Page 78 of Dare To Free Us
“Ok, was that so hard to say?” His mouth lifted into a sneer at my jab.
“What’s going on?” Steven’s voice came out of nowhere, then he was beside me, crowding in on my escort.
“Orders. We are taking her to a safer location.” He gestured with a tip of his head to the other guards waiting by the front door.
“Safer than the house? I haven’t heard a word of this.” There was a hint of speculation in Steven’s voice.
“Nico called me. Matteo is busy. You are supposed to make sure his mother gets out.”
“No, I’m going with Arianna.” Steven stepped in close. I didn’t understand his actions one bit. I knew Steven took his work personally and we’d become as close to friends as possible but questioning orders was out of character for him.
“Steven, it’s ok. Please make sure Maria is safe.” Steven may seem soft but I also knew from the rumors other men spread that he was a wolf at heart. Steven was incredibly smart, observant, and expertly capable of dealing out death. I couldn’t think of anyone else I wanted watching over Maria if there was a threat.
Steven looked down at me with a frown. For a moment I thought he would argue, so I rested my hand on his arm and gave a pleading squeeze. He glared at my escort one last time then nodded and turned to leave.
“Come on,” the guard growled, making me think twice about letting Steven go. Would it kill the man to be nicer? Matteo and I were definitely going to have a talk about these new men later, that was for sure.
Once my entourage piled in the SUV, two of them caging me in the middle, we sped off down the road. The ride was eerily silent and the further we got from home something unpleasant churned in my gut. I couldn’t place it but something felt off. The men were too detached, giving me cold shoulders as if I was more of a prisoner than their charge.
I watched out the window and realized I didn’t recognize anything around us. We weren’t headed into the city like I expected but further out into the country. I didn’t know a lot about Matteo’s locations but was sure he’d never mentioned having a place this far out.
“Where are we going?” I asked no one in particular. My answer was silence and averted gazes. “Hey, I asked, where are we going?” I said again, raising my voice.
“You’ll see soon enough,” the man on my right said.
Bullshit.
Crossing my arms I stayed quiet the remainder of the drive. It was only about twenty minutes until we were pulling into an old drive that circled around in front of a large country home. Someone with wealth had built the three-story monster many years ago and tried to keep the ambiance alive with updates. It was large compared to anything else out here and very secluded. The perfect place to hide from the world and not sacrifice space or luxury.
Gravel skipped away from the tires as our vehicle came to an abrupt stop. The men waisted no time getting out. I crawled out and noticed the other vehicles parked off to one side. Any of the weirdness that I noticed in the car faded away.
Matteo.He was already there. My heart leapt at the excitement to see him. I wanted nothing more than to run into his arms and kiss him until I couldn’t breathe. Taking off towards the entry I left my guards in the dust and burst through the front door.
“Matteo!” I called, moving fast into the entryway. A smile that split my cheeks was ready to greet him. I turned left to enter the main living area and stopped dead.
My body reared back at the sight of Matteo, bloody and battered, strapped to a chair. His head hung down, blood dripping from his mouth. I wanted to scream but found I couldn’t breathe. Shock turned me to stone as my eyes bulged.Oh my God!
Fear that he might be dead kicked me in the ass and then I was running across the room to get to him. There were other people in the room but I hadn’t registered them. They were nothing but a haze of figures creating meaningless shapes. Matteo was the only thing that mattered.
When I got within arms reach I was suddenly yanked back before I could lay a single finger on him. “Matteo!” I screamed, wanting him to look up, praying he was alive. Whoever had ahold of me gripped my biceps with iron strength. My knees felt weak and tears filled my eyes as Matteo remained out of my reach.
“Arianna.” Someone called my name but I ignored it. “Arianna!” they repeated, and this time I turned to face the owner of the voice.
“Nico!” It couldn’t be. Why was he just standing there? “Nico, help him! What’s wrong with you?”
“I won’t do that. Since it was me who put him there in the first place.”
Fear slithered like a snake through my veins. I wanted to deny it, tell my brain it was a nightmare and I needed to wake up. But no matter how hard I wished that to be true, the coppery smell of blood in the air— Matteo’s blood— wouldn’t allow me that pleasure.
A redhead, tall and beautiful, wearing sleek, black clothing cuddled up to his side. My mouth fell open as Vasilisa watched me with a cruel smile. She didn’t look fifteen any longer and certainly didn’t appear to be in any distress.
“What is going on?” My mind was spinning circles so fast I tipped sideways feeling gravity pull hard on my shoulders. The hands that bound me corrected my posture and held me up.
“Hmm, where to start?” Nico drawled, running a hand across his jaw. “I think we should wake up Matteo first. I believe he would like to hear this too.” Nico nodded to one of the other men who stepped forward, gripped Matteo by the hair to lift his head and slapped him hard across the face.
“Stop!” I screamed, lunging forward, but again strong hands held me prisoner as I tried to get free.
Matteo’s eyes rolled around in his head several times before his focus found the room. My heart was in agony. His handsome face was battered and swollen and so covered in blood it was hard to look at. His breathing was labored which made we wonder what damage his shirt was hiding. When his gaze landed on me they widened with shock and fear. Then he looked at where large hands were bruising my flesh and up to the man’s face.