I spit it out, marking the floor with more of my blood before looking back to Luciano.

"Did you not hear a thing I just said? I do not take orders from that bastard! I'm doing this as revenge!" he snaps. Then he turns away from me, pacing the hollow space while running his hands over his face and through his hair.

He seems unhinged, completely mental.

"It's his fault! All his fault! He ordered me to torture and kill that woman. He was the one who kept me too busy to protect my own family when her clan came to take revenge. His fault. All his fault!" Luciano mutters to himself.

At this point, I'm not sure he even knows I'm still here. He seems so lost in his memories.

I take a chance and try to tug at the duct tape again, only to hiss in pain when I move my bleeding arm. It gets his attention and as he rushes back towards me, knife ready in his hands, I rack my brain for some kind of plan.

"What does any of this have to do with me?" I finally burst out when he's only a foot away from me.

"Oh, everything. Not that you would remember, of course. How's regaining your memory going, by the way? Still no luck remembering the accident and pretty much everything before?" I suck in a breath. He knows? How does he know everything?

Considering his patience is visibly slipping and I need to keep him talking, I force my confusion away. These are facts. I'm finally close to getting an explanation so I need to keep a cool head.

"How do you know all this about me?" I ask, my voice steadying with each word. The wound in my arm is still burning and my jaw aches as I speak but at least I don't feel like I'm dying.

"I've been watching you, Silly. I was the one who made him believe you died along with your dad in that accident and I've never let you out of sight since.

"I'm sorry for your loss, by the way. This was never about you or your dad. Hell, no one but Enzo should have even been in that car. But now that we're here I can't help but think this is so much better." That's it. Luciano must've lost his mind because nothing he just said makes any sense at all. Not a single word and it's making my head pulse.

I mean, Enzo in the car with my father and me all those months ago? This is crazy talk.

"You're crazy," I mutter, suppressing another groan. Everything hurts and I have no idea how I'll escape this.

"Crazy, she says!" the man in front of me snaps, his mood doing a 180 once more. He grips my face with his free hand and drags his knife along the curve of my neck with the other. I cry out uselessly as I feel more blood coating my body but Luciano isn't done.

I should've known not to call him crazy.

The next thing I know, there's a knife buried in my side up to the hilt. My mouth drops open in a silent scream, my vision clouding more than before. I can't even tell if the weapon is still embedded in my skin or if he's pulled it out by now. I just know that my side is burning up while the rest of me is starting to shiver.

"Why?" I croak as my head rolls to one side. I'm not sure why I keep talking. Maybe I've accepted that I'll die right here and the only thing I can hope for is a few answers before I go. Or maybe my delirious mind is just begging for a distraction from the excruciating pain.

"We both know why, don't we?" he replies, slapping my cheeks slightly to keep me awake. It's not doing much, his voice already sounds far away. I won't be conscious for much longer.

"You're here because I need to level the score. He's the reason the people I love died so I kill the person he loves. You're simply a pawn, Princess. That's how it works." Distantly, I realize with dry amusement how his nickname for me makes sense. It was never meant to be cute. No, it was a cruel inside joke he had with himself.

Then my tired brain hangs up on a single word Luciano said. Love? Have I already lost that much blood? I think I might be dying sooner than anticipated when these are the things I hear.

"No one loves me," I mumble. Or I think I do, perhaps I only mouthed the words. Not that it matters.

"You might be right but he did at one point and for me to kill you right after he got you back? Oh, he won't like that. Enough talking now, let's have some more fun before I leave you here for him to find."

With that, the man gathers some new tools he wants to use on me and although I try to prepare myself mentally, I know it's no use.

Because no matter how hard I want to live, the devil already has his eyes on me. I can hear his eager whispers, telling me to let go and I can feel his sharp claws grasping for me.

Soon, my friend, I think numbly as I close my eyes. But then something searing hot presses against one of my shoulder blades and my eyes shoot open.

"Not yet, Princess. I'm not done with you."

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Keep reading for Vincenzo's part👀