Chapter 42

Ava’s POV

I could practically hear my mother’s disappointed voice echoing in my head as the fog began to clear. “This is what happens when you don’t follow the rules, Ava.”

As much as I hated to admit it, they were right this time. Because here I was—kidnapped, tied up, and completely at someone’s mercy. The rope tightened around my body, and every inch of me felt heavier by the second. My limbs were sore, my wrists raw from the coarse binding cutting into my skin, and the dim light from above only made the situation feel more suffocating. My eyes barely adjusted, enough to see Luca moving around the room like a shadow. The stench in the air was thick, pungent—something rotting—and it made my stomach churn violently. I gagged, trying to compose myself.

“You’ll have to forgive the smell,” Luca’s voice drifted toward me, casual, almost amused. “I would’ve taken you somewhere nicer, but this was last minute. Needed to get you tucked away fast.”

I swallowed, trying to wet my dry throat. “Why… why are you doing this to me?” My voice cracked, the words slurred as the drug in my system slowly wore off.

Luca moved closer, tightening the ropes even further, leaving no room for me to even attempt to struggle. There was no point. I was completely helpless, at his mercy, and he knew it. He backed up slightly, his eyes gleaming with something twisted.

“You did this to yourself, Ava,” he said, his tone flat. “The moment you decided to marry Grayson Blackwood, you sealed your fate. I’m only doing a job, sweetheart. You’re worth a lot of money to Ricardo Sylvester.”

I blinked. Who the hell is that?

Luca let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair like this was all just another inconvenience. “You’re lucky, though. He wants you alive and all your parts intact.”

My stomach twisted. All my parts intact? What the hell was happening? Panic gripped my chest, squeezing the air out of my lungs. He was going to sell me to some guy with a vendetta against Grayson.

I had royally screwed up.

I took a shaky breath, trying to calm myself, forcing my thoughts into something coherent. “L-look,” I stammered, “whatever this Ricardo person has offered you, Grayson… Grayson is rich, very rich. He could pay you double, triple, even. I can convince him to—”

Luca cut me off with a sharp, cruel laugh that echoed in the empty space. “Oh, honey,” he drawled mockingly, shaking his head. “You really don’t understand how this world works, do you? You think Grayson Blackwood would reward me for kidnapping his wife and letting her go? You’ve gotta be dumber than I thought for following a complete stranger like me.”

His insult hit hard, like a slap in the face. I had been stupid. Stupid and reckless. And now look where I ended up—tied to a chair in some godforsaken warehouse, waiting to be sold off like a piece of property.

“Ricardo’s men will be here soon,” Luca continued, his tone shifting from casual to cold. “Do yourself a favor, keep that pretty mouth shut, or you might just annoy me enough to sell you in pieces.”

Dread coiled around me like a vice, squeezing tighter with every second. The words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them. “Grayson will find you, and he will kill you.”

Luca’s smile widened, dark and menacing. He took his time, moving toward a nearby box, rummaging through it before pulling out a gun. He held it up, inspecting it like it was nothing more than a toy.

“Is that so?” His voice dripped with mockery.

I froze. My mouth went dry, the sound of my own heartbeat pounding in my ears. Death. I hadn’t really thought about dying, not seriously. I had felt trapped before—caged by life’s circumstances—but death had always seemed like a distant thing. Now it loomed over me, inches away, ready to pounce. The cold reality of it settled over me like a dark cloud.

“What?” Luca’s mocking voice pulled me from my thoughts. “You lost your nerve? Nothing else to say, sweetheart?”

I closed my eyes for a moment, sucking in a deep breath. If I was going to die, I wasn’t going out a coward. No way. I opened my eyes, glaring at him with everything I had left in me. “I do have something to say,” I spat, my voice trembling but full of defiance. “It doesn’t matter if you kill me or sell me off. Grayson will find you, and he will make your death slow and excruciating. You’ll rot in hell, you bastard.”

Luca’s smile faltered for a brief second before he regained his composure, tilting his head. “Brave words, Ava. But you’ll be long gone before your precious fiancé even gets a whiff of your trail.”

A cold sweat broke out on my skin as I tried to make sense of his words. He seemed so damn sure that Grayson wouldn’t reach me in time. Fear clawed at my insides, but I shoved it down. I had to stay calm, had to stay strong.

A sudden sound from outside the warehouse made Luca pause. His brows furrowed as he glanced toward the door, his expression hardening.

“You hear that?” he muttered to himself, his hand tightening on the gun. “They’re here. This will be over soon, so you better behave.”

“Screw you,” I spat.

Luca’s eyes flashed with anger, his jaw tight as he cocked the gun and aimed it directly at my leg. My heart hammered in my chest. The room felt too small, the air too thick, and I couldn’t breathe. His finger twitched on the trigger, and in that instant, I braced myself for the searing pain.

Then, the sound of the shot rang out.

I screamed, waiting for the pain to tear through my leg. But it never came. I opened my eyes slowly, trembling, my mind struggling to catch up with my body. Luca let out a low, hollow laugh, the sound grating against my nerves.

I glanced down. The bullet had embedded itself in the floor, inches from my legs.

“I’m a really good shot,” Luca sneered, his voice dripping with mockery. “Next time, I will aim for an actual part and—”

Then everything happened so fast.

Luca’s lips twisted, his voice cut off mid-sentence, transforming into a bloodcurdling scream. My head snapped up just in time to see Grayson—dark, lethal, his presence filling the room like a storm—rip Luca’s hand clean off his arm. The hand that had been holding the gun.

Luca collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony, his voice hoarse and raw. Blood gushed from the mangled stump where his hand used to be. I was frozen, my mind torn between shock, relief, and a terror that slithered down my spine.

Grayson still hadn’t looked at me. His eyes—pitch black, filled with unfathomable rage—were locked on Luca’s trembling, bleeding form. The room was suffocating in silence, save for Luca’s guttural screams. Grayson’s aura was ice cold, sending shivers down my spine even as I sat there, helpless.

He moved without hesitation. With a casualness that terrified me, Grayson picked up the dismembered hand still clutching the gun, pried the weapon loose, and fired it at Luca’s legs.

The shot echoed in the air, deafening. Luca’s scream was the most horrifying thing I’d ever heard—a primal, desperate sound as he writhed on the floor, clutching the bloody stump where his hand had once been. I didn’t think anyone could scream like that.

Another shot. This time Grayson aimed for Luca’s other leg. The agony was unbearable to even witness. Luca’s body spasmed on the ground, his screams ringing in my ears. My stomach twisted, bile rising in my throat, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I should’ve looked away. I should’ve closed my eyes, pretended none of this was happening.

But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. I wanted to see what Grayson Blackwood was capable of. I wanted to see everything.

Grayson threw the gun aside like it was nothing, his dark eyes still locked on Luca’s broken form. His voice, colder than I’d ever heard, cut through the room like a blade. “You don’t touch what’s mine.”

I shivered at the finality in his tone.

Luca coughed, blood splattering on the floor. His voice was weak, trembling. “Please… please, I’m sorry. I needed the money… please, have mercy…” He tried to crawl away, his body shaking, blood soaking into the floor.

I wanted to close my eyes. I wanted to look away from the carnage, from the blood, from the man who had terrorized me moments before. But something inside me kept my gaze locked on Grayson. I had to see this through.

Grayson’s eyes shifted back to their usual stormy gray as he squatted beside Luca’s crumpled form, his face devoid of any emotion. “Remember that when you get to hell.”

Before Luca could utter another word, Grayson’s hand shot out, plunging into his chest with terrifying precision. Luca’s eyes bulged, a wet gasp escaping his lips as Grayson ripped his hand free, pulling out Luca’s heart with it.

Luca’s body collapsed in on itself, lifeless.

Grayson tossed the heart aside like it was trash, standing to his full height as the room fell into an eerie silence. Finally, he looked at me.

If I hadn’t been frozen in place, I would’ve turned to stone under his gaze. His eyes—cold, unreadable, dangerous—locked into mine, and for a moment, I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. My body was locked in place, my mind struggling to catch up with everything that had just happened.

He crossed the distance between us in two strides, crouching down to tear through the ropes that bound me with his hands. The sharp snap of the ropes echoed in the room, but I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I was paralyzed, staring at Luca’s ruined body, the blood pooling around him.

Reality slammed into me like a freight train, and suddenly, my mind couldn’t process the horror I’d just witnessed. My body locked up, my chest tight with a panic I couldn’t control. My vision blurred, and the next thing I knew, darkness consumed me, my mind echoing with one haunting sentence…

No one touches what’s mine.