Dante (Blood Brothers Book 5) (10 page)

Dante studied her profile for a moment, unable to shake the feeling she indeed had been trying to tell him something about her past. Was Isis a killer? No. It couldn’t be. He was being paranoid again. Or at least he hoped so
.

Chapter Seven

Adonis
paced the length of the room
as he grinned with self-satisfaction
. His plan was coming together. If Nya did her part
as his suspected she had,
his brothers would fall
neatly
into the trap he’d set for them.
Anticipation sizzled in his veins. Years of planning and waiting for the right moment to strike was finally upon them.

The door squeaked as it opened
, but he didn’t
need to turn around to see who had entered the room.
The scent
of her fragrant skin was all the announcement he needed
.
His body quickened whenever she was near
.
After all these years, he still couldn’t get enough of her and he doubted he ever would.
“Where have you been, Nya?”

It had become a routine with them. Nya would sneak away from him, and Adonis would pretend he didn’t know where
she’d gone
. There were times
when
she was able to give him the slip with the help of that witch
and Giovanni. But most instances
,
he knew exactly where she was. Though
her need to be away from him for
long intervals grated on his nerves, he’d granted her that freedom
because she always came back
.

Adonis had even allowed her friendship with the human, Christine, but the moment that whore had become a Grimaldi, he’d forbidden Nya to
contact her again. He was positive she’d just returned from warning
that woman
of his plans, but on this occasion, it was exactly what he wanted her to do.

“Out.” Nya shrugged out of her leather jacket and flopped into a nearby chair to pull off her boots.

Adonis hated when she was vague with her replies. She talked less than any female he’d ever known and it should have been a refreshing trait, but he didn’t like her keeping things from him. He liked it even less when she shielded her thoughts from him. He owned her. She was his. There shouldn’t be secrets between them, yet he was forced into playing this game of cat and mouse with her.
But that would change soon enough. As soon as he took care of his brothers and their families, Nya would fall in line. He’d make sure of it.

“Out where?”

Nya wiggled out of and kicked aside her too-
tight jeans.
“Here and there. Can we save the twenty questions
for another time? I’m exhausted.
I’d like to shower and then sleep.”

His nostrils flared.
Her flippant response incensed him. Adonis
stalked toward her and grabbed her forearm. “Look at me when I’m talking to you!”

Nya raised her head to meet his gaze, her dark eyes glittering with barely suppressed fury. “If you’re finished manhandling me, I’d like to finish getting undressed
.”

“I’ve put up with a lot, Nya, but no more. You will not leave here again unless I say. You won’t speak to anyone other than me unless I say you can, and most especially, you’ll stay away from Giovanni and that witch.”

She
placed her hands on his chest shoved him away
. “You can’t stop me.”

“Oh, but
I can.
Where would you seek refuge? Giovanni? He can’t help you. And neither can the Grimaldis. They’ll hate you for what you’ve done.
”

Nya stiffened. Finally
,
he had her attention. “What are you talking about, Adonis?”

“
I doubt your friend Christine would take kindly to the fact you’ve led her family to their demise
.
I know you went to New York to warn them
. You see, my beautiful traitor, I was one step ahead of you this time.”

A muscle twitched in her jaw. “Get to the point.”

He chuckled, grazing her cheek with the back of his hand. She flinched away from
his touch. “Even now you’re
full of fire and resentment, though I have the upper hand. I wonder if you’ll still be so defiant when you learn of the part you played in the Grimaldis’ downfall.”

“I’m not in the mood to figure out your riddles. Tell me what you did.”

He caught her chin between his forefinger and thumb. “
It’s not what I did, but what you did.
When you pretended to sleep, I knew you were awake and eavesdropping on my conversation with one of my associates. I also noticed you skulking around the manor pretending not to hear me making plans pertaining to the Grimaldis. I let you hear what I wanted you to, because I knew you’d run to them. It was part of my plan. They’ll come he
re and they will die. There’
s no way they’ll be able to fight their way out of what I have planned for them.”
Adonis could barely contain the chuckle that erupted from his belly.

Nya’s eyes widened as if he’d struck her. His usually cool, nonchalant fem
me
looked
to be
on the verge of tears. “You’re a monster. Whatever wrong you feel your brothers have done to you, those children are innocent.”

“No one who carries the Grimaldi name is innocent. I
’ll
make them pay for what
he
has done.
It will give me great pleasure to obliterate his legacy.
”

She narrowed her eyes. “Is this all about your father again?
Isn’t it time for you to get over that shit?
”

Anger barreled its way through his body and exploded. He grabbed Nya by the throat before she could react and lifted her off the floor, pressing her windpipe with his fingers.

Nya clawed and kicked in her attempt to break free, but his fury gave him strength. “You will not speak of matters you know nothing of. I’ve tolerated your
disobedience long enough. You’
ll do as I say or you can die with the rest of them.” He tossed her aside, sending her crashing against the wall.

She gasped for breath, but within seconds she was on her feet, eyes glowing and in battle stance. Her fury was palpable, but he didn’t give a
fuck
.
He was through with her siding with everyone but him.

Adonis turned his back to
Nya, blocking out her
anger mixed with anguish. He didn’t want to care about her feelings, didn’t want
t
he
love he felt for her to sway the course of his actions
. She was one of the three people in his life who made him doubt himself and question his motives. But this time, she wasn’t going to manipulate him with her cold indifference.

“You might as well kill me now, because I can’t live like this anymore. You’ve already taken away my soul and condemned me to this eternal damnation
.” Her words were shaky and more full of emotion than he’d heard from her in years. But those feelings were for other people. Not him. Never him.

Adonis whirled
around to face
her
, his adrenaline pumping
. “I saved you! You’d be dead were it not for me, you ungrateful bitch!”

“Maybe
,
I didn’t want you to save me
!
” Her glare intensified. “Death would have been preferable to this existence.
Dealing with you and that demonic witch.
I want to hate you, but you’re too pathetic for
even that
. I feel sorry for you.
You’re an evil twisted caricature of a ma—“

He slammed the back of his hand against her cheek before
she could finish her statement. Nya’s head snapped back, but she remained on her feet.
A trail of blood oozed from the cut in her lip down her chin.

In all the years
they’d been together
,
Adonis had
never laid a hand on her in violence
.
His first instinct was to apologize but she needed to know her insolence would no longer be tolerated. He had killed people for less.

Nya turned her back to him but not before he witness
ed
the pain swimming within the depths of her dark eyes.

His heart sank. “Nya, I—
”

She shook her head.
“Don’t, Adonis. I don’t want to hear whatever you have to say. You’re
so
hell-bent on your course of revenge
that you’re willing to destroy
my last link to the life I once had.”

“For God’s sake, yo
u were
a
fucking slave! Viewed as less than human by the ones who called themselves your owners. You were subjected to rape, beatings and humiliation on a daily basis,
yet you stand there and imply you were better off than with the eternal life I’ve
gifted
you with?”

She raised her shoulder to a nonchalant shrug. “I’ve only traded one hell for another.
” She turned to face him.
“Do you honestly believe this life is
preferable to the one I’d endured before?
You have my every move followed. You tell me where to go, what to eat, how to think. Isn’t that just another form of slavery?
”

“You have far more freedom
than
you’ve ever known. I’ve given you riches, you’ve lived in luxury and walked among kings. But
,
you still hold it all in distain.”

“A gilded cage is still a cage.”

“
Are you in a cage when you’re crying out my name when I fuck you? You may fool yourself into believing you don’t want to be with me by running to Giovanni and
that Grimaldi slut. But
,
you always return to me. You and I know they can’t provide you with what your body craves most, and that galls you, doesn’t it, my dear? You say you hate me, but I’m the only one who makes your body weak with desire, your pussy wet, and feeds your hunger. Admit it.”

Nya glared.
“I’ll do no such thing. I despise you.”

Adonis
snickered. “So you’ve said, but your body tells me otherwise. Nya, I’ve tolerated a lot where you’re concerned, probably because I care for you more than I should, but not anymore. Your disobedience ends now.”

She
balled her hands
into fists at her sides and lowered her lids. If he didn’t know be
tter, Adonis would have suspected
she was going to hit him, but instead
with a trembling voice she pleaded
, “Please spare the children and if you can, Christine. Your fight is with the Grimaldi men, not them.”

Knowing how proud Nya was,
Adonis realized how much it must have hurt to humble herself before him. B
ut he wouldn’t let her pleading sway his course. “My fight is with the Grimaldis period. You won’t dictate to me how to handle my affairs.”

She
flared her nostrils and shot him with a look that could have killed him dead
,
if it was possible.
Nya bent over and picked up her jeans and boots and headed toward the door.

Adonis teleported to the hallway
.
W
hen
she opened the door
,
he was waiting for her
on the other side
. “Going somewhere?”

“Out, now move.”

“You must have thought I was joking. You’re not going anywhere. Do you think I’d let you leave to warn my brother? What kind of fool do you take me for?”

Her full lips curled into a sneer. “You can’t keep me here!”

“But, my dear, I can.” Adonis whispered a chant under his breath, sending Nya’s limbs into temporary paralysis. Her eyes widened as she fell forward into his waiting arms.

“What have you done to me?” she demanded as he carried her to the bed. Dropping her in the center with deliberate ease, Adonis ignored her question. Instead, he searched through a chest at the
foot of the bed to produce some
shackles. Placing them aside, he sat beside her on the bed. “Don’t do thi
s to me!” Her eyes blazed
with fury.

Adoni
s hunched his shoulders. “You
only
have
yourself to blame. I’ve been generous with you, yet you constantly go behind my back.” He took his time undressing her, admiring her dark, lean body, curved in all the right places. His cock jumped to attention, and he willed himself not to take her right then and there. There‘d be plenty of time for that later.

When he had her completely naked, he cuffed
each of
her wrists to one of the bedposts. The cuffs had about a foot of give, making it possible for her to bend her elbows once he enabled her to move on her own again.

Nya’s eyes glowed a deep onyx shade and she bared her incisors at him, but Adonis continued with the task of securing her properly. He cuffed both ankles, anchoring them at the foot of the bed, arranging her spread-eagle. Only when he was finished
,
did he stand back and admire his handiwork.