Chapter 23 #3
I throw my arms up to protect myself, but my elbow slams into the floor. Pain shoots through me and a cry tears from my throat.
Carlo doesn’t even blink. He just keeps going.
“Then Emily got up and asked you why you were treating her like that.”
He pauses, watching me struggle to move.
Then his voice turns deadly. “Get up.”
Tony must know what’s coming because his voice cuts through the tension again.
But this time, there’s something in it I don’t expect.
Defeat.
Complete surrender.
“Carlo, don’t do this.”
Carlo doesn’t even glance his way. Instead, he repeats the command, his voice razor-sharp.
“Get. Up.”
I wipe my tears with the back of my hand and press my shaking palms to the floor, forcing myself up. Then, without warning, his palm cracks across my face so hard I crash back down.
A high-pitched ringing explodes in my ears. I clutch my burning cheek, swallowing down the sob rising in my throat.
Carlo exhales in satisfaction. “Instead of answering her, you slapped her.”
Maxim grabs my injured elbow, digging his fingers in hard. This time I can’t hold back my scream.
He hauls me up like I weigh nothing and drags me to the bed. One brutal shove sends me sprawling onto the mattress. I bury my face in the sheets, sobbing quietly.
Carlo’s voice carries on, unfazed.
“And now, the grand finale. The night you two pieces of shit ran off, leaving Emily behind as bait, Giuseppe beat her half to death. Ruptured eardrum. Two broken ribs. Face so swollen she couldn’t leave her room for weeks.”
Oh my God.
I can’t believe Emily endured that. But the pain ripping through my body, the terror of what I know is coming next, drowns out any trace of sympathy.
Survival instinct kicks in hard.
Carlo falls silent, and just as I think it’s over, Maxim fists a handful of my hair, yanking my head back so hard I swear he’s peeling my scalp off.
I barely register Carlo stepping closer before Tony’s voice shatters through my screams.
“I raped her!”
Carlo’s hand stops mid-air before it can strike me. His face remains blank, expressionless. Slowly, he turns toward the screen.
“How interesting. What do you take me for? An idiot?”
Tony is still staring at me, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths.
“She was my damn fiancée, Carlo. Did you know that? You’re the one who stole her from me.
The woman who was promised to me before she was even born—you took her.
But I wasn’t going to just let that happen.
So on the night of your wedding, I made her mine.
I took her virginity by force, because I couldn’t stand the idea of her being another thing your father stole from me and handed to you on a silver platter. ”
Maxim’s grip burns my scalp.
“Tony… stop. Please,” I whimper.
We’re inches from death. Spitting out these secrets will only make Carlo kill him more brutally.
Maxim clamps his huge hand over my mouth and leans in, his voice smooth and taunting.
“Shhh. Didn’t your mommy teach you not to interrupt when grown-ups are talking, Blondie?”
Tony roars, “Maxim, I swear to God I’ll fucking kill you!”
Carlo steps in front of the screen, voice dangerously calm. “You’re already dead, Tony. Don’t make empty threats. Explain.”
Silence stretches for a moment before Tony speaks again.
“When my father was alive, he made a deal with Pietro for me to marry Lucia. She wasn’t even born yet, but Pietro gave his word. A promise he later broke. He went to Don Fernando and claimed his daughter had been promised to the next Capo instead. And he gave her to you.”
Tony’s voice sharpens, filled with disgust.
“You never appreciated her. Your last two wives were killed and you did nothing but protect your father’s reputation. I know that ever since Emily came into your life, you’ve had your best men guarding her day and night. Because when you care about a woman, you know damn well how to protect her.”
His voice drops lower, filled with venom. “Be honest, Carlo. Did Lucia ever matter to you even half as much? Because you didn’t even bother protecting her on your own wedding night.”
A dark pause.
“I found her alone. And I took her by force.” Tony’s voice is ice. “Were you there, Carlo? No. Because you didn’t give a fuck.”
Carlo turns to me. This time, his expression isn’t as unreadable as before. Without breaking eye contact, he gives Maxim a short nod. A second later, the pressure on my head and mouth disappears, and I collapse onto the sheets.
Carlo pulls his phone from his pocket, holding it to his ear. A single second passes before his cold voice fills the air. “Pietro. Did you promise Lucia to Tony before you gave her to me?”
I don’t know what my father says in response, but Carlo’s brows knit together. Without another word, he hangs up. His dark gaze shifts back to me.
“Is it true?”
I shake my head fiercely. I won’t throw fuel onto the fire that’s already set to burn Tony alive.
Tony sees my denial and jumps back in, his voice desperate.
“You know why she never told you? Because she was afraid. Because she knew you’d never believe her.
You were a man known for your brutality, Carlo.
I left Italy, but I never stopped craving the woman who was meant to be mine.
I thought if I spent time with her, I’d get her out of my system.
I was the one who set her grandmother’s apartment on fire.
I did it to create a hidden route for myself.
I trapped her. I forced her again and again.
I threatened to kill Fabiano if she ever spoke a word or stopped going back to that apartment. ”
Tony’s voice is shaking now. “I forced her, Carlo. Do you get that, you bastard?”
Carlo folds his arms over his chest, still terrifyingly calm, still unshaken. His voice doesn’t even rise when he speaks.
“The night you two ran off, I saw Lucia. She didn’t look like someone being forced into anything.”
Tony scoffs. “I tried to take her away long before that night. But she refused. She swore she’d never betray you like that. So I left something inside her. I knew that maternal instinct would shatter whatever twisted loyalty she felt toward a husband who never even touched her.”
A stabbing pain shoots through my skull as I squeeze my temples, forcing out a firm, unwavering voice. “It’s all lies, Carlo. No one forced me to do anything.”
Tony snarls, his voice torn between rage and heartbreak. “Lucia!”
Carlo watches me, his stare heavy as iron. Then, without a word, he turns back to Tony.
“Be here at exactly ten tomorrow morning. You can bring one person with you to take your daughter.” His voice lowers, a razor’s edge beneath his calm. “And keep in mind, if that one person is that fucking Rafael, I’ll slit his throat the second I see him.”
With a flick of his hand, one of his men slams the laptop shut. Before leaving, Carlo stops beside me, towering over my body like a shadow of death.
“There are three painkillers on the nightstand. The same number Emily was given. Make tonight count with your daughter. It’ll be the last memory she has of you.”