Bones (Bonetti Brothers #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

ATHENA

I don’t understand my emotions at all. Luca should terrify me, and I still can’t comprehend why he feels like safety to me. He has not hurt me as much as my father did, I’m not sure that would be possible, but he has done bad things to me. Yet, right now none of that seems to matter, as I clutch onto him like I’m falling from the edge of a cliff, and he’s the only one that can save me from certain death.

One of his brothers comes up behind us, I’m not sure who it is, because they all sound so alike. “The cleaners will be here in half an hour, we need to go.”

I glance at Luca with confusion. “Like a maid?”

He chuckles softly. “Not exactly, Butterfly. Are you ready to go home now?”

Trembling in his arms, I admit, “I can’t go back there, Luca. Please don’t make me.”

“Why?” he asks, looking at me with confusion.

Placing his hand on my chin, he tilts my head back gently, and looking into my eyes with concern, he says, “Why, Butterfly? You need to talk to me.”

“Jimmy.”

He leans his head down and presses his lips to mine, and kisses me softly. “Nobody who has anything to do with my wife being hurt, lives. Including my own fucking men. Jimmy is gone.”

Rising to his feet, he lifts me into his arms. “We are going home, and having a doctor look at your injuries.”

Shaking my head, I say, “I’m fine. ”

He groans slightly. “Beautiful wife, this is not open for discussion. There will be no argument. I will make sure you’re okay.”

I don’t fight him any further, because my entire face throbs with pain. Maybe the doctor can give me something to ease it. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I press my face to his chest and inhale his comforting scent.

“It’s a long walk to the car, but I’m carrying you.”

We walk out of the house and the cool fresh air hits me in the face. I breathe it in, and it’s so wonderful, I start to cry.

“What’s wrong?”

I laugh through my tears, because I know it’s ridiculous, but I tell him the truth, “When he brought me back here, I thought it was over, honestly, I never expected to see outside ever again.”

Luca kisses me on the top of the head. “Tomorrow, I’ll show you the outside of the house. I think you’re going to enjoy it, and you can spend as much time out there as you’d like.”

“Do you have a swimming pool? My mom used to tell me about this pool she went to as a teenager. It sounded like fun.”

He stops walking and stares at me. “Yeah, Butterfly, I have a pool. In fact I have two, but you need to learn to swim before using them alone. Jesus, baby, your life is going to change.”

Does he think I’ve never seen a pool before? I’ve never been in one, but there was one at the hotel Manny kept me at. I wasn’t allowed to go outside much unless I was doing a job, but I used to stare out the window during the day, and watch the children play in the water. To this day, I think about the one little girl I saw. Her hair was dark, almost the identical shade of mine, and she had the cutest smile when she laughed. She splashed her mother with water, and would break out into a fit of giggles. It was the way she looked at her mom, and the way her mother gazed at her in return. It wasn’t just love, but absolute adoration, and I wondered what that would be like. I bet that little girl’s mom would not have left her with a monster .

Reaper races up to us. “Here. I found this.”

Luca takes the blanket and covers me with it, before adjusting his hands around me, over the material I remember well. It was my mom’s, and I was always surprised she didn’t take her great grandmother’s blanket with her when she left.

He lowers me into the backseat of the car, and gets in beside me, before pulling me onto his lap. Psycho and Kage get into the front, while Reaper gets into the back beside Luca. Leaning his head down, Luca kisses the bruises on my face softly. “Butterfly.” His voice sounds strained and thick with emotion. He doesn’t say anything further, instead he holds me close like I’m precious cargo that he can’t bear to let go of.

I wake to soft kisses on my neck. “We’re home, baby.”

My eyes flutter open, as my heart pounds and I clutch his shirt, while the realization dawns on me that I’m in Luca’s arms.

“Shhh, it’s okay. I’m here, nothing bad is going to happen. It’s over.”

His deep voice calms me in an instant. I should laugh at myself, because there is no way this man should have this ability. This power over me. Instead of holding onto him, I should be running for the hills, but I won’t, because where the hell would I even go? The truth is even if I had somewhere to go, I’d miss him. My husband has forced his will over me more than once. The same man that breaks bones as a hobby. While it doesn’t make any sense, I hold him tighter and bury my face in his chest, inhaling that spicy orange scent that seems to chase everything bad away.

Luca slides out of the car, and leans in and lifts me into his arms again. “I can walk. ”

He chuckles softly, as he holds me against his chest with my legs over one of his arms. “I think I like this, Butterfly. I might start carrying you everywhere.”

I attempt to roll my eyes at him and pain shoots through my right eye, causing me to close my eyes, and wince from pain.

“And you didn’t want to see the doctor. Stubborn girl.”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I press my face against his chest, as the throbbing seems to keep getting worse.

He carries me into the house and upstairs to the bedroom, and after sitting me on the bed, he narrows his gaze at me. “Stay. I’m getting you a bathrobe. The doctor will be here any minute, and I don’t want him to see my wife naked.”

“He?” I panic slightly as Luca heads to the bathroom. Bringing me the white fluffy robe, I remove his jacket and put it on, and repeat myself, “He?”

Sitting on the bed while I get changed, I can tell he’s intentionally not allowing himself to gaze at my naked body, and I wonder if that’s how it will be now. Finding out your wife sucked her father’s dick is likely not fun. Am I bitter? Maybe a little. Underneath the fact that I never wanted him to touch me that way, lies the embarrassment. Pure humiliation. I wanted someone to save me, but not my husband. How will he ever look at me with anything other than disgust again? It’s going to be like William all over again. Luca will look at me like I’m dirty. Unwashable. Eventually he’ll stop trying to look at me at all. Will he stay married to me, even though he can’t bear to touch me? Or will he throw me away like the trash I am? He may not be a good man, but a man like Luca Bonetti has women throwing themselves at his feet. I’ve not witnessed it, but I know it’s true. He is many things, but hard to look at is not one of them.

Luca keeps his eyes on mine as I change, and I sit on the bed once I have the belt done up. With a sigh, he explains, “I’m sure a woman in your situation would prefer a female doctor. I promise I’ll secure a woman for you to see regularly, but you cannot wait, Butterfly. I need to make sure you’re okay. Doc Johnson is my personal doctor. He has a practice in Las Vegas, and I called him when I realized your father took you,” he grits his teeth, “against your will. He flew out immediately. Please don’t fight me on this.”

With a nod, I take a deep breath. “Okay, but can you stay in the room? I don’t want to be alone with him. You don’t have to look at me, just make sure he doesn’t hurt me.”

“I don’t have to look at you? What the fuck does that mean?”

Luckily we are interrupted by a knock at the door, and I’m not forced to answer that question.

“Come in,” Luca growls, clearly irritated with me.

The older gentleman, with white hair and matching bushy eyebrows, enters the room and shakes Luca’s hand. “Mr. Bonetti. Good to see you again, sir.”

He smiles at me softly. “This must be the Mrs. Bonetti I’ve heard so much about.”

My eyes dart between the two of them, and Luca instructs the doctor, “This is my wife. You’ll be allowed to see what you need to, no more. She is not for your viewing pleasure. Tread carefully, Doc.”

I would roll my eyes if it didn’t hurt so much as the last time I did that. He’s ridiculous.

“Understood. Shall we get started?”

He pulls a light out of his pocket. “Follow the light with your eyes please.”

I do and he says, “Good. Now these bruises on your face, can you tell me how they happened?”

When I look at him with a confused expression, he clarifies, “What were you hit with?”

“My face? He hit me with his hand and his fist.”

I try to ignore Luca’s clenching fists, and focus on the doctor.

“Did he hit you somewhere else with something else? ”

Before I can respond, my husband barks, “All over her upper body with a fucking whip.”

The doctor arches an eyebrow. “May I take a look? I want to be sure there are no open wounds that may become infected.”

Glancing at Luca, he nods his head, with a clenched jaw, and I lower the bathrobe, exposing my breasts to a man I’ve never met before. To his credit, he looks quickly and asks, “Any on the back?”

Turning around, I show him my back as well.

“Thank you, you may put the robe back on, young lady.”

After I secure it, I rotate on the bed again until I am facing him.

“Did he penetrate you?”

I shake my head no. “Not there, no. Just my mouth.”

He scratches his head and looks at Luca. “This man should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, Mr. Bonetti, but knowing you there are no bones left to prosecute. She’s going to be fine, physically speaking. The wounds are all superficial. I will give her medication for the next few days to help with the pain, but she shouldn’t need it longer than that. What she does need is someone to talk to. I will give you the names of a few female therapists skilled in dealing with this type of trauma. It’s crucial that you deal with not only the physical, but the emotional effects, of this kind of abuse.”

Luca nods. “I assure you, I will schedule something tomorrow.”