Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 84756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
When people start to walk in our direction, I mutter, “Lift your head.”
He sucks in a deep breath, and when he raises his chin, I watch as he reins in his sorrow.
“You good?” I ask.
He nods. “Yes.”
“Let’s go to the warehouse,” I order.
We wait for the women, and then I say, “Vito, you and Tommy take the women home.” I lock eyes with Tommy. “From now on, you’ll guard Gabriella and my mother.”
“Yes, boss,” he says before helping Mamma to the SUV.
“Emilio, you’re with us.”
Gabriella holds up her hand to Vito and walks to me. Wrapping her fingers around the back of my neck, she stands on her toes as she tugs me down and presses a kiss to my mouth. “Don’t be late, amore mio.”
I nod, then watch as she faces Carlo. “I got a moment with Aunt Greta before I was taken away.” My wife swallows hard as she fights her tears. “She asked me to tell you she loves you. It was her final request.”
Carlo nods as his features tense.
“She thought of you in her final moments,” Gabriella whispers.
He nods again, then I watch as she walks away and gets into the SUV with Vito.
I take another minute to thank the other heads for coming before I climb into the SUV, and Emilio steers us away from the cemetery.
Time to make Stefano scream.
Chapter 43
Damiano
Arriving at the warehouse, I get out of the SUV and head to the side entrance.
“Carlo, go torture Stefano,” I say. “Just don’t kill him yet.”
He nods, and I stop by the room where Mrs. di Bella is being held.
“Are you going in?” Emilio asks.
“Yes. Go keep an eye on Carlo.”
When I’m alone, I think about everything Gabriella told me.
As ice flows through my veins, I open the door and step inside. I glance at Bobby, who’s been guarding her, and nod to the door.
After he leaves, my gaze settles on Mrs. di Bella, who’s tied to a chair.
“Comfortable?” I ask.
Her breaths explode over her lips, her skin pale with sorrow. Fear darkens her eyes as she stares at me.
“Gabriella told me what you did to her,” I murmur, my tone dark with anger. “What you allowed to be done to her.”
“It’s all lies,” she cries.
I dart forward, and grabbing hold of her neck, I force her and the chair backward until she slams into the concrete floor.
I pull out my gun from behind my back and press the barrel against her quivering lips.
“Open,” I order.
She tries to shake her head.
“Open your fucking mouth,” I shout.
Her lips part, and I shove the barrel so deep she gags.
“My wife…my fucking queen doesn’t lie. It’s one of the things I love about her,” I hiss. “I saw how you treated her.”
She tries to shake her head again, muttering something unintelligible around the barrel.
I look Mrs. di Bella dead in the eye and let every ounce of power radiate from me as I say, “You fucking hurt her for twenty-three years, but thank you for letting me be the first to say the words ‘I love you’ to her.”
Mrs. di Bella’s whole body trembles as she gives me a pleading look.
I hold her terrified gaze and pull the trigger. With my hand around her throat, I feel how her life instantly leaves her body, and I fucking savor the moment.
Letting go of her, I rise to my feet. I walk to the door and yank it open, then head to the restroom so I can wash her blood off my skin.
After I’ve cleaned the barrel of my gun, I tuck it back into the waistband of my pants.
I suck in a deep breath of air and exhale slowly before I leave the restroom to go see what Carlo’s been up to.
As I near the room where Stefano’s being held, I hear an agonizing scream. I shove the door open in time to see Carlo pressing a hot poker against Stefano’s sole.
“Good choice,” I say.
“I thought you’d like it,” he mutters as he tears the cooling poker away, taking some skin with it.
“Please,” Stefano cries. “Please. Enough.”
I shake my head. “I haven’t even gotten started.”
“No,” he sobs. “I beg you. I’m sorry. Please.”
Walking closer, I grab his face and lean down until I’m looking him dead in the eye. “Not once did Gabriella beg. You’re fucking weak.”
I shove him backward, then hold my hand out. “Cattle prod.”
“I’m sorry. I see my mistake now,” he weeps, his eyes feverish on the cattle prod as I take hold of it.
I press the prongs to his skin and watch with satisfaction as his body convulses from the electric current hitting him.
I don’t stop until he passes out, then glance at Emilio. “Pour me a drink.”
“Yes, boss.”
I set the cattle prod down on a table and look at Carlo. “I’ve decided, once all of this is taken care of, we’re going on vacation.”