Page 66 of Captured Innocence

Mattia was right in that the abduction wasn’t just about my family, but my skills as well. Why? Had the person responsible sought an inroad to the DeLuca–Lazarro ring of power? That was definitely possible.

I’d kept up with my family’s holdings. I had a huge trust fund and was provided with earnings reports every quarter. I had my own financial advisor. I also had been privy to certain information regarding the various industries the combined family was involved in.

Money. What if the issue with the man who’d abducted me was about money, draining all the accounts? Was that something I could do? Well, of course. Given my thumbprint was on record, it wouldn’t be a stretch even though I didn’t know the passcodes. Who would want to destroy every avenue of business and why?

Revenge.

The Russians?

That would have been my first guess, but the man who’d taken me hadn’t been Russian. I was certain. Oh, what was I saying? I couldn’t be certain of anything at this point. My thoughts drifted back to my nineteenth birthday as I paced the tiny train compartment. I’d heard Vincenzo lock the door once I’d been shoved inside. He’d said nothing, just glaring at me as if I was the enemy. Maybe I’d been away from the family for far too long.

There were far too many ugly, irrational thoughts racing in my mind.

I’d wanted Mattia to fawn over me at the party, to ask my father for my hand in marriage. That hadn’t happened but I’d known a deal had been struck that night, the wretched members of the Five Families likely bidding amongst themselves which son I’d marry. At least with my father’s murder, the marriage hadn’t come to fruition.

Wow. I had something to be thankful for.

But Lucia’s fate had almost been sealed, only my father’s death altering that. And the sudden appearance of the man she’d been in love with for years.

That’s exactly what’s happening here. History was repeating itself.

I wanted to crush the girl behind the inner voice. That was bullshit. At least I refused to allow history to go into repetition.

Even if Lucia was madly in love, her second child on the way.

I rubbed my eyes, the tension behind them significant, wringing my hands as my thoughts alternated from salacious ideas of what I wanted the man to do to me to the reason I was in this predicament. The ache behind my eyes was understandable.

But the ache in my heart because I’d allowed my guard to fall with him remained even today.

I wasn’t that girl any longer, certainly not naïve and vulnerable. Living in the beautiful city of Paris had not only dragged me out of my shell but had also made me a wealthy woman in my own right.

What in the hell was I doing on a highspeed train? Even though my father and brother and now D’Artagnan had tried to keep me shielded from the less than legitimate side of our family business, I knew the score. That included the fact when an enemy struck, it was best to have large numbers of soldiers surrounding us.

With Luis injured, that left Vincenzo as our backup. The odds weren’t in our favor. Fear remained, the thrumming pulse in the side of my neck just another reminder of how vulnerable I was at this point.

I continued pacing the small train compartment, uncertain how to feel or what to think. Where the hell had Mattia gone? It seemed he’d seen something or someone, but who? And how was that possible? We hadn’t been followed. I was certain the careful maneuvers he’d taken had prevented that from happening.

A cold shiver danced down my spine. I was filthy and exhausted, my mind an angry mess as events continued to form brutal images in the back of my mind. I had no phone, no freedom, and had been refused time to talk to the one person I trusted implicitly, my sister. That had to mean Lucia hadn’t been told I was in danger. Why would Dar keep it from her? Fear? Anxiety? Okay, so my sister was pregnant, but was that the reason? I couldn’t be certain of anything any longer.

I leaned against the window as the train started to increase in speed. Then an ugly thought rushed into my system. What if Mattia hadn’t managed to get on the train? What if Vincenzo wasn’t who he said he was? I’d known someone was watching me from a distance in Paris. I’d felt it for almost a week prior to being abducted. At first, I’d believed it to be Mattia stalking me again.

That’s why I’d been foolish enough not to pick up the phone and make contact to a single person in my family just to let them know. And why had I been so stupid? Because I knew exactly what would be expected of me.

Returning home.

A sudden moment of panic threatened to tear apart what was left of my sanity. I’d been a fool to think I could live any kind of normal life.

A weapon. I needed a weapon of some kind. Almost frantic, I glanced at the interior of the cabin. The stark interior was meant for a temporary respite, every piece of steel including the lamp bolted down. Then I remembered Mattia saying clothing had been brought to the train. I shifted my gaze to what had to be the lavatory, the small door barely wide enough to allow a normal sized human through. I pushed open the door, breathing a slight anguished sigh seeing the duffle bag. I yanked it off the floor, pitching it onto the tiny table.

My fingers were almost completely stiff as I struggled to yank the zipper, finally able to do so a few seconds longer. I yanked at the contents, finding almost nothing but clothes. Then I felt a chunk of steel, realizing instantly what I’d found.

A pistol. I pulled it into the air, happier than I’d been in a long time. Within seconds, I found a magazine of ammunition, completely overjoyed with my find. As soon as I slapped it into position, I heard the rattle of the doorknob and shifted in complete silence into the tiny bathroom, pulling the door almost all the way closed.

Unfortunately, doing so hid the door to the cabin completely. I wouldn’t be able to see who walked in. I held my breath, sensing the moment someone had walked in. Then I struck without hesitation, tossing open the piece of steel, ready to fire if necessary.

A hand was snapped around my wrist within a split second, the gun wrenched from my fingers and tossed aside but the momentum of the train pulled us both to the floor. I hit with a hard thud, narrowly missing having my head slammed against the edge of the table.

I flailed by instinct until I realized it was Mattia positioned over me, his scent easily recognizable.