Chapter 37
The sound of heavy footsteps has me raising my head. I make out a couple of men walking down the hall toward me. I stand in a rush, my heart pounding out of my chest when I realize one of them is my brother. It’s been so long since I saw him last. I know he must be furious with me for taking off and pulling a gun on his girlfriend, but he has to understand why I did it. “Marco,” I cry as I make it to the metal bars separating us. “You have to tell them I didn’t do what they think.”
The guard turns a key in the lock, turning toward my brother. “She’s your responsibility now,” he says as he swings open the heavy door.
I rush toward my brother, throwing my arms around his body and burying my head in his chest. With one arm, he hugs me weakly, patting my back. I pull back slightly, staring up at him. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper through the tears choking up my throat.
“We can talk more in the car,” he tells me, and I hope the cold distance in his voice is because we’re still in the police station and he can’t say too much here.
The guard shows us out of the holding cell part of the station, and we walk down a long corridor to an emergency exit. He shoves open the door, and next thing I know it, the two of us are outside in the cold evening air.
A shiver comes over me, goosebumps covering my skin. I glance back at him, confused. “Shouldn’t I have to sign something? This doesn’t seem right.”
“Don’t ask questions when you’ve been handed a free fucking pass for killing a cop.” He opens the passenger side door of his car, and I slide in, feeling defeated.
A free pass? Did Alessandro bail me out somehow? Why isn’t he here then? I swallow the lump that’s now formed in my throat. “Am I missing something?”
The engine kicks into gear, and Marco takes off up the dingy street. “What the hell were you thinking stabbing a cop,” he mutters under his breath.
“I didn’t know he was a fucking cop. I was thinking why the hell is this asshole forcing himself on me. There wasn’t a lot of time to think, he attacked, and I fought back. That’s what happened.”
He gives me a sideways glance like that was new information to him. He pulls on to the main road out of town, heading toward the boys’ mansion, and I assume he has been instructed to take me back there instead of my apartment.
“Marco, I know you’re angry with me for taking off, but I couldn’t stay. You have to understand that, right?”
“You pulled a gun on my girlfriend,” he huffs. “There are other ways to get what you want.”
I sit up a little straighter. “Oh really? Because I tried, and you all wouldn’t listen to me. Dani might be your girlfriend, but I’m your little sister. I’m the only family you have left and that used to count for something.” I blow out a frustrated breath, crossing my arms tightly over my chest. Fuck him and his snippy attitude toward me. Does he even realize what I have been through tonight? How scared I was imagining I was going to have to deliver my baby in a fucking prison.
“Half-sister,” he rasped, the sound rough and strained.
Wondering what the hell he’s on about, I flick my angry gaze back to him and notice we’re not traveling toward the boys’ place like I originally thought. We’re turning into Enzo’s estate. “What the fuck, Marco, where are you taking me?” My heart is hammering in my chest as I stammer out the question.
“You should have married Alessandro when you had the chance, it was the safest option for you. But no, the little princess always has to have things her way.” His voice holds no emotion. It’s like he’s completely detached from this situation. And me.
As we fly past the guards on the gate, I glance over my shoulder then back to him. How did he just get through? “What are you talking about, Marco. You’re scaring me.”
He pulls the car into the empty turn circle, the tires crunching on the gravel, and kills the ignition. He turns toward me, his face contorting in anger, and I see something I never noticed before. It’s there in the way his eyes narrow and his forehead creases. I see a similarity that scares the shit out of me.
My throat constricts with fear. I already know the awful answer, a lead weight in my stomach even before I speak. All the pieces fit together seamlessly. This is the missing puzzle piece. Our mother working for Enzo for so long, his fucking hold over her for all those years. He had to have something over her, or she never would have put us all in danger like that.
“Why did you say half-sister?” I demand.
When he doesn’t answer me, I search for a way out, reach for the door handle trying to escape. But I’m child-locked in. “Marco. What did you do?” I cry desperately, sweat dripping down my spine.
“My job,” he snaps back with way too much bitterness and hatred toward me.
“You’re handing me over to fucking Enzo for a little bit of money?”
“No, Lana, this is just a business meeting. You have something he wants, and if you willingly give it to him, you can leave here without a fuss. For once in your life just do what we say.”
“You truly believe my cooperation will get me a free pass, after everything we know about this man.” I stare at him, looking for any signs of life. As I do, something occurs to me. He was at The Flamingo Hotel the night the detective was shot. “Oh my God, Marco, please tell me you’re not the one who shot Detective Carillon. He was our only hope, he was helping you,” I cry, knowing how dramatic I sound, but fucking hell, I should have seen this all along, and I didn’t.
A cruel smirk tugs at the corners of his lips, a chilling expression that confirms my suspicions. This isn’t my brother. “Stop asking questions you don’t want the answer to. Tonight is very simple. Just sign over all the Havardi businesses to me, and you can go free.”
Pain radiates through my chest, knowing what this is really all about—fucking money. “I already gave them to you, I don’t want anything to do with what our papa created,” I say sadly, knowing that was another mistake I made. I should have fought harder for them. Papa must have known Marco wasn’t his, and that’s why he left it all to me in the first place.
He grabs hold of my chin, forcing me to look at him. “I know you like to play dumb, but you know your word isn’t going to do shit. We have our family lawyer inside, and after you sign everything over to me, you can walk away.”
My car door opens, and I jump in surprise. There in the opening is Enzo, grinning at me like the crazy motherfucker he is. “Miss Havardi, how kind of you to join us this evening.” His lips twist into a mocking smile, one that makes me want to punch it square off his ugly fucking face.
“Get out of the car, Lana,” Marco demands, a coldness to his voice that sends a shiver down my spine. Who the fuck even is he?
Enzo doesn’t wait for me to comply. He snatches my wrist and drags me to my feet.
“I think we both know this wasn’t my choice,” I snap back at him, bitterness and disgust dripping off my every word. This asshole played me. My own fucking brother betrayed me for him. Anger swirls within me like a tornado forming. Enzo’s grip on my wrist tightens. With all my might, I swing my other fist, connecting with his jaw. “Fuck you,” I scowl, pain now radiating through my knuckles, but it was worth it to see his surprise. To know I was able to inflict even the smallest amount of pain.
He tilts his head, looking even more deranged than normal, a hand running over his jaw where I got him. Then he clicks his fingers, and two huge men appear by my sides, taking hold of me in a rough grasp.
Enzo’s meaty fingers come to my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “That wasn’t very smart, sweetheart. You might want to start bowing at my feet like your mother used to.” He kicks my legs from under me so I’m forced to the ground, held in place by his goons so he can glare down at me. “Better.” He lets out a low dark chuckle, taking way too much pleasure in my discomfort. This is the real Enzo Moretti.
“You can force me to my knees, but I will never give you what you want,” I spit back.
Marco moves to stand in front of me. “That’s where you’re wrong. You have no other options unless that night you spent in the lockup wasn’t enough for you and you want to go back there?”
“See, I paid your bail,” Enzo says, “so you could happily be brought into my care. And all that shit with the dead cop will disappear into thin air and you will be a free woman. All you need to do is sign what’s yours over to my son so he can rightfully take his place at the top of all the Havardi businesses.”
Marco moves to stand by his side, and a shudder runs through me. How didn’t I see the family resemblance before? I should have picked up on this. Everything makes so much sense. Maybe I didn’t want to see it, the way Marco followed his instructions to kill our papa, the way he disappeared to Italy then reappeared living at the Moretti family mansion. Why didn’t I see there was more to all of this? Since he got back, he has distanced himself more and more from me. I felt the isolation but kept thinking this was his way of dealing with all the loss and grief. I never in a million years considered he was working with Enzo and he would actually turn on me.
My eyes bore into him with all the hatred I now feel. “If he’s a fucking Moretti, he has no claim to any of my papa’s businesses.”
“Semantics,” Enzo tuts with a solid pat of Marco’s shoulder. The closeness they share sickens me. Can’t Marco see this man is only using him? He will be discarded like everyone else eventually.
“I will never give either of you anything,” I spit at him, doing whatever I can to lash out when I’m restrained so tightly by his goons’ hold on me.
Enzo’s boot connects with my stomach, knocking the wind from me, as a burst of sudden pain radiates through me from the solid kick. My hands reach for my belly as tears spring to my eyes. My baby.
“Take her to the den,” Marco instructs his men, sounding every bit like Enzo.
“Use whatever force is necessary, but don’t touch her pretty face,” Enzo adds. The way he says it makes me wince. What the hell does that even mean?
They glare down at me through their face masks, cruel and vicious. With a tug of my arms, I’m dragged to my feet. I fight them at every chance I get, bringing my elbow into the side of one of them and my foot up to kick the other in the junk. But my futile attempts are useless against their brute strength. I know once I’m inside there will be no way out so I keep trying. Thrashing around as they drag me up the front stairs.
When Enzo slams the door behind us, locking all of us inside, my head drops, defeated. I’m fucked. I couldn’t protect myself or my baby.
They escort me to the den.
“Tie her up. I can’t trust her not to run.” Marco smirks cruelly, looking every bit like his papa.
His goons make fast work of tying me to the chair, binding my legs and arms then looping them through the chair legs so there is no escape. Pain radiates through my exhausted body. I suck in ragged breaths, trying to get my breathing under control. I need a clear head so I can think. I search the room for an escape or a weapon I can use against them. There is an opulent desk in the center of the room, large and imposing, then a tan leather sofa down one side. Above that is a picture window with a view out over the estate. Strangely, this room was left off the tour of his place.
Marco takes a seat across from me, his expression cold and uncaring. Enzo sits beside him in a show of unity that makes me feel physically ill. How did none of us work this out? With all the research we have been doing into my family and the Morettis, how did we not know Marco was Enzo’s son? Better yet, I can’t for the life of me understand what all those women saw in him. How did he charm them into bed? My mother, Ricky’s, what the hell.
“When did you find out?” I snap at Marco, needing to know when he decided to turn on me and take his place in the fucking Moretti family.
His dark eyes hold mine for a second. “The week before I killed the man who had been lying to me my entire life.”
My skin prickles with a cold sweat. He knew all this time. “Why get me out of there then on my wedding night?”
Enzo scoffs. “Did you really think I was going to let some little whore marry into my family? You and your mother are good for one thing only—fucking.”
I see the way Marco flinches at his comment. He doesn’t agree, my brother is still in there somewhere.
“You want to side with this?” I tilt my head toward Enzo. “He might be your father by blood, but you don’t have to be like him. You loved our ma, and she loved you. It would kill her to see what you have turned into,” I cry, unable to help it. He needs to hear the truth.
Marco stands abruptly, shoving his chair back with force. He gets up in my face, his nostrils flaring, hot breath washing over me. “Our ma deceived us for years, and now I’m determined to claim what is rightfully mine in this world she brought us into. Enzo is right, she used her body trying to persuade Valentina to run away with her. She would have left us behind in a heartbeat to have what she truly wanted. The only one she truly loved. Isn’t that right, Papa?”
He offers a nod. “Your ma was a manipulative little witch. She charmed us both in the beginning, then she tried to take what was mine from me.”
“That’s why you killed her. On the night of Ricky’s tenth birthday, you filled her full of your drugs then left her to die. Left her for one of your children to find. You’re a fucking monster, Enzo Moretti.”
“Your ma killed herself partying too hard, it had nothing to do with me.”
“Then why did you have a fight that night, blaming her for lying to you about Marco. Let me take a wild stab in the dark. You’d just worked out he was yours. That must have killed you. He would have been twelve already. You’d known him his whole life and you, the all-powerful Don, had no fucking idea.”
His face reddens, and he clambers to his feet, coming at me. Marco reaches out a hand, stopping him. “We still need her,” he growls through clenched teeth, the sound barely audible.
His attention comes back to me, and I glare at him. “Stop fucking talking, Lana,” Marco yells, his voice booming off the walls.
I shake my head, fear taking over because I know it’s too late to get through to him. “He’s brainwashed you.”
“The only one who has been brainwashed is Alex, Rick, Maddox, and Geovani by you. I’m not sure what you did to them, but it ends today. You will sign my contract, handing over everything you have kept from me. Then you will leave town, leave them all behind, and never come back. If you do, I will personally put the bullet in your head.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “I never wanted to keep anything from you. I told you it was all yours as much as mine. I let you run it, so why come after me now?” I sniff.
“With all the trouble you have caused, do you really need to ask me that?” He runs his eyes over me, disgusted.
I shrink back into my seat. He hates me. My own brother. Sadness overwhelms me. He’s the only family I had left, and even he only wants me for what he can take from me. How he can manipulate me in to giving him what he wants. “Bullshit. I saw your face the day you realized what my papa created. You looked like you had seen a ghost. Before that, neither of you had any fucking idea how smart he was or what he was doing behind your backs. You’re a greedy fucker, just like your papa. And I will never give you what you want. Keep throwing your threats at me, I don’t give a flying fuck,” I scream at him.
Without warning, Marco’s hand connects with my face, and it takes me a second to realize my brother, the person I loved more than anything in the world, just fucking slapped me. “You spoiled little fucking brat,” he snaps, anger radiating off him.
My eyes narrow into slits as I blink back tears, the sting of my face burning, but that’s nothing compared to the ache in my chest. The pain of knowing someone I loved so dearly could do this to me.
A sharp knock echoes through the room, and a well-dressed man in a dark suit steps inside. He has papers in his hands and a stern look on his face. “We have a problem with the paperwork, boss.”
Marco moves smoothly through the room, his footsteps silent on the thick carpet as he approaches the man. He meticulously reviews the papers, as the man points out each issue with a critical eye. Marco cracks his neck then glances back at Enzo, sharing a brief, meaningful glance that tells me he’s not happy.
“Fuck,” Marco curses running a hand through his long hair. He shoves the papers in Enzo’s direction, then strides back to me. “How the fuck did you get him to do it?” He’s murderous, anger radiating off him.
Enzo looks just as furious as he scrunches the papers up in his fist. His round face glowing red and his eyes narrowing in on me in a way that scares the shit out of me.
I stare up at him, not sure what to do. I have no clue what he’s talking about. “Do what?” I spit back.
He shoves the papers in my face, but I can’t read them, they’re all scrunched up and way too close.
The suited man moves into view. “The businesses aren’t just in your name now that you’re married to Alessandro Moretti.”
Married? I almost want to laugh. Alessandro is still protecting me. He fucking knew Enzo was up to something and how important it would be that we get married. I try not to show my shock. This could be the loophole I need to stop Enzo getting his hands on what my papa created. And for once, I’m grateful for the boys controlling shit.
“No one can find out about this. The paper trail needs to fucking be destroyed,” Marco spits at Enzo, like a child having a tantrum.
Enzo nods, and I realize he’s the one taking orders from Marco, not the other way around. “I will take care of it. We need to go to plan B.”
Marco stares at him for a beat, considering his suggestion, then slowly nods, agreeing.
A terrible sinking feeling comes over me. What the hell is plan B?
A loud whoop-whoop slices through the air. Looking over Enzo’s shoulder, through the picture window I spot a helicopter descending toward the estate. My heart bursts with hope. Have the boys worked out where I am? I remember I still have the tracker attached to my ankle where I put it this morning. The detectives didn’t take it off me when they did the search. They didn’t even look that far down my leg.
Marco glances over his shoulder toward Enzo, losing his cool edge. They didn’t account for the boys showing up.
“Go deal with Alex, I’ll get her out of here,” Marco calls another order to Enzo. I watch him, the way he holds himself with so much confidence, and I distinctly remember the lawyer calling him boss. Is he in charge now?
Both Enzo and the dude who came in with the paperwork stride out of the room, leaving me with just my traitorous brother.
My eyes, burning with fury, fix on him. Memories of us growing up together, the calls he used to make to me when I was away from home. The pain etched on his face when we found or ma dead in her bathroom. I used to mean something to him, I know I did. “How could you do this to me?” I whisper through my pain.
His head drops. “If you’d just married Alex in the first place you would have been fucking safe. You brought all of this upon yourself, being the stubborn little brat you are.”
I stare back at him, confused and so hurt. “But you got me out of there, you helped me escape,” I throw back at him, needing to make sense of this.
“Maddox helped you escape. I teamed up with Geovani to ensure I would get what I was owed. Don’t you get it, Lana? It doesn’t matter how hard you fight to try and bring Enzo down, he will always come out on top, and I want to be left standing on the right side of this fight in the end. Richer than I ever could have hoped to be.” The smug look of satisfaction on his face makes him look crazy, and I realize this side of him has always been lurking just beneath the surface. It probably only took a few suggestions from Enzo and he was right there.
“What about Dani?” I ask in a sudden whisper. I find myself worrying about her safety. Where does she fit into all of this?
“Dani was very useful.” He chuckles darkly.
My eyes fly back to him. “What do you mean was?”
Something dark flashes in his eyes, and a sick feeling comes over me. It was never Dani I couldn’t trust, it was him, and he was using her. “Marco, what did you do?”
“You will find out soon enough. Her fate is much the same as yours now. We have worked out the best way to get rid of troublemakers like you, Lana. I really do wish you had chosen to listen to me in the first place. We could have avoided a big fucking mess. I might be just like my papa, and in truth, I take that as a compliment, but you’re just like our ma, a little whore who does nothing but bring shame and trouble to our family name.”
His hurtful words cut deep. I fight against my restraints, wanting to lash out at him and hurt him the way he’s destroying me. But the rope only cuts deeper into my wrists and ankles. There is nothing I can do.
His hand comes to my chin. “You’re lucky you have such a pretty face, little sister, or Enzo probably would have killed you already.” That’s all he says before he covers my mouth with a white cloth.
I try to fight against it, but the smell is overwhelming, and my head becomes all foggy. I stare into his eyes with the deepest disgust I have ever felt, wanting him to know I hate him. Then it all goes black.