Chapter 14 #2
Stalking forward, Titus reached down to grab Enzo by the neck.
He lifted Alessia’s brother off the ground so that they were eye to eye.
“Remember me? We met that night when you sent the first man to my bar. Of course, Marcus may have made a greater impression on you as he was busy cutting your pawn to pieces. I was there, keeping you in your seat so you wouldn’t miss the show.
” Enzo could barely eke out an affirmative noise as Titus’s grip crushed his windpipe.
“I thought you were insignificant until I met Alessia. Once I heard what you had done to her, all the scorn, belittlement, and abuse, I wanted very much to meet you one more time. And here you are! She wanted me to spare you, you know. She said you were not worth the effort. But now you come at me with your thugs to what? Kill me? I can’t let that stand!
” Titus squeezed Enzo’s throat tighter. Never in all the hundreds of years Titus had existed had he hated another so much.
He struggled to keep himself from ending Enzo too quickly. His mate’s brother deserved to suffer.
Frankie picked himself up slowly from the stairs, shaking his head to clear it. He looked back where the man held Enzo by the throat with his feet dangling off the ground. The strength of this guy! How was he going to get them out of this one?
“Stop, Titus!” Alessia burst out of the door, running down the stairs toward the two other men.
Seizing his chance, Frankie reached out and spun her around to face him, “You stupid bitch! This is all your fault!” He called over his shoulder to the man holding his boss, “Let him go, or she gets hurt!”
“Fuck you, Frankie,” Alessia yelled as she brought up her knee, jamming it into Frankie’s groin.
Waves of pain launched through him as Frankie doubled over, coughing. She’d lashed out at him? Alessia was dead now. As he forced himself to stand upright, the man she’d called Titus dropped Enzo like a rock.
Frankie shook his head as Titus focused on him. He held his hands up to ward him off. “She’s yours. I’ll leave and never touch her again.” Deep inside, a chill filled his mind and body. This man wouldn’t let him walk away.
Titus plucked Frankie off the ground and hurled him at one of the statues guarding the stairs. As Frankie flew backward, he flailed desperately. His spine hit something with an overwhelming pressure.
As his mind struggled to decode what had happened, Frankie glanced down.
He was raised up above the ground with one of his feet kicked out in front of him.
As his leg dropped, his line of sight followed.
A strange spike protruded through his chest, smeared with blood and small white fragments.
Unable to process what had happened, he looked around wildly and spotted the other concrete figure.
He was hanging from the statue’s spear.
Agony flooded through him—the worst pain he’d ever experienced. Blood started pouring from his mouth as he struggled to breathe. Darkness swarmed his vision from all sides, but Frankie clung to consciousness, refusing to give in.
This was not in his plans. He would not lose.
Titus winced as a mental command sliced through his thoughts.
Leave Enzo. He cannot die today. Titus wanted to argue with Alaric’s demand, but the Elder’s power compelled him to follow the order.
Darius and Bram have emptied all his accounts and left him with nothing. That will be enough for now. You do not want your chosen mate to see you kill her brother. That will not be a good beginning for you both.
Alaric was right, of course, as he always was. Redirecting his anger, Titus walked toward Frankie. He focused on the man who had threatened his mate as he put distance between himself and Enzo. He hesitated as Alaric spoke again, and his steadying voice echoed through Titus’s mind.
Do whatever you wish with that one.
Titus stood in front of Frankie, savoring the pain in the man’s eyes.
When the man’s suffering had satisfied a bit of his need for revenge, Titus reached up to grab Frankie’s skull.
He grinned at the dying man before ripping Frankie’s head off the man’s shoulders to end his life. This will have to do.
A faint smile of satisfaction curved his lips as Titus turned to see Enzo crawling from the gruesome scene. Conri hoisted the Costa heir off the ground by his crumpled and stained blazer. Enzo’s power suit was rendered into pathetic tatters.
Holding him easily in the air, Conri plucked a leaf from his tangled hair and asked, “What shall I do with him?”
Titus studied the mess around him. “Drop him by the front gate. I think he’s had enough for now.” He turned and made his way back to Alessia, stripping off his T-shirt to use the clean patches to wipe the blood off. He gathered her in his arms and held her close.
“You were to stay inside, Little mate. You didn’t need to see any of this.”
Alessia looked up to him with tears in her eyes. “I know, but I had to do something! Then Frankie grabbed me, and everything went wrong. I’m sorry, Daddy.”
Titus brushed aside her tears. “We will talk about this when you have recovered. I need to make sure you’re okay. Come with me, Alessia.” Turning her from the bloody scene below, he led her into the house. The others would take out the trash.