Bound By Hatred: An Enemies to Lovers Mafia Romance (Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles Book 3)
Bound By Hatred: Chapter 4

I was ready for this fucking day to be over. First Father’s funeral, and now hours of discussion with the Cavallaros and Scuderis about ways to keep the Russians at bay and to show them who was boss. It wasn’t like I needed time to grieve. Luca and I hadn’t harbored any feelings except for contempt and hatred for our father in a very long time but I wasn’t a fan of funerals and everything they entailed. Especially seeing my stepmother cry her fake tears had grated on my fucking nerves. Did she really think anyone believed she actually missed her sadistic husband? She’d probably spit on his carcass when nobody was looking. It’s what I wanted to do.

The only good thing about this whole ordeal had been Gianna who had to attend the funeral with her family. She’d ignored my calls ever since she’d found out about our marriage a week ago, but she couldn’t avoid me forever. I was actually looking forward to our first private encounter. I loved when she was angry.

After the meeting, I was on my way to my motorcycle when I heard steps behind me. I turned, replaceing Luca running my way, the phone pressed against his ear and a thunderous look on his face.

Before I could ask him what had crawled up his ass, he lowered the phone and said. “Cesare called. The Russians are attacking the mansion. Romero is trying to get everyone to safety, but there are too many attackers.”

“Where are Gianna and Aria?”

“I don’t fucking know. We’ll have to take a helicopter.”

I followed Luca toward his car. He floored the gas the moment we both had sat down. We should have never let Aria and Gianna leave for the Hamptons without us. We’d thought they’d be safer there. We’d thought our enemies would attack in the city where so many of the Outfit and from us had gathered to honor my father. We’d been fucking idiots.

Luca hit the steering wheel. “I’m going to hunt down every fucking Russian if they hurt Aria.”

“I’ll be at your side,” I said. I didn’t care how many Russians I’d have to cut into tiny pieces to get to Gianna. Damn it.

When we finally landed near our mansion in the Hamptons, Luca and I didn’t speak. We both knew we might be too late. “They are fine,” I said to Luca.

We got out of the helicopter and shot our way free until we reached the lobby of the mansion. I pulled my knife out of the throat of some asshole and straightened when one of the Russian bastards shouted from inside.

“We have your wife Vitiello. If you want to see her in one piece you better stop fighting and drop your weapons.”

Luca glanced my way. “Don’t do anything stupid, Matteo.”

“You aren’t the only one with something to lose,” I said grimly. “Gianna is in there too.”

Luca gave a nod, then slowly walked forward. I followed a few steps behind him. My eyes found Aria first. One of the Russian underbosses, a fucker named Vitali, was holding a knife against her throat. Luca would kill the bastard.

“So this is your wife, Vitiello?” Vitali asked, but I barely listened.

Gianna was sprawled out on the floor, a huge bruise on her forehead. I could tell that she was trembling, from fear or pain, I wasn’t sure. Her blue eyes met mine. A huge Russian asshole towered over her. Bloodlust filled my body. I twisted my knives in my hands, trying to decide which part of the Russian’s body I’d slice off first, probably the hand he’d used to hit her.

Gianna didn’t take her eyes off me, like she knew I was going to make this all okay. I wouldn’t let any of those fuckers hurt her any more now that I was here. And by God, I’d make them pay, make them regret the day they’d laid eyes on Gianna, made them regret the day they were fucking born.

“Let her go, Vitali,” Luca snarled.

“I don’t think so,” Vitali said in that fucking annoying accent. “You took something that belongs to us, Vitiello, and now I have something that belongs to you. I want to know where it is.” I wasn’t sure what the Bratva bastard did because I kept my eyes on Gianna’s capturer as well as the assholes behind him but Luca took a threatening step forward, then stopped.

“Put your guns down or I’ll cut her throat.”

When pigs learn to fly, motherfucker.

There was a thud, then another. My eyes flew to Luca, who’d dropped his fucking guns to the floor. I couldn’t believe it. He narrowed his eyes at me.

Was he serious? From the look on his face, he was. I put my knives down slowly. Gianna closed her eyes as if she thought everything was over. It wasn’t over, far from it. Not before I’d killed every fucking asshole in the room and made them regret the day they were born.

“Your wife tastes delicious. I wonder if she tastes this delicious everywhere,” Vitali said as he pulled Aria against him like he was going to kiss her. I could tell that Luca was seconds away from attacking.

The Russian asshole behind Gianna nudged her butt with his shoe and grinned. His foot would be the second thing I’d cut off, and I’d take my fucking time killing him.

Vitali licked Aria’s chin. She looked like she was going to be sick. Then she reached into her back pocket and pulled a switchblade out. Where the hell had she found it? The moment she rammed it into Vitali’s thigh, I fell to my knees, gripped my gun with my left hand and one of my knives with my right hand. I shot four times in quick succession. Two bullets tore through the calves of the asshole who’d kicked Gianna, the third broke every bone in his right hand, the fourth smashed the skull of another bastard. I flung the knife at the same time. It pierced the eye socket of Russian number three.

I stormed toward Gianna, slipped my arms under her body and carried her over to the side where she was shielded by a massive wooden sideboard. I knelt in front of her and shot another Russian, then another. Gianna’s face was pressed up against my knee, and I put my palm down on the top of her head, stroking her unruly red hair.

A woman cried out. My eyes darted around until they settled on Luca who was cradling an unmoving Aria in his arms. I froze, my heart slamming against my chest.

“No!” Gianna cried hoarsely. She tried to sit up but her arms gave away and she fell against me. “Aria!”

I wrapped my arm around her and she stared up at me with terror-stricken eyes.

“Help Aria! Help her!” she whispered.

She tried to stand again. I helped her up, one arm around her waist, but didn’t let her go to her sister. Luca looked like he would kill anyone who dared to approach. There was an expression on his face I’d never seen before. Leading a life of brutality, Luca and I had the potential to snap. But until now I hadn’t thought there was anything on this planet that could actually bring Luca to the brink.

Gianna started crying. I touched her cheek. “Shh. Aria will be fine. Luca won’t let her die.”

For everyone’s sake I hoped I was right. Gianna leaned against me, hands clutching my shirt. I peered down at her.

When Aria finally opened her eyes, Gianna let out a sob and pressed her face against my chest. I cupped her head, then brushed a kiss against it. She didn’t react. She was probably in shock.

“What about Gianna, Lily and Fabi?” Aria asked in a weak voice.

Gianna lifted her head but didn’t let go of me. “Fine.”

Luca lifted Aria into his arms and after some discussion carried her upstairs to one of the bedrooms. The Doc was already on his way.

Gianna tried to stand on her own but swayed and had to grip my arm. Her eyes lost focus for a moment before they settled on me again. She didn’t say anything, only stared up at me. I lightly brushed my fingertips over the bruise on her forehead. “Is this the only place you’re hurt?”

She shrugged, then winced. “My side hurts, and my ribs.”

“Hey Matteo, what about this asshole?” Romero asked, nudging the Russian who’d kicked Gianna.

“Is he the only survivor?”

“There is at least another one,” Romero said.

“Good. But that one is mine. I’ll question him.”

“That’s the guy who hit my head,” Gianna said quietly.

“I know.”

She searched my face but I wasn’t sure what she was looking for. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment but she quickly opened them again.

“You need to lie down,” I said.

She didn’t even try to protest, which was a bad sign. I tightened my hold on her and led her toward the staircase.

“Matteo?” Romero called.

I glanced over my shoulder at him and the other men. “I’ll be back in a moment. Get rid of the bodies, and take the two living Russians down into the basement.”

Romero nodded. “Okay.” Then his eyes slid to Cesare’s body on the ground. There was nothing we could do for him. I’d known him for a long time. He’d been a good, loyal soldier. The time to mourn him would come, but it wasn’t now.

I helped Gianna up the stairs, and pretty much carried her down the corridor toward one of the guest bedrooms. I really wanted to take her to the room I slept in when we were in the mansion but I didn’t want to have a fucking fight, not until Gianna was fit enough to be an equal contestant. She lied down on the bed, and closed her eyes with a groan.

I bent over her. “I want to take a look at your ribs. Don’t punch me.”

Her eyes fluttered open, and the hint of a smile tugged at her lips. I wondered if it was because she had a concussion or if she’d finally come to terms with our impending marriage.

I pushed her shirt up, revealing inch over inch of creamy skin, but before my mind could come up with any ideas, I found the first bruises. A big one on her waist and two slightly smaller ones over her ribcage. Gently, I pressed down on the bruise on her waist but she flinched away from my touch with a hiss.

“Fuck. That hurts.”

I gritted my teeth. I couldn’t wait to go down to the basement and have a word with the asshole who’d hurt her. I slid my hands higher, lightly tracing her ribs.

She shivered. “What are you doing?”

“I want to see if your ribs are cracked,” I told her.

“You want to use your chance to grope me, admit it.” Her attempt at humor was ruined by her shaky voice but I decided to play along. She didn’t need to know that I was thinking of a way to prolong her attacker’s suffering.

I smirked. “We’ll be married in less than a year, then I can grope you whenever and wherever I want.”

Her smile died and she turned away, closing her eyes. Maybe she hadn’t come to terms with our marriage yet…

I straightened. “I need to go back down. I’ll send the Doc to you when he’s done with your sister. You should catch some rest. Don’t walk around the house.”

She didn’t open her eyes, didn’t give any indication that she’d heard me at all.

I walked out, and closed the door. The Doc was heading my way, one of his assistants, a young woman whose name I kept forgetting, a few steps behind him. “Where’s Aria?” he asked in his raspy, chain-smoker voice.

I pointed toward the master bedroom. “When you’re done with Aria, take a look at Gianna. I don’t think she’s seriously injured but I want to be sure.”

He gave a curt nod, not even slowing. Nobody wanted to make Luca wait.

“Call me before you go in. I want to be there when you check on Gianna.”

The Doc was over sixty but that didn’t mean I wanted him alone with Gianna, not after almost losing her.

He paused briefly, pale eyes settling on me. “She’s yours?”

“Yes.”

He nodded simply, then he continued toward the master bedroom. I turned and headed downstairs.

When I stepped into the basement, the two Russian survivors were tied to chairs. Tito, one of our best enforcers, leaned against one wall, his arms crossed. Romero stood beside him. Another soldier, Nino, attached a drip to the asshole I was going to tear apart. The other Russian was in slightly better shape and didn’t need a transfusion – yet. Once Tito got his hands on the poor bastard that would change too.

Tito straightened and inclined his head.

“I hope you didn’t start yet,” I said.

“We waited for you,” Tito said.

“Does it look as if Tito started his work yet?” Nino asked eagerly. The kid had a sick fascination with torture.

“Good.” I stalked toward Gianna’s attacker. He glowered at me. “What’s your name?” I asked.

“Fuck you,” he said in heavily accented English.

I smiled at Tito, Romero and Nino. Then I unsheathed my knife and held it out for the Russian bastard to admire. “You sure you don’t want to tell me your name?”

He spit in front of my feet. “Where’s that red-haired whore? Her pussy was calling for me.”

Nino nudged Romero with an eager smile. Tito had pulled his own knife and was wiping it on his jeans.

“Tough words for a dead man,” I said lightly.

“I won’t tell you anything.”

“That’s what they all say.” I stepped closer. “Let’s see how tough you really are. Twenty minutes is the longest it ever took me to get someone’s name.”

I slammed my fist into his side, right over his left kidney. While he gasped for breath, I nodded at Tito to start his work on the other Russian bastard.

Twelve minutes later I’d learned that the man in front of me was called Boris and had been working for the Bratva in New York for six years, before that he’d been in Saint Petersburg. He was still reluctant to give me more than the basic information. I paused, staring down at his blood covered face. “You sure you don’t have an answer to my question?”

He coughed, blood dripping down onto his shirt. “Fuck you.”

“I can do this all night, but I can promise you, it won’t be pretty.”

Gianna

I grew tired of waiting for the Doc to show up. I didn’t feel very dizzy anymore, and I barely winced when I straightened. And to be honest, being alone freaked me out after what had happened today. I’d been sure we’d all die, and my body still wasn’t convinced otherwise. My pulse was fast and occasionally I broke into a sweat. All because the mob had a bone to pick with the Bratva.

I walked out of my room, then hesitated in the corridor. My eyes darted to the end of the hallway where the master bedroom was. Luca and the Doc were probably still taking care of Aria. They’d send me away if I tried to walk in, or worse lock me into the guest bedroom so I couldn’t wander the house. I decided to go in search for Lily and Fabi instead. I yanked my phone out of my pocket and sent my sister a text.

Where R U?

Instead of replying, a door opened and Lily’s dark-blond head poked out. Her face was puffy from crying and her eyes were huge and fearful. When her gaze settled on me, she ran in my direction and threw her arms around me.

“Where’s Fabi?” I asked when I could breathe again. My ribs were throbbing fiercely from her hug but I didn’t want her to know I was hurt. She looked terrified as it was.

“Asleep. They gave him some kind of sleeping pill because he was having a meltdown.” She looked up at me. “I was so scared, Gianna. I thought we were all going to die, but Romero protected Fabi and me.”

Her cheeks turned red. Her crush on Romero had been growing rapidly over the last few months. I didn’t have it in me to tell her what kind of man he must be if Luca chose him as Aria’s protector. Lily would realize soon enough that we were surrounded by the bad guys, not knights in shining armor.

“What about Aria? Romero only said she was fine before he left Fabi and me alone in that room and told me not to walk around the house because it was too dangerous.”

“She was shot in the shoulder, but the Doc is taking care of her. She’ll be alright.”

That’s what I hoped. My eyes darted to the master bedroom again. I’d have to try to sneak in later when the Doc and Luca were gone.

“Go back to your room, I’ll be back soon.” I turned to leave but Lily followed me like a lost puppy.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Downstairs. I want to see the damage.”

“I’m coming with you.”

I sighed. Aria would have told our sister ‘no’, but it was hypocritical of me to tell Lily to behave when I’d rarely followed orders in my life. Lily wasn’t a small kid anymore. “Okay, but be quiet and stay away from the men.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “I’m not interested in them.”

“I didn’t say you were, but they might be interested in you.”

I really didn’t want to have to explain Luca that I had to kill one of his men because they touched Lily. Of course, I’d first have to figure out a way to kill them. We headed downstairs. The entrance hall was a mess. Blood and broken glass littered the floor. At least the bodies were gone, but a trail of blood led outside to a pile of dead Russians. I really hoped they didn’t treat Umberto’s body like that. My chest tightened but I fought the sadness. Umberto had chosen this life. Death was part of the game.

I blocked Lily’s view of the corpses and dragged her toward the living room, which wasn’t in much better shape. The white couches would definitely have to be replaced. I didn’t think any bleach in the world could get out the stains. Lily made a small distressed sound and I pulled her further along, already regretting that I had allowed her to come with me. A couple of men were taking a smoking break on the terrace, and glanced our way as we passed. They didn’t seem bothered by the blood. I walked faster.

“Hey,” Lily protested but I ignored her. If I’d been on my own, I wouldn’t have cared but I didn’t want to put my sister in danger.

We headed to the back of the house where the kitchen was, and almost bumped into another man. “Watch where you’re going,” he said, then paused and actually checked us out. I didn’t know him and I had no interest of replaceing out more about him.

I pushed Lily past him. His eyes followed us all the way to the back of the corridor. When we turned the corner, we came face to face with a steel door, which was left ajar. A cry of pain carried out from below and made me shiver.

Lily clutched my arm, blue eyes wide. “What was that?”

I swallowed. I had a pretty good idea what was going on but I wasn’t going to tell her that. “I don’t know.” I took a step closer to the door, then hesitated. I couldn’t take Lily with me, but I couldn’t leave her alone in the hallway when there were so many creepy fucks running around. I opened the door and peered down a long, dark staircase. Light spilled out from somewhere in the basement. Lily was almost pressed against my back, her breath hot against my neck.

“You don’t want to go down there, right?” she whispered.

“Yes, but you will stay on the stairs.”

Lily followed me a few steps down before I gave her a warning look. “Stay there. Promise me.”

Another cry sounded from below.

Lily flinched. “Okay. I promise.”

I wasn’t sure if she meant it but she looked freaked out enough that I was willing to take the risk. I crept down the remaining steps, but halted on the last step, scared of what I might see. Exhaling, I stepped down and found myself in a huge basement. Bile shot up my throat. I wasn’t stupid. I knew what the mob did to their enemies, especially if they wanted to get information out of them, but hearing stories and actually coming face to face with the horrendous reality of it were two very different things.

I braced my hand against the rough wall, my fingers curling around the hard edge. Two men were bound to chairs. Matteo and a tall, heavily muscled guy seemed to be in charge of pressing information out of them, while Romero stood back, but he must have had some part in their torture too because his hands were covered in blood, and so were his clothes. But it was nothing compared to the sight of Matteo. His white shirt was covered in blood, his rolled up sleeves revealed blood-covered skin. There was red and red and red, so many different shades of it. But the worst, God the worst thing, was his face. There was no pity, no mercy, no nothing. There wasn’t excitement or eagerness either, that was what I tried to cling to. At least he didn’t get off on what he was doing. He didn’t seem to feel anything judging from his expression.

I’d always known his easy-going, playful, flirty attitude was a mask to cover up the ugly truth, but again knowing and having that knowledge confirmed in such a brutal way were two very different pair of shoes. Maybe if I’d been more naïve I could have convinced myself that Matteo was doing this because he’d had to bury his father today, because he was grief-stricken and needed an outlet for the pain, but I knew better. This was common mob business. Grief had nothing to do with it.

One of the tied up Russians was the man who’d hurt me and I knew that was why Matteo had chosen him as his victim.

I’d always wanted out of the world I’d been born in, this fucked up brutal world I knew, but in this moment I made the decision to actually try to flee. No matter the cost, no matter what it took and what I had to do, I would escape this hell. How could anyone want to stay when they saw this?

I knew people got used to these things, but I didn’t want to get used to them. I could already tell that I had less trouble with blood every time I saw it. How much longer until the sight of someone being tortured would do nothing for me? How much longer until the voice in my head that said the Russian bastard deserved it and would have done the same to me if given the chance, wasn’t a quiet whisper but a roaring shout?

Something brushed my arm and I jerked back, barely stifling a cry of surprise. Lily stood beside me, and then everything went very quickly. I opened my mouth to send her back up but at the same time her eyes settled on the scene in the center of the room, and I knew things would get very ugly. I’d heart Lily scream before but that had been nothing in comparison to the sound breaking free from her lips when she saw the blood and the men who’d lost it. Have you ever wondered about the sound fluffy lambs make when they are slaughtered? I imagined it was something like this.

I actually flinched away from Lily. Her eyes went wide, then dilated scarily, her face taking on an expression that scared the shit out of me. All eyes jerked toward us. Matteo released the Russian, narrowed his dark eyes at me, as if I was the one doing something wrong. Lily kept up her screaming, a high-pitched wail that made the hairs on my neck rise.

“Romero!” Matteo snarled, nodding toward my sister. “Take care of Liliana.”

Romero advanced on us. Tall and imposing.

Lily had always fawned over him, but now even she couldn’t see anything but the killer in him. His hands were red. Red from blood, and Lily completely lost her shit. I could only stare. I was unable to move. Somewhere in the back of my mind a voice was telling me to talk to my sister, to try to calm her, to do something, anything, but that voice was drowned out by the terrified static filling my head.

The steel door slammed against the wall above our heads and then Luca was suddenly there. “What the fuck is going on here?”

Nobody replied.

Romero spoke to my sister in a soothing voice. “Calm down, Lily. Everything is okay.”

Really? The scene in front of us told a very different story. Nothing about this was okay.

Of course, Lily wasn’t to be calmed. Romero gripped her arm and Luca went to help him, but she was fighting them like an animal. How could such a skinny girl fight off two men?

Romero slung his arms around her chest, trapping her arms against her sides, but that didn’t stop Lily from kicking out at him and everything around her, and she still didn’t stop screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Shut her up! Aria will hear,” Luca growled. He tried to catch her legs but she lashed out and kicked his chin. He stumbled back, more from surprise than anything else. Of course they could have subdued her easily if they hadn’t been so careful not to hurt her. I took a step in their direction, worried that they might give up the gentle approach soon, but the ground tilted under me and I had to grip the wall again.

“Lily,” I said. “Lily, stop.”

She didn’t even hear me.

The tall, muscled guy took a few steps toward them as if he was going to interfere, but Matteo pushed him back. “No. Stay out of it.”

I’d forgotten about Matteo, but while I had watched Lily, he’d managed to clean his hands. They were still pink but at least not smeared with blood. His eyes settled on me but I had to look away. I couldn’t return his gaze right now. I had a feeling I wasn’t far from pulling a stunt like Lily and going bat-shit crazy on them. The coppery scent of blood hung like fog in the air, clogged my throat and nose, seemed to sink into my skin, bury itself deep in my body with the horrible images.

Lily managed to kick off the wall, causing Romero to stumble back, lose his balance and land on his back with Lily on top of him. He grunted and lost his hold on my sister. She pushed to her feet, a look like a hunted animal on her face. Her gaze passed right through me.

“Lily, calm down,” I tried again.

She tried to storm past Matteo but he was too quick. He grabbed her wrist, and wrapped an arm around her waist. Then she was suddenly on her back and he was kneeling on her legs and had her hands pinned above her head. Luca headed toward them with a syringe in his hand. That was the final straw.

I stumbled toward them despite my wobbly legs. “Don’t hurt her!” I hissed. “Don’t you fucking dare hurting her!”

“I’m trying very hard not to hurt her, but she’s making it difficult. Luca now!” Matteo growled from his spot on top of my sister.

I blocked Luca’s way. “What is that?” I pointed at the syringe.

“Something that will calm her down,” Matteo said.

“Get out of the fucking way.” Luca brushed past me, knelt beside my sister who was still struggling against Matteo’s hold, and pushed the needle into her arm. It didn’t take long for her to grow quiet and stop struggling. Matteo released her wrists and sat up. Lily whimpered before curling into herself and starting to cry silently.

“I hope you all burn in hell,” I whispered harshly as I knelt beside her and stroked her hair. Matteo watched me with unreadable dark eyes. There were a few specks of blood on his throat; they seemed to be all I could see.

One of the Russians started to laugh. For a second I considered punching him in the face. I wasn’t even sure how he was still capable of any sound the way he looked.

Matteo shot to his feet and got right into his face. “Shut the fuck up, or I swear I’ll cut your dick into pieces while you watch.”

“Romero take Liliana into her room and tell the Doc to check on her,” Luca ordered, his voice already back to business.

Romero lifted Lily into his arms, and she actually pressed her face into his chest and sobbed. He was the last person she should seek out for comfort. He was one of the fucking reasons why she’d freaked out in the first place. Maybe she didn’t even realize who held her.

I stood as well to follow after them. I wouldn’t leave my sister alone with any of them. Luca gripped my wrist. “I want to have a word with you first.”

“Let me go!” I snarled but he didn’t budge.

Matteo grasped Luca’s forearm. “Let her go.”

Luca and he stared at each other for a moment, then I was finally free but now Matteo was blocking the stairs. I still couldn’t look at his face. I glared at Luca instead. “I need to go to Lily. Maybe you didn’t notice but she had a breakdown because of you sick fucks.”

“She’ll get over it,” Luca said dismissively.

“Do you hear yourself? You make me sick. Lily won’t ever get over what she saw today. She’ll probably have fucking nightmares for years, only because of you.”

Luca smiled coldly. “If you want to blame someone, blame yourself, because I have a feeling she was only down here because she followed you.”

“Luca,” Matteo said in warning. “It wasn’t Gianna’s fault.”

It was my fault, at least partly, but I would never admit it in front of them. If it weren’t for their sick business, nothing of this would have happened. I decided to switch to attack-mode. “I wonder what Aria will say when she replaces out what happened.”

Luca narrowed his eyes. “You won’t tell her.”

“Oh, I won’t?” I asked. I had absolutely no intention of telling her. She didn’t need the extra baggage, but Luca didn’t need to know that. Matteo stepped between his brother and me, and touched my arms. I jerked back as if he’d burnt me. “Don’t touch me ever again.”

“I really don’t get what you see in her,” Luca said.

“Luca, stop provoking her,” Matteo hissed, then he turned his dark eyes on me. “You can’t tell Aria. It won’t serve any purpose, only make her miserable.”

“Maybe she’ll decide to leave him.” I nodded toward Luca.

“Aria won’t ever leave me,” Luca said quietly. “She took a fucking bullet for me today. I almost lost her. I won’t ever lose her again. And I won’t let you ruin things between us.”

The worst thing was that I knew he was right when he said Aria wouldn’t leave him, not even when I told her what I’d seen today. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know what kind of man Luca was and what kind of things his men did on his orders. He’d killed and tortured for her before, and she still loved him. Somehow she could forget the monster and only see the man when she was with Luca. I was pretty sure I couldn’t do it. I could hardly meet Matteo’s gaze.

“I won’t tell her,” I said eventually. “But not for you. I’m doing it for her. I want to see her happy.” And for some fucked up reason Luca was making her happy, happier than I’d ever seen her. For her sake, I would pretend.

Luca turned to Matteo. “Take her to her room and make sure she stays there until Scuderi comes to pick them up. I don’t want her to make another scene.”

I bit back a snarky comment. “I want to see Aria. She needs me.”

I could tell that Luca wanted to tell me ‘no’ but he surprised me when he said, “You can stay with her when I’m not around.”

“It’s not like I’m eager to be in a room with you.”

“Come on, Gianna,” Matteo gripped my arm and didn’t even release me when I protested. He led me up the basement stairs, then along the long hallway and up the stairs. We didn’t speak until we reached my room and I jerked free of his grip.

My eyes darted to his pink hands and blood-covered shirt. Matteo followed my gaze, grimacing. “I’ll go change.”

“Don’t bother. I won’t ever forget what I saw.”

Matteo walked up to me and I stood my ground, despite my body’s desire to flee. “You are clever Gianna. Don’t tell me you didn’t know what we were doing behind closed doors. Believe me, the Outfit doesn’t handle enemies with kid gloves either.”

“I know. That’s why I despise everything about the fucking mob. And you are right, I wasn’t surprised about what I saw today. It only confirmed what I’d known all along.”

“And what is that?”

“That you’re a sick fuck and that I’d rather die than marry you.”

Matteo pulled me against him, his dark eyes practically scorching me with their intensity. “Maybe you think you could live in the normal world, maybe you think you could date a normal guy, but you’d get bored Gianna. Maybe you don’t want to admit it, but it excites you to be with someone like me. If a normal guy tells you he’d kill and torture to protect you, they’ll be lying, exaggerating at best, but I’m making a promise I can keep.”

“Let me go,” I gritted out.

He did, then gave me his fucking shark-smile and headed for the door. “I’ll lock the door. Luca will unlock it when he takes you to Aria.”

“So you’re going back to torturing that guy?”

Matteo’s gaze flickered with an emotion I couldn’t place. “Maybe. I’m a sick fuck, remember?” He slipped out. “But maybe I’ll let Luca have some fun with the Russians first.” His gaze lingered on me for another moment before he closed the door and locked it. I reached for a vase on the sideboard and flung it at the door where it shattered and tumbled to the floor.

I squeezed my eyes shut, making a promise I was determined to keep. I would escape before my wedding to Matteo. I would leave this life behind and never return. I would try to live a decent, an honest, an ordinary life.

Afterward I felt calmer, even if I knew it would be close to impossible to escape from the mob. It would take a plan and help, but I still had ten months until my wedding. Plenty of time.

Later when Luca picked me up and took me to Aria, I didn’t even provoke him. I ignored him, even when he warned me again not to tell Aria about the basement. He didn’t have to worry. I couldn’t burden Aria with the truth, not when she still had to live in this world and with Luca.