Paranormal Erotic Romance Box Set (64 page)

“How do you know?”

“Katy, we know everything.”

Luca walked over to the bed and held the knife in front of
Katy’s face.

“
Acta non verba,
Katy,” Luca said and knelt in
between Katy’s legs. “Deeds not words. Are you still in love with the man who
raped your sister?”

Katy cried as she looked at Lena.

“Did you not ever do anything desperate so you wouldn’t
lose love?”

Lena looked at Katy and smiled as she traced her finger
around the scar on her neck.

“Yes. And I was punished for it.”

“Answer the question, Katy,” Luca said.

“Yes! Yes, I am in love with Paul!”

“You weak heretic. Will you shut down your vanity for the
one you love? Will you wear his brand?”

“Yes! I will do anything for him. I don’t care what he did
or what he does. Paul will not leave me and I will not leave Paul so fuck you,
you deranged, twisted cocksuckers!”

“Cook the knife,” Luca said and held the blade out toward
Lena.

Lena grabbed a small blowtorch and held the flame to the
tip of the knife. She stared at Katy over the flame and Katy looked at her and
scowled.

She turned off the torch and pushed Katy back on the bed.

“Pride comes before the fall, right?” Lena said.

Luca jumped on top of Katy and began his carving. They
didn’t bother attempting to silence her screams. It would only be about forty
seconds before she passed out from the pain.

Luca sat back when he was done and smiled.

“That looks excellent. Hand me the ink.”

Lena returned to the bed and stared at Luca’s work.

“There’s very little blood.”

“I know. The knife is so hot, it cauterized the wound as I
carved into her skin. I didn’t want her to bleed out before she was able to
show anyone her new branding.”

Luca dumped the blood red ink on Katy’s chest and rubbed
it into her skin. He grabbed a towel and wiped the pigment that had not settled
into her wounds. From sternum to the tops of her breasts she was covered in the
brand Luca made especially for her. When all the ink was wiped away he stood
next to Lena and they looked at Katy’s new artwork.

“Kind of says it all, doesn’t it?” Luca said and rubbed
Lena’s back.

Lena squinted as she looked at Katy’s chest.

“Wait a minute, does that say
Paul’s Whoret
?
Whoret...w-h-o-r-e-
t
? What the hell is a
whoret
?

“No, it’s Paul’s Whore. Whore! That’s an exclamation
point, silly. Paul’s Whore, exclamation point! Makes a bolder statement.”

Luca put his arm around Lena’s shoulders and kissed her
head.

“And we’re done!” she said. “Let’s get out of this place.”

Lena and Luca left the room and shut the door behind them.

“Man, it looks like we had a hell of a party,” Lena said
as she walked through the living room. “The room is trashed.”

“We did have a hell of a party, didn’t we?”

“Yep. How long do you think before someone finds them?”

“Oh, by tonight, definitely.”

“Ha! I wish I could see the reaction as they parade Mr.
Shriveled Balls and Paul’s Whoret out of the hotel!” Lena said and clapped.

“So?” Luca said and sat on the couch.

“So...what?”

“Want another line?” Luca said and started chopping up
some cocaine. “I’m going to have another. Do you want one?”

“No, I want to leave. What’s going on?”

Luca inhaled two thick lines of cocaine and wiped his nose
as he looked up at Lena.

“Nothing. I had fun tonight. I really did, that’s all.
Forget all that other stuff. I just really had a good time with you.”

“Well, I had a really good time with you too. Um, want to
go have another good time?”

Luca wanted more than anything to make love to Lena. But
he knew that he could not.

“Yes,” he said and sighed, “however, why don’t you go
relax in that amazing shower for a bit? We have a little time.”

“Cool. You want to join me?”

“More than anything,” Luca said and lit a cigarette.
“But...I just need to have a drink and relax first, okay? You know, recharge.”

“Okay,” Lena said and shrugged.

She turned and walked toward the bedroom and paused and
looked at Luca.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No, I promise. Just take a quick shower, grab a drink and
come join me on the balcony. We can watch the sun come up.”

“Okay,” Lena said and smiled.

Luca poured himself a scotch and walked out onto the
balcony of the penthouse. The view was amazing and Luca panned across the city
and stared at the rooftop gardens and water towers and other shops in the area.
He sat down in one of the chaise loungers and closed his eyes as he thought
about what he would say to Lena. And when he opened them, she stood over him in
a silk robe with wet hair and no makeup on. And she was the most beautiful
sight since he first laid eyes on Gabriella Teresi.

“Hey,” he said and sat up in the chair. “I must have dozed
off. Come sit. Look how beautiful the sky is.”

Lena sat on the lounger and leaned back into Luca’s arms.
They watched the sky as the sun came up. Seeing the orange colors flash through
the clouds reminded Lena of home and how she was excited to return. She would
do things right this time, she thought. And she would have Luca.

“You know,” she said and reached behind her and stroked
his hair, “I think that everything that happened to me was preparing me for
this.”

“What do you mean?” Luca said and kissed the top of her
head.

“I mean, I waited for you.”

Lena sat up and turned around and stared at Luca. She
leaned toward him and kissed his lips. She parted her lips wider and wiggled
her tongue inside his mouth. Luca grabbed Lena by the back of the head and
kissed her passionately. And then he was forced to remember what he had to tell
her and he grabbed her by the arms and pushed her away.

Lena put her hand over her lips and stared at Luca. He
jumped of the chair and leaned against the railing.

“What’s wrong?” Lena said. “It was just a kiss. I don’t
understand.”

“What’s with all this love stuff, Lena? It’s getting
tiresome.”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t say I loved you, did
I? I said I waited for you.”

“
Waited
for me...
love
me...it’s the same
difference!”

“It is not!”

“It is too. I am a very intelligent man, Lena. I know what
you’ve been getting at this whole time. I know what you meant when you said
that you waited for me and I don’t like it!”

“Whoa! If I wanted to tell you I loved you, I would. But I
did not. I did not say that I loved you! So back the fuck off, Carly Simon!”

Luca looked at her and cocked his head. And then he
started to laugh.

“What?” Lena said and tried to fight back her laughter.
“I’m serious! God, you are so full of yourself.”

“That was good,” Luca said. “I like it when you make me
laugh.”

“Well, then stop trying to start fights with me and I’ll
always make you laugh.”

“Yes,” Luca said and rubbed his chin. “I’m sure that you
always would make me laugh.”

“Luca, just tell me what’s going on? And don’t we need to
get out of here?”

“Yes, you do,” Luca said and closed his eyes.

Lena looked at Luca and opened her mouth. She stood up
from the lounge chair and faced him.

“Wait a minute, what did you say?”

“I said: you do.”

“We do, you mean? We have to leave, right, Luca? We are
returning to the Order.”

“No, baby. You are. At the conclusion of this mission, I
was officially set free.”

Lena backed away from Luca and tears welled in her eyes.
She touched the scar on her neck and hung her head.

“Lena...”

“You knew! You knew how I felt about you and you knew this
whole time you were going to be free!”

“Baby, sit down. Talk to me, please?”

“What is there to say? God! You’re like all the rest of
them, aren’t you? You take what you want from me and then throw me away when
I’m not useful to you anymore!”

“No! Lena, that is not what happened. I feel the same. I
didn’t expect to feel the same, but I saw you and I thought of Gabriella and--”

“Wait, who? What the fuck are you talking about? You have
some nerve! I’m pouring my heart out to you and you’re talking about another
woman. Fuck you!”

“Lena! Stop interrupting me and let me finish!”

“Finish,” Lena said and wiped her tears.

“I saw you at a point in the evening. You didn’t even know
it, I didn’t even know it, but I looked at you and thought that I would do
anything to spend the rest of my life with you. And I haven’t felt like that
about any other woman since I first saw Gabriella. My first love.”

Lena looked up at Luca and smiled.

“Is that how you really feel?”

“Yes,” he said and sighed. “That is how I really feel.”

“Well, don’t sound so depressed. We can work this out.”

“Lena, you don’t understand. You will return to the Order
in a matter of minutes. I am staying here.”

“I do understand. So I’ll work really hard. I’ll gain
libertas
faster than anyone in the Order. I’ll do it and then I’ll find you and--oh,
wait. You’re saying that you won’t wait for me, aren’t you? You’re saying that
you won’t wait because you want to start your fancy new life and go back to
your old ways and you won’t wait!”

“That’s not it. That’s not what I’m saying at all. Though
it would be well within my right not to wait, however, that’s not where I’m
going with this.”

“Then where are you going with this? Please, just spit it
out.”

“You won’t remember me, Lena. And I won’t know where you
are.”

“What do you mean, I won’t remember you? Now you’re going
the opposite way with the conceit.”

“Lena, stop making jokes! You won’t remember me because
they will erase the memories of me when you return to the Order. I am human
now. They take your old life. They will do this to you and you won’t remember
who the fuck I am!” Luca said and slumped down on the chaise lounge.

Lena walked up to Luca and put her hands on his shoulders.
He rested his head against her stomach and stared at the ground.

“You won’t remember who I am,” Luca whispered as he closed
his eyes.

Lena knelt down in front of him and put her hand under his
chin. He tilted his head and stared into her eyes.

“Hey, that park right down there, that’s Central Park,
right?”

Luca looked over his shoulder and nodded.

“And right now, we are in the Waldorf-Astoria, right? And
I am Lena Mason.”

“Yes, but by the time you are freed, they will--”

“And you are Luca Maretti and I do love you.”

Luca grabbed Lena and kissed her. She pushed him away and
stood in front of him.

“Steel trap, Maretti,” she said and tapped on her
forehead. “Steel trap.”

Lena turned and walked back through the living room. She
stopped in the doorway of the bedroom and turned and looked at Luca. She held
her hand up and waved and walked into the bedroom and closed the door.

Luca felt the anxiety surge through him. He raced through
the suite, but by the time he got to the bedroom, Lena was gone. He backed into
the wall opposite the bedroom door and slid to the floor. He sat there for a
very long time and thought of nothing but Lena.

He forced himself to remember the look of her face, the touch
of her skin, the smell of her hair and the taste of her. He burned it into his
memory and he knew that no matter what happened, no one could ever take that
from him again.

Lena Mason did exactly what she said she was going to do
and climbed through the ranks of the Order faster than any Inquisitor had. She
even surpassed Luca in rank and the Elders were very surprised that the girl
who they did not have much hope for in the beginning, was the most accomplished
warrior they had.

Lena was vicious and she delivered punishments with no
mercy and never allowed herself to be caught off guard. She was a different
woman, in part because the negative brain patterns that remained in her head
from her old life, had mostly been erased. She was given her freedom after a
particularly gruesome Inquisition in Paris. She did not know the reason why,
but she knew that she would not make her home there.

In the time when he was away from Lena, Luca fell back
into his old profession of photography, one of the few memories, beside
Gabriella Teresi, that he asked the Elders not to erase. He stayed in New York
and quickly became very celebrated for his work. He was extremely successful
and had women at his beck and call, but he only ever thought of Lena. He
purchased an apartment right across from Central Park and frequently spent time
on his balcony with his binoculars searching for her.

One time, he thought he saw her and flew down five flights
of stairs because he did not want to wait for the elevator in his building.
When he darted into Park Avenue with the girl he thought was Lena in his
sights, he was hit by a cab. He was fine and tried to run away, but a crowd
gathered and would not let him leave.

And one day, a few years later, he was checking on his
installation at a gallery about a block from his apartment when he saw her
through the gallery window. That he remembered to use the door was a miracle,
so fast he flew down the street toward her. He caught up to her on Park, right
across from Central Park. He stopped for a minute and stared at her. She looked
more beautiful than she had when he last saw her. And for all the longing he
did over Lena, he was terrified to go to her. He knew it would crush him if she
didn’t remember.

He approached her slowly and tapped her on the shoulder.
She turned around and stared at him and he stood there dumbly with his mouth
hanging open.