Chapter 15
15
MICHAEL
I bellow as the elevator doors slam shut, that blank look in her eyes searing itself into my goddamn soul.
Then I snap.
I whirl, fingers locking around Rafael’s collar, yanking him forward.
“Michael!”
Lorenzo jolts at my outburst, grabbing my shoulder, but I shake him off and tighten my grip, choking Rafael. But the fucker remains unruffled, staring at me through empty grey eyes.
“How could you do that?” My voice comes out guttural, barely human. “I fucking told you I needed to talk to you first before we involved Aldo.”
His hands come up to mine, irritation finally flickering into his eyes when I don’t release him immediately. He shoves at my grip, and I let him go. “I didn’t realize you had grown so attached to her,” he says, straightening his shirt like I didn’t just have him by the throat. Then he turns and walks into his living room, already done with the conversation.
The elevator catches my eye, my gut twisting, but I tear my gaze away and stalk after him. “You should have fucking told me that asshole would be here,” I snap at him. If I had known, I would have warned Gianna. Hell, I wouldn’t have even brought her here. I would’ve taken her home first, where nobody could take her from me.
I should’ve held her.
She was panicking in the car earlier, and I just sat there, pretending I didn’t ache to pull her into my lap, to run my hands through her hair and tell her it was fine. But no. I had a reputation to uphold in front of my men. I couldn’t appear weak.
Now I’d give anything to go back and do it right.
The way she went so pale—the betrayal on her face when she saw Aldo. Fuck .
Why the hell am I still here?
I spin around, marching back towards the elevator. I’m getting her back right the fuck now and setting the record straight like I intended.
“Michael.”
I stop dead, leveling Rafael with a glare.
“Let her go, fratello . She’s not for you.” He shakes his head slowly.
Like hell she’s not. “ She’s mine .”
“No, she’s fucking not. She’s engaged to Carlo Mancini. You think he’ll just let her go after he’s spent months and a fortune trying to find her these past few months?”
What?
That wasn’t in the background check I ran on Gianna. How the fuck didn’t that come up? “Carlo is sixty years old,” I say uselessly.
“And? You know how it works in our world, Michael. Carlo and Aldo signed a contract—a marriage contract signed in blood to be precise. Gianna is his for all intents and purposes.”
Not if I have anything to say about it– and I do . “Don’t you fucking say her name.” My finger jabs the air between us.
Rafael sighs like I’m being unreasonable. “You can have anyone else, Michael. There are plenty of women in the city. Forget about her. Don’t muddy the waters. We cannot afford to have an internal war right now or our enemies will pounce.”
“Then let them fucking pounce, Rafael.” I take a step towards him and Lorenzo grabs my arm again. I let him stop me. “Out of respect for you and the position you hold as king of this city, I didn’t protest when that asshole walked out of here with my woman. But I’m going to fucking get her back. I don’t give a shit if you don’t approve.”
Then I turn around again, making my way straight to the elevator, Lorenzo on my heels.
I will get her back. No matter the cost.
“You need to calm down, Michael,” Lorenzo murmurs as we get into the elevator, raising his hands in surrender when I glower at him. “You know I’m on your side. I’m always on your side. But you can’t just storm into Aldo’s place now.”
He’s right, of course. Not only would it look bad for my brothers and me, but it would also give Aldo and Carlo the right to call us out for perceived injustice. And if they took it to the commissione ?
That would be a disaster.
My brothers and I have total control over New York City; we worked hard for it. But the commissione is a council of the ruling families across the entire country, and let’s just say… I’m not exactly a favorite amongst any of them.
I could lose her forever.
I need a strategy, not blind rage.
“We’ll go in the morning,” I declare as the elevator doors open to the basement.
My thumb rolls over the ring on my thumb as we walk towards the car, my mind already spinning with plans.
I should have fucked her. Raw . No condom. No protection. At least then I could claim her—say she might be pregnant with my child. But now I have no hold on her. No rights. Nothing.
That’s going to fucking change the second I have her back in my clutches.
Lorenzo is silent on the ride back home, but as soon as we pull up to my gates and they start winding open, he speaks up. “Oliver Williams is in the basement of the shed, like you ordered. Want to pay him a visit? Might help relieve some of your anger.”
I frown at him, not in the mood for games. “Who?”
“Our patent thief.”
Ah.
My lips curl into something that might be a smile. “Of course. Take me to him.”
Lorenzo nods at Marco, who veers past the driveway to what we call the shed house, which is strategically built a few blocks away from the main house near the water.
The car rolls to a stop in front of the small A-roof structure, and I step out, already itching to spill some blood. Shrugging off my jacket, I toss it onto my seat and work at my cufflinks, slipping them into my pockets as I head for the door. Lorenzo moves ahead, quickly pushing it open for me.
Inside, the air is thick with dust and age. To anyone who might accidentally stumble in, it looks just like any normal shed cluttered with various tools—old lawnmowers, a shovel, a ladder, and a shelf stacked with potted plants taken care of by my ‘gardener’.
Lorenzo presses his thumb on the side of the shelf, and a soft buzz fills the air as the furniture slowly shifts from its position, exposing what looks like an ordinary wall. This time, he places his whole palm against it, and the structure rearranges itself, pushing back to reveal an inner room.
We go in, the door sealing shut behind us. Overhead, red motion lights flicker on, illuminating a pair of stairs going downwards towards the basement. I roll my sleeves up to my elbow as we descend, Lorenzo leading the way.
At the foot of the stairs, a long hallway stretches ahead, ending at a lone, metal door. Lorenzo types in the passcode, and with a quiet hiss, the door swings inward.
We walk into the interrogation room.
The room is divided into two sections. The side we’re on is a medium-sized space with comfortable chairs, all facing a large window. From here, we have a clear view of the adjoining room, where the window appears as a mirror to anyone inside. They might suspect they’re being watched, but the soundproofing ensures they can’t hear a thing.
I step towards the glass, taking in the man strapped to the restraining chair, struggling against his bonds. “So this is our thief.”
“He worked in the IT department as a web developer. Used his company ID to hack into a cloud he wasn’t authorized to see. Got the intel he wanted and tried to sell off the patent for the tablet we’re currently working on, passing it off as his own.”
I already know all this, but I nod, following Lorenzo to the door that will take us to where our thief is waiting. The fact that he even managed to hack into the cloud at all pisses me off. I’m going to have to dismantle the code and rebuild it back—after firing the incompetent engineers who let this shit happen in the first place.
Lorenzo opens the door and steps aside, allowing me to go in first.
The second I enter, the man’s head jerks up. His mouth falls open, eyes widening in raw, unfiltered terror as he recognizes me. “The Mad Hatter,” he murmurs under his breath, trying to push his chair away from me by kicking at the floor. A futile effort since the chair is high off the ground, leaving his legs dangling uselessly in the air.
I raise a brow in surprise. Only people who know who my brothers and I really are use that nickname. The people who refer to us as the Nightshades.
Until now, those two worlds had never crossed.
Interesting.
“So you know who I am and still thought it would be fun to try to steal from me?” I ask conversationally as I walk past him to the shelf lining the back wall. Tugging it open, I let my gaze roam over the various torture devices. Each tool has its purpose, its own way of extracting the truth.
“I’m so sorry. It was an accident, I didn’t–”
“Quiet,” I order, and he swallows the rest of his excuses with a sniveling whimper. Finally, I decide on the black stun belt and hand it to Lorenzo, who immediately moves to wrap it around Oliver’s upper arm.
“W–what is this?” he stammers, but neither Lorenzo nor I give him an answer.
“We’re the ones who’ll be asking the questions,” Lorenzo informs him coolly.
Once the belt is secured, I raise the remote control. “Who sent you to my company?”
Oliver gulps. “I don’t–I don’t know what you’re talking abo– agghhh !” His head slams back, body writhing as the electric current rips through his body.
I lift my thumb off the button, watching as he sags against the chair, gasping for air. “Don’t fucking test me, Oliver. I’ll fill your body with so much electricity, you’ll taste the currents on your tongue.” I pause, then smile. “And then I’ll filet the skin off your fingers—one by one. And feed them to you. Until you choke.”
“No, no, please don’t—” His breath hitches as he breaks into ugly, shuddering sobs. Tears roll down his cheeks the same time a large, wet stain spreads across his lap, liquid dripping to the floor.
Disgust curls my lips as the sharp stench of urine fills the air.
Pathetic.
“I’ll tell you everything I know.”