Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 40015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
“Of course I knew! He was my brother.”
I’d warned him so many times to hide his true self; in our world, his sexuality could’ve gotten him killed. Our father would’ve done it himself if he’d ever found out. When the raid had happened, we were still barely more than kids. We wouldn’t have survived standing up to him back then. I’d urged Francesco to keep his secret and wait for a time when I would be strong enough to protect him from others who might not accept him.
But he’d died before that day ever came, thanks to Luca fucking Vitale.
“Dante,” Nora said quietly, calling my attention to her.
I hit her with the full force of my murderous glower, but she held her ground without so much as flinching. Her eyes shone with emotion, the intense exchange touching her soft heart. The sight of her compassion made something twist painfully at the center of my chest.
“If you knew,” she pressed, “then is it so hard to believe that Francesco would sacrifice himself for someone he loved? If your brother was anything like you, I can believe it.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.” My voice was strangely rough, gravelly. “Luca would never have been good enough for my little brother. He’s always been an entitled, cocky little shit. If I’d known that Francesco was even thinking about him in that way, I—”
“Exactly,” Nora interrupted me, gentle but firm. “You wouldn’t have known.”
She didn’t say anything more. A tear rolled down her cheek as she allowed the silence to grow heavy with the weight of the truth.
No. It couldn’t be true. I’d loathed Luca for years. Every conniving, calculated move I’d made was in pursuit of the day that I would finally have him in my power. I’d plotted and planned and killed for this. I’d done terrible things to Nora in order to exact my revenge.
And if Luca’s version of events was true, then…
A wordless roar of denial tore from my chest, and Nora flinched toward Luca.
I backed away, unable to bear her tearful, wide-eyed gaze on me for one more agonizing second. Dawning realization of the depth of my sin bore down on my shoulders, crushing me. I turned away from them with another bellow, and animal sound of rage and pain. I stormed away from them, knowing that Luca would hold her close in my absence. He would comfort her, soothe her. She would melt in his arms and accept his kiss.
Not mine. She’d never been mine.
And she never would be.
I didn’t deserve her.
I tore my way through the house, smashing priceless art as I blindly stumbled away from them. Eventually, I half-fell into my study and found my whisky. I grabbed the bottle and knocked it back, as though the burn of the liquor would somehow grant me absolution. Or at the very least, oblivion.
The thought of them entwined together in my bed made my stomach lurch, but I crushed down the primal urge to storm upstairs and claim my wife.
She could cut out my heart for what I’d done to her, and it wouldn’t be a cruel enough punishment.
And Luca…
Even now, my fists flexed at the thought of the bastard: an ingrained response from years of obsessive loathing.
But he hadn’t killed Francesco. My brother had loved him deeply enough to die for him, and instead of honoring his sacrifice, I’d devoted myself to destroying Luca Vitale. I’d made him watch as I touched the woman he loved. I’d bound him in chains of my will and forced pleasure from Nora’s unwilling body.
Knowing that the Russians were raping my wife while I scrambled to gather the necessary firepower to save her had been the most soul-wrenching experience of my life. I’d never felt more helpless, and it had shredded me.
I’d done the same thing to Luca. I’d made him live through that harrowing experience over and over again.
It was a wonder he was still sane.
Of course, he wanted to kill me. How could he not? It was his duty as a husband to avenge Nora and his right as a man to make me scream for my crimes against him.
I truly was the villain in their love story, the sadistic monster who’d tormented them both in the most unspeakable ways. Nothing I could do would ever absolve me, but I couldn’t simply run away and exile myself for my sins.
I couldn’t bring myself to leave Nora. She was still at risk, and she would always have my protection. Even if I wasn’t worthy of touching her ever again.
I’d always been expert at punishing my enemies. I knew exactly how to mete out justice. There was only one way I could think of to begin to atone.
Chapter 11
Nora
Luca’s arms were warm and firm around me, and I leaned into his strength. The revelations that’d just unfolded had disturbed me to my core. All the pain and loss, and the years of hatred that’d twisted Dante into something monstrous…