Chapter 24 #2
Fabiano still stands behind the gate, his chest rising and falling with the weight of everything. Antonia wails my name, her voice raw with desperation.
I can’t bear it. I scream through my tears, “Fabi, go! Please, just go!”
I bury my face in Tony’s chest so I don’t have to watch them leave. He holds me tighter, voice cracking. “Let Lucia go, Carlo. I’m fucking begging you.”
Carlo’s silence is answer enough. Tony exhales shakily, burying his face in the crook of my neck. “I’m so sorry, princess. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Antonia’s cries fade into the distance, but they never truly disappear. Time stretches painfully. When I finally look, my stomach drops. Fabiano’s car is still there, surrounded by Carlo’s men. They’re not letting it leave.
Panic chills me to the bone. I whirl on Carlo, rage twisting my voice. “You promised you wouldn’t touch my daughter.”
He stands tall, his legs spread shoulder-width apart, hands clasped behind his back. The smug satisfaction in his gaze ignites my rage even further.
Tony growls back, his fury barely restrained. “Carlo, if you lay a finger on my daughter, I swear, even from the grave, I’ll make sure you pay for it. I have men just as dangerous as yours, men who’ll stay loyal even after I’m dead.”
Carlo chuckles, utterly amused. “I highly doubt that. A dead boss is as useful to a soldier as a pretty whore who shows up after he’s already finished. Nice to look at, but pointless.”
He shifts slightly, his tone turning even more venomous.
“The kind of loyalty you’re hoping for only exists in a real family.
And let’s be honest, Tony—if you actually had one, I might be worried.
But the closest thing you have to a family is that sadist Rafael, who, let’s face it, isn’t a threat to me.
Odds are, they’ll find his guts spilling out of a dumpster in a few days.
And Fabiano? He’s not cut out for this. He’s no danger to me. ”
Carlo’s smirk deepens, his expression thick with condescension.
“You know who can make such a threat? Me. Unlike you, I have a brother bound to me by blood and another bound by choice. You have no one. So don’t embarrass yourself further with these empty threats, it only makes you look even more pathetic than you already are. ”
Carlo is referring to his so-called brothers—Brando, the merciless one, and Maxim, the psychopath.
This time, it’s me who begs. “Carlo, please, let my daughter go. I’m begging you.”
He lifts his chin, inhaling deeply before giving a slight nod. The moment he does, his men rip Tony and me apart. Tony glares at them with hatred, and I fight against my own fear, refusing to break down into tears again.
Carlo steps closer, hands sliding into his pockets, voice deceptively casual. “I’m going to give you a choice. Not because I owe you shit, but let’s call it a gift. My way of saying thank you.”
I stare at him in confusion, and he clarifies.
“One way or another, I owe you both for bringing Emily into my life.”
My shocked gaze flicks to Tony, who remains restrained by two of Carlo’s men.
“Cut the bullshit, Carlo,” Tony snaps. “If you were a decent man, you’d leave Lucia the fuck out of this and deal with me. She’s as innocent as Emily was.”
Carlo’s face goes black. He closes the distance in two strides and drives his fist into Tony’s face. The blow folds him in half between the two men holding him.
I scream his name in terror, trying to lunge toward him, but the two giants restraining me tighten their hold.
Carlo towers over Tony, his voice a low, menacing growl. “Say my wife’s name one more time, and I’ll rip your guts out while you’re still alive.”
Without waiting for Tony’s response, Carlo turns back to me, his gaze locking onto mine with terrifying intensity.
“I’m giving you a choice,” he says. “Walk away right now and raise your daughter.”
A spark of hope ignites inside me, melting the ice-cold despair that had settled in my chest. I grab onto it. “Carlo, this is insane. Let us go. You’ve already won. We’re here. You’ve got us.”
His lips curl into a cruel smirk. “Don’t interrupt me. Your first option is to walk away. But leaving comes with consequences.”
“What consequences?”
His voice is as sinister as his expression.
“Tony will die the slowest, most agonizing death any man in history has ever endured. I will make him suffer so much that even the bravest men would piss themselves at the thought of it. I will break him until he’d rather send his own daughter to the grave than continue living.
And finally, when I decide he has drowned in enough misery, I’ll cut off his balls and shove them down his throat so he chokes on the thing that started all this. ”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Only now do I truly understand why Carlo’s name was whispered in fear, why his mere mention made powerful, cruel men tremble.
I’d never seen this side of him before. To me, he’d always been a rumor, a cautionary tale told in hushed voices, like a monster lurking in the shadows.
But standing before me now, this towering beast of a man, the one who left me battered, who stole my child’s future, who relished detailing unspeakable horrors, this is the true Carlo Bruni, the darkness that had always been lurking beneath the surface.
I shake my head in disbelief. “I can’t believe I ever respected you, Carlo. You’re insane.”
He doesn’t react to my insult. “Your second option is to stay. In that case, both of you will have a swift death.”
“Take the deal, Lucia!” Tony says loudly.
I turn to him, taking in his bloodied face, the unwavering determination in his eyes. He doesn’t hesitate.
“Leave. Go to Antonia. Now.”
Carlo’s soldiers release me. My gaze darts toward the car in the distance. Antonia’s cries have stopped. For a brief moment, silence swallows the chaos.
Tony’s voice cracks. “Lucia, go. Get out of here, baby.” This time it’s not an order. It’s a plea.
A bitter laugh escapes me. That bastard Carlo planned this perfectly.
How am I supposed to live knowing I left Tony to his brutal fate?
The man I’ve loved my whole life. The man who made me a woman in his arms. The man I worship with every part of my being.
The man whose absence would make my existence meaningless.
Yes, I should be with my daughter. But what good is a mother with a hollow, lifeless soul?
There’s no need to weigh the options. I already know.
One last glance at the car.
A whisper. “Forgive me, my love. Goodbye.”
Then I turn and walk straight to Tony.
The moment he realizes what I’ve chosen, he thrashes violently against his captors, his screams desperate. “Lucia, don’t do this. Go! Get out of here. Fucking run!”
Carlo’s voice slices through the noise, calm and final. “Send the car away. Close the gates.”
His men obey.
Thick arms drag Tony toward the cabin. Other hands seize me, grip unbreakable. A few steps later, I realize they’re taking me back to the house.
I twist toward Carlo, who’s already heading toward the cabin with his pack of wolves.
“You promised, Carlo!” I scream after him. “You said we’d die together!”
He doesn’t even turn around. Just lifts one lazy hand. “Don’t worry. You’ll die together.”
Then, with chilling calmness, he adds, “But you won’t take the same beating. You’ve had yours. Now, it’s his turn.”