Chapter 12
Dante
The Russians were dead. Every single man who’d dared to attack us had been eliminated. We hadn’t even left one alive to go warn the others not to fuck with me. The silence would be warning enough.
Even though my private physician had examined Nora and assured me that she was unharmed, the need to get back to her was an itch beneath my skin.
But I was strong enough to master my base impulses. I’d left my home this morning with a job to do, and I would see it through. For my wife, I’d do anything.
She wouldn’t be leaving the estate to see her sister anytime soon, but I had carried out the rest of my mission for the day. Once the doctor had seen to my own wounds, I’d headed straight for the city, hunting my quarry.
Now, I returned to her with my prize.
I found her in the library, curled up in a massive armchair with one of her beloved books. My anticipatory grin must’ve been a touch maniacal, because she shrank deeper into the cushions when she saw me.
“I have a gift for you,” I told her, snagging her small hand to tug her to her feet.
She frowned at me. “I don’t want anything from you.”
I dropped a doting kiss on the top of her head. “But I want to give you things. You’ll like this one. I promise.”
She pressed her lips together, doubt pinching her features. But she didn’t resist as I guided her out of the library and down the long corridor.
Her feet stalled when we neared the door that led down to the basement, where Luca was caged.
“Whatever you’re thinking, I won’t like it,” she said acerbically. “I won’t like it if you use me to torment Luca, no matter what you say about giving me orgasms. It’s sick and wrong, and I won’t let you hurt him like that anymore.”
I paused and lifted a brow at her. “That’s not your decision to make, little bird. And don’t worry. I’m not going to touch Luca. Or you,” I added, since that seemed to be her issue with me.
She kept railing at me that she didn’t want me to touch her and that she hated me.
But she’d clung to me when I’d protected her from the Bratva. Her lovely eyes had widened with a burst of fear when I’d slammed the SUV door between us, and she’d been carried to safety. Had she been scared for herself? Or for me?
I shook my head ruefully.
No, she hadn’t been concerned for my safety. That was a tempting fantasy.
The reality was that my wife still didn’t trust me. She didn’t even like me.
That would begin to change. Starting now.
I opened the basement door and turned on the light. A low groan floated up the stairs.
“What did you do to him?” she demanded, racing ahead of me to check on Luca.
Jealousy needled my heart, but I ignored it. I would win her affection in time. Especially once she saw what I’d done for her.
She froze with a gasp at the bottom of the stairs, taking in her gift.
Alberto was strung up by his wrists, steel shackles tearing into his skin as he struggled to balance his body weight on his toes. His face was a bloody mess—I’d gotten a bit carried away in subduing him.
But he was still recognizable, and he would bleed a lot more before I finally ended him.
“What have you done?” she asked breathlessly, staring wide-eyed at her bound cousin.
“You said he hurt you.” I came up behind her and wrapped my hands around her waist, nuzzling her hair. “He’ll scream for that before I kill him. He’ll never touch you again, Nora.”
“But he’s family,” she protested weakly, not taking her eyes off his ruined face.
I knew she wasn’t talking about her blood relatives. In our organization, killing meant going to war.
But I was in charge now, and I’d murder anyone who threatened my true family, no matter how valuable their loyalty might be. I could’ve used Alberto’s support in the conflict with Luca’s men, and I definitely needed all the strength I could muster to hit back at the Bratva.
Nothing was worth her suffering, and every breath Alberto took was an insult to her.
“He tried to rape you, and Luca did nothing.” I sneered at my most hated enemy, and he bared his teeth at me, clutching at the bars of his cage as though he could rip them apart.
“You are my wife,” I reminded her. “I will risk anything for you. I told you that I always keep my promises, and I said that I would prove it to you. This is the proof. Alberto will scream before he dies, and you will never suffer at his hands again. It’s done.
My only question now is: Do you want to watch? ”
“Nora, please…” Alberto spluttered.
I stepped away from her with a frown, irritated at the interruption. That he would even dare to speak to her was another sin he would pay for before the end.
I delivered a swift, brutal punch to his jaw, and his head lolled forward. That would shut him up until I was ready for him to start begging for mercy.
I turned back to Nora and found her watching me, a curious expression on her face. I couldn’t quite puzzle out the emotions that played across her features as her gaze swung from me to Alberto and back again.
“I don’t want to watch,” she finally said, so quiet it was little more than a whisper. “But I…” She swallowed and dropped her eyes. “Thank you.”
The words were barely audible, but her gratitude hit me like a punch, knocking all the air from my chest. I stood there, stunned into silence, while I watched her slowly climb the stairs.
She didn’t so much as glance back at her cousin as she left him to his fate.
She was elegant and graceful as ever as she glided away from the carnage, serene in the knowledge that her tormentor would never hurt her again.
Because of me. I’d done this for her.
Satisfaction glowed in my chest, and her soft words of gratitude played through my mind like a sweet song. I’d sworn that I would prove myself to her, and this was only the beginning. I’d slaughter all of her enemies.
I would earn her trust little by little, and her affection for me would grow stronger with every drop of blood I spilled in her name.
When she was gone, I turned to Luca once again. “You didn’t do what was necessary to protect her,” I gloated, relishing the shame that darkened his cheeks. “I will do anything for my wife.”
“I should’ve killed Alberto myself,” he confessed through gritted teeth. “My biggest regret now is that you’ll be the one to end him. But I will gladly watch him suffer and die, even if I can’t wield the knife that guts him.”
He was trying to tell me that he could ignore the shame of his failure. He thought he could steal a piece of my glory by taking satisfaction in witnessing Alberto’s demise.
That wouldn’t do.
Maybe it was the high from Nora’s gratitude, or maybe it was the rush of violent triumph from killing my Russian enemies, but something made a half-mad idea spark in my mind.
It would be risky, but the reward would be worth it.
Even if I was gambling with my life. That just made the experience more thrilling.
I approached the bars of Luca’s cage, getting close enough that he could reach out and strangle me. His knuckles went white around the bars, and he made no move to lunge for me.
His loyalty to his friends, my prisoners, kept him from murdering me.
I would test his obedience and show him just how powerless he was against me.
I rested my hand on the hilt of the hunting knife that I had holstered to my belt. “If I give you a blade, you won’t cut me with it, will you?” I taunted.
A growl slipped between his bared teeth, but he still didn’t make a move to grab me. Or the knife.
“I’m in a good mood,” I mused. “I’ll let you be the one to torture Alberto.”
His hand would be my own, guided by my will.
Even with a weapon, Luca was no threat to me.
I’d thoroughly crushed his pride, and this new game with him was nearly as delicious as watching him wrestle for self-control while I toyed with Nora.
He wanted to kill me more desperately than he wanted his next breath, but he wouldn’t make a single move against me.
Not as long as Gabriele’s and Lorenzo’s lives were on the line.
Luca swallowed hard. “Give me the knife,” he rasped, “and Alberto will be the only one screaming today.”
I smirked at his choice of words. He still had hope that one day he would best me. Pathetic. I’d crush that soon enough too.
I unlocked his cell and stepped back, inviting him to exit with a wave of my hand. He moved stiffly as he walked past the confines of the bars, coming to a stop when he was at the edge of my personal space. His body practically vibrated with the need to attack me.
But he didn’t.
He wouldn’t.
My lips stretched into a delighted smile, and he scowled.
I freed the knife from its sheath and handed it to him hilt first, careful not to cut him. I didn’t have to make him bleed to cause him agony. His thunderous expression told me that he knew it, too, and it shredded him.
He exploded into violence, grabbing the knife from my hand and lunging forward with a roar. For less than the space of a heartbeat, alarm flickered through me.
But he wasn’t coming for me.
He sidestepped me and slammed the blade deep into Alberto’s gut.
Our prisoner released a ragged shout, the shock of pain rousing him back to consciousness.
Luca ripped the knife free and drove it back into his enemy’s flesh, tearing into him as though he was a rabid beast with claws rather than a blade.
I grasped his shoulder to steady him, and he rounded on me, eyes wild.
He raised the knife, swinging it in a downward arc.
Another rush of adrenaline pulsed through me, making me high on the violence and bloodshed.
I grabbed his wrist, throwing all my strength into halting the momentum of his attack.
He froze on an animal snarl, his entire body coiled tight with the need to end me.
I smiled at him. “You’re making it too quick,” I informed him coolly. “Make sure he suffers. For her.”
He shouted in wordless rage and frustration, but he stepped back from me, spinning to face Alberto again. This time, his cuts were precise and brutal, eviscerating his enemy. Luca knew how to torture a man, no matter how noble he pretended to be around Nora.
And judging by the feverish light in his eyes as he became absorbed in his work, he was enjoying inflicting agony nearly as much as I did.
“He tried to rape her,” I reminded Luca. “What are you going to do about it?”
Alberto babbled when the knife scraped down his bloody abdomen, nearing his cock. He was beyond coherent pleading, his wounds already severe enough to ensure his eventual death. Luca and I wouldn’t spare him an ounce of pain. He’d hurt Nora. He’d violated her.
My laugh mingled with Alberto’s scream.
Luca was doing the vengeful work, but he was thoroughly under my control.
The power over the proud former heir, my most hated enemy, went straight to my head.
He was taking out all his aggression and frustration toward me on Alberto.
I redirected his murderous impulses, and each bloody gash he carved into our prisoner’s flesh was dictated by my will.
Even with a lethal weapon in his hand, he was powerless against me.
Luca was mine.
Bloodlust rode me hard, taking my mind to a purely primal state. Alberto was going quiet, nearing his end. I craved to get back to Nora, to show her that I’d eliminated her enemy. Then I would stake my claim over her.
“That’s enough,” I barked, and Luca froze, immediately compliant despite his frustrated growl. “Hand me the knife.”
His muscles bulged and flexed, but he managed to turn stiffly and offer me the blade.
I took it from him and, in one swift movement, buried it in Alberto’s gut. A bloody choking sound bubbled in his throat as I dragged the knife upward, shredding his insides until I twisted the blade in his heart.
He jerked once, and then his dead weight dropped into his shackled wrists.
I looked back at Luca. His chest rose and fell on rapid, heaving breaths, as though he’d run a mile. His white shirt was red and wet, and drops of blood had sprayed his face with crimson. I felt the warmth of Alberto’s blood on my own face, and I shot Luca a savage grin.
“Shall we go tell Nora what we’ve done for her?” I asked, my voice rumbling with my desire for her.
Luca nodded in agreement, his jaw tight. I’d been overtaken by my bloodlust, but he seemed to have gone completely feral, as mute as a beast.
He started to wipe his bloody hands on his pants, as though that would be enough to clean them before going to Nora.
“No,” I said sharply. “Let her see. She’ll want to know that he suffered for what he did to her.”
I started striding for the stairs, forgetting the dead man behind me. All that existed was my need to get to Nora and my delicious control over the hulking, powerful man who shadowed my steps without question.
They were both mine. It was time for my wife to admit it.