Chapter 11
Dante
My freshly stitched shoulder wound ached, but that pain was nothing compared to the agony of knowing that Nora loved Luca, not me.
I’d agreed to a talk with my enemy because I couldn’t deny her anything, but I already knew it’d be useless.
Nora was goodhearted and a little na?ve; she thought words would be enough to mend the bloody rift between Luca and me.
She was wrong.
I’d planned my revenge for fifteen years. A single conversation wouldn’t sway me. Nothing could ever make me stop hating Luca Vitale. He’d taken my brother from me, the only person in the world who had loved me.
I’d done terrible things to Luca, but he hadn’t even begun to suffer the full extent of his punishment. I’d never use Nora against him again, but there were so many other ways to crush his will and shatter his soul.
I paced across my bedroom, not deigning to look at the bastard where he lounged on the bed that I shared with my wife. And him.
I ground my teeth at the thought of him holding her. The hands that’d ended my brother’s life now caressed the woman who was meant to be mine forever, and she melted at his touch.
Any minute now, she would return from getting Giana settled in, and she would go to him, not me. She would cuddle up to him but shoot me those secret, wide-eyed glances: the ones that gave me foolish hope that I hadn’t completely broken our marriage.
She appeared in the open doorway, floating toward me with her remarkable grace, the dancer’s poise that’d first captured my attention years ago.
I expected her to fling herself into Luca’s arms, but she came to a stop between us, as though she could use her slight body as a shield.
Luca sat up straighter on the edge of the bed, and I stopped pacing.
Our keen attention fixed on her, and for a moment, she squirmed at the scrutiny.
Then my brave wife took a breath and lifted her chin in the defiant way that made my blood race for her.
Pride and possessiveness heated my chest. This stunning, strong woman was my partner, and I would never surrender her to my enemy. No matter what she might say next.
She fixed me with a steady hazel stare, face utterly composed and firm with determination. “We’re going to talk about what happened to your brother.”
My fists instantly clenched at my sides.
“I already know what happened,” I snapped, turning my glower on Luca. “This motherfucker murdered him.”
Luca’s jaw firmed, and his eyes darkened with guilt.
“Don’t listen to his excuses,” I warned Nora. “He knows what he did.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Luca shot back, voice tight. “Francesco is dead because of me. I’ve had to live with that for years, but—”
“Finally, the truth,” I seethed, turning my attention to my wife. “There’s nothing to discuss. He’s guilty, and he’s admitted it right in front of you. Don’t ever beg for mercy on his behalf again, little bird.”
“Don’t you dare threaten her!” Luca barked, surging to his feet.
Nora instantly stepped in front of him, blocking his path to me. I rolled my shoulders, bracing for the attack. I ignored the flare of pain as my stitches strained. That discomfort didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but avenging my brother.
And protecting Nora.
As long as she kept her slight body between us, neither of us could throw the first punch. Not without risking my stubborn, headstrong wife.
“I’m not the one who killed him,” Luca seethed. “And you’ve tormented Nora when she’s entirely innocent.”
“Of course you killed him!” I bellowed, my entire body coiling tight with the need to throttle him.
“Francesco cursed your name with his final breath. It was his last word as he bled out in my arms. You came to the raid on our estate when my father betrayed yours and attempted to take control for himself. I tried to keep Francesco out of it; he was only fifteen, and the two of us had nothing to do with our father’s coup.
There was no need for us to die defending the bastard who’d beaten my mother so badly that she abandoned us.
But then you arrived to help do your father’s dirty work, and you left my brother to die after you shot him. ”
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.
” A vein pulsed in Luca’s brow, and Nora pressed her hands against his chest, directly over his heart.
He halted as though she’d chained him in place.
“Francesco came out of hiding to fight with me. To protect me. He took the bullet that was meant for me. He died to save my life. I’ll always bear the weight of his death on my conscience, but I’m not the one who pulled the trigger. ”
My spine stiffened, my entire body locking up tight as my mind viscerally rejected his distorted version of events. “You’re lying. Why would my brother risk his life to protect you? You were always just Tommaso Vitale’s spoiled heir. He didn’t owe you any personal loyalty.”
Luca’s cheeks flushed with something like shame.
“Because he was in love with me. He’d told me only a few days before, and I rejected him.
I…said some things I’m not proud of. He was my friend, but I never thought about him in that way.
And if our fathers had ever found out that he said something like that, they—”
“Stop lying!” I roared, my entire body practically vibrating with the force of my rage.
“I’m not lying! You think I don’t regret the shitty things I said to him? Do you think I wanted him to die for me? Or do you not want to believe that your own brother might have loved another man?”
“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.
If what Luca said was true, I didn’t deserve her.
No. He was lying. He had to be.
Because after all the terrible things I’d done, the alternative was unbearable.
I couldn’t torture Luca—Nora wouldn’t let me—but there was another way to extract the truth.
Reality blurred around the edges as I tore through the house, smashing priceless art as I ran toward the garage.
The ATV roared to life beneath me, and I raced out into the woods.
The headlights cut through the darkness, illuminating my path to the small outbuilding where I’d been keeping my hostages.
The two guards at the door straightened when I skidded to a halt, both of them drawing their weapons as they anticipated an encroaching threat.
“Give me your gun,” I snarled at the one closest to me.
He handed it over immediately, obeying without question.
The familiar weight of a weapon in my hand did little to calm my roiling mind.
My careful control was completely shredded, my churning emotions making me more volatile than ever.
Violence was in my nature, but I never unleashed it without cause, no matter how brutal my retribution could be.
Clinging to sanity by a thread, I burst into the cramped prison where I’d been keeping my enemies.
Gabriele and Lorenzo stared at me with twin grimaces of defiance, their burly bodies swelling in response to my violent entry. Bars separated them from me, confining them, but I could easily kill them where they stood.
I trained the gun on Gabriele’s heart, and Lorenzo stepped in front of his brother, ready to stop the bullet that he thought I was about to fire.
“You want to save your brother?” I seethed, voice so rough that it was barely intelligible. “Tell me what happened to Francesco.”
Gabriele shoved Lorenzo to the side, cursing him for putting his life at risk.
“Francesco died in the raid against your father,” he retorted, lifting his chin in defiance of death. “Everyone knows that.”
“Who killed him?” I demanded.
Lorenzo’s eyes narrowed at me. “How the fuck should we know? We weren’t there.”
I shook my head slightly, struggling for clarity. No, the brothers hadn’t been there. They’d been a couple years too young to go on a raid. Luca’s father had made an exception for him, expecting him to fight for his birthright despite his youth.
But they were Luca’s best friends. They would know he was guilty.
“Luca murdered him!” I thundered, fifteen years of rage ripping through my body. “Tell me.”
“Is that what this is all about?” Gabriele shouted right back at me.
“Revenge? I thought you were just a power-hungry bastard. My brother almost died trying to save Nora from you, and you’ve been holding her and our best friend captive for weeks.
Fuck knows what you’ve done to them. I will find a way to kill you for this, you sadistic asshole. ”
“Tell me!” I roared again, something like desperation clawing at my insides.
Lorenzo glowered at me. “You must already know the truth, psycho. You can kill us if you want, but that won’t change the fact that Luca is innocent. Francesco’s death has haunted him for years. Even if he wasn’t in love with your brother, he cared about him. His sacrifice shredded Luca.”
“I’ll shoot your brother right now,” I warned, but my hand shook.
“Go ahead,” Gabriele challenged, chin tipped back in defiance.
“Because if I find a way out of here, I will make you scream for what you’ve done to my friend.
Francesco died for Luca, and you’ve dedicated yourself to destroying him.
You’ve betrayed your brother’s dying wish.
I hope knowing that makes you fucking suffer. ”
My feral roar clashed with the deafening bang of the gun as I fired into the ceiling. The brothers jolted with identical curses, but their defiant faces blurred before me.
The truth settled over me like a lead weight on my soul, crushing me.
I turned on my heel and stormed out into the night.
The ATV tore through the woods, dangerously fast. Time fell away, and suddenly, I was back at the house, stumbling down the corridor to my study.
I lurched into the room and found my whisky.
Grabbing the bottle, I knocked it back, as though the burn of the liquor would somehow grant me absolution. Or at the very least, oblivion.
The thought of Nora and Luca entwined together in my bed made my stomach heave, but I crushed down the primal urge to stomp 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 it was 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.