"If you have hurt her in any way…" Luca began.
"Oh, I haven't." David smiled. "I waited patiently so you could watch. So I could see the humiliating pain on your face."
Luca's jaw tightened. For five days, he had imagined a thousand ways David could die. None of them had been enough. Not one. The human imagination, he was discovering, had limits. "The agreement was that you would let her go once you had me."
"And I will," David replied. "But not before watching you suffer and she watches you die."
Luca gave a small nod. "Deal's off then, Vitale. She has to walk."
"You have no chip here, Luca. Don't pretend you do."
Luca looked down briefly at the cuffs, then back up at him. "You would be surprised what I can do with nothing."
David's smile faltered. Even chained, exhausted, and half-mad with fear for Veronica, Luca could still make men remember he was by himself scary. "You killed my sister...You gave her a horrifying death. I will not make it easy for you. I do not plan to."
