Chapter Eighteen
Gabriel
The sight of the man I hate the most in this world, standing in my home, smirking at me makes my blood fucking boil.
“Nice place you have here. It was your parents, I believe?” Giovanni makes a show of looking around.
“I remember shooting your father in the head just over there.” He points towards the stairs.
“How funny is it that you bought this place as an adult. I should have guessed. But you were good at hiding where you lived. But thanks to Ginevra, I finally found you.”
I pull out my gun but Giovanni moves faster. He already has his gun in his hand, aimed at… Aurora.
“I wouldn’t shoot if I were you,” he threatens.
“Ginevra told me all about your precious wife. I thought Ginevra was your weakness. I knew you two had an affair years ago. But she informed me that your little wife is your weakness. I didn’t even know you had gotten married.
My invitation must have been misplaced.”
“Get the fuck out of my house,” I growl.
I cannot let Giovanni shoot Aurora in the head like he did my father.
Or worse… cut her like he did my mother.
For all the unprotected sex Aurora and I have done, there’s a chance she could even be pregnant.
The memory of my mother lying on the floor, her baby cut out of her, still haunts me to this day.
“Oh. I plan to. After I hurt you in unimaginable ways.” He pulls the trigger.
I act as fast as I can, pushing Aurora out of the way. The bullet lands in my chest, knocking me to the ground. I fire at Giovanni and manage to hit him in the arm before I crumple. The pain is unimaginable.
“Gabriel,” Aurora screams, kneeling down beside me. I look into her eyes, silently begging for her to run.
But she doesn’t.
Instead, Giovanni grabs her arm and yanks her away from me.
“Don’t touch her,” I spit out but my voice sounds weak. Like I’m dying.
Giovanni drags Aurora from the house while Ginevra stands over me, smirking.
“You should have chosen me, Gabriel. I wouldn’t have told Giovanni anything about you otherwise.
Just remember that. Maybe when your wife is dead, you’ll take me back.
” Her high heels clatter on the ground as she walks away.
Darkness splays at the edge of my vision. The last thing I see is Leo and Rocco running towards me, shouting about the gunshots, and asking me what happened. But I can’t give them a reply as I shut my eyes and let the darkness I so desperately craved for years take over me.
Aurora
Giovanni shoves me outside into the arms of two other men. His guards, I realize. They drag me to a car and throw me into the back seat before tying my hands behind me and stuffing a rag into my mouth so I can’t speak.
“Are you going to hurt her?” Ginevra asks.
Giovanni smirks. “Of course. I am going to hurt her the way I did Gabriel’s family. It’s what he gets for trying to kill me. Now, run along. I don’t need you anymore.”
“But I want to see it. I want to see her get hurt.”
After a moment, Giovanni shrugs. “Fine by me. Get in.” Ginevra doesn’t hesitate to slide into the backseat by me. Giovanni gets into the passenger seat while one of his guards drives the car. The other one is in a car behind us.
Ginevra slaps me across the face. “This is what you get for being a bitch. For rubbing your relationship with Gabriel in my face.”
I want to shout at her that Gabriel is not hers but I can’t speak around the rag in my mouth.
Ginevra continues to slap me, causing more and more pain each time. She only laughs as she does it. Tears stream down my face. Is Gabriel all right? Is he alive?
Or is he… dead?
If Gabriel were to die, then I’d be completely free of the man who made me his prisoner.
But Gabriel and I were past that. I was no longer his prisoner. I was his wife.
I am his wife. Gabriel’s not dead. Not yet. I refuse to believe it.
I have to stay strong for him. For my father. I have to keep on fighting.
Giovanni’s guard finally pulls up in front of a large mansion. Just as beautiful as Gabriel’s but a lot less gothic. Despite that, this place is much more horrifying because I know I am going to be tortured here.
The guard drags me from the car and into the house. Giovanni and Ginevra follow behind. The eagerness in both of their eyes turns my stomach to ice. What kind of people are these? How evil can you be to delight in someone else’s pain?
When I taunted Ginevra tonight, it was to prove a point: Gabriel is mine. But I never wanted Ginevra to be tortured and yet, that’s exactly what she is going to do to me.
I’m brought to a basement. It reminds me a lot of Gabriel’s own dungeon. How ironic. Maybe this is the price I have to pay for falling in love with my captor. Maybe I deserve to be punished.
The guard unties my hands before he throws me onto a hard, slab table. It knocks all the wind out of me and before I can react, he wraps straps around me, binding me to the table.
Ginevra looks down at me. “You wanted to have fun tonight? You wanted to rub it in my face that Gabriel is yours? Then so be it.” She grabs the clasp at the front of my dress and rips it, tearing my dress and making it fall open, exposing my naked body underneath.
“You deserved to be tortured. Raped even. This is what bad girls get.” She nods at Giovanni. “Do your worst to her.”
He walks over to a table where a large array of knives are.
The smirk on his face as he picks one up makes me shiver.
“I plan to. Gabriel is either dead or if he’s alive, then he’ll feel the pain of his wife being tortured by my own hand.
I’ll kill you, little girl. Anyone who associates with Gabriel deserves to die. ”
I still can’t speak with the gag around my mouth but I don’t think begging would change anything.
Giovanni lifts a knife up. “Shall we begin?”
Gabriel
I wake up in a hospital bed. It takes my mind a moment to remember what happened before it hits me like a truck. Giovanni kidnapped Aurora. My worst fear came true.
And it’s all my fault. I hosted that party. Ginevra was bitter and jealous and I claimed Aurora right in front of her. I didn’t fucking care because Ginevra doesn’t mean anything to me now.
But I should have known my actions have consequences. They always have consequences.
“Hey, boss.” It’s Leo. “You’re awake. Me and Rocco rushed you to the hospital. You just barely survived. You were lucky. The bullet didn’t hit your heart but it was close. You were in surgery now. For hours.”
“Surgery?” I croak out. “How long have I been here?”
“Just a day. Don’t worry. Me and Rocco have been out looking for Aurora. All of your men have been.”
“It’s taken us years to find Giovanni. It might take another ten years to find him again and then Aurora will be dead.”
“We’re out looking.” That’s all he can offer me.
“I have to leave. I have to find her.” The thought of losing Aurora breaks my fucking heart.
I cannot lose her like I did my family. I opened myself up to her after closing myself away for so long.
I will not let Aurora be my weakness. I have to use her as my strength.
For the first time in my life, I was happy and then Giovanni took her away from me.
“You have to rest. You just had surgery on your chest. You’re going to be down for the count for a while.”
“I can handle it.” I grit my teeth as I force myself to my feet. It’s like a heavy weight sits right on my chest but I can bear it. If it means getting Aurora back.
“Boss, be careful. I don’t need you dying.”
“I have to get her back. Take me back to my home. Now. We’ll start looking for her.”
“We’ve already been doing that. Trust me.” He grabs my shoulders, making me look him in the eye. “We’ll find them. We’ll get Aurora back and we’ll kill Giovanni once and for all.”
Rocco rushes into the room, breathless. His eyes widen when he sees that I’m awake and standing. “Good. You’re doing all right. Ginevra was spotted out shopping with her friends. We know where she is. We can interrogate her. See if she knows where Giovanni is.”
“Take her,” I growl. “Take Ginevra and bring her to my dungeon.”
Leo and Rocco make me proud when they bring Ginevra, struggling and fighting, into my home. I stand in the foyer, fighting the urge to pass out, when they shove Ginevra in front of me.
“You know where Giovanni is. Tell me.”
“How would I know where he is? He made me leave after I gave Aurora to him.”
I grab her neck, choking her. She scrambles at my hands but even in my weakened state, I’m still stronger than she is.
“You know. You don’t like Aurora. It was obvious to everyone.
I’ve always seen the darkness in you, Ginevra.
I know you like to laugh at people’s pain.
You wanted to watch Aurora get tortured.
So just tell me where Giovanni is and I won’t torture you. ”
“What will you do to me?”
“I’ll kill you instead. I’ll make it fast. Don’t worry. No pain. It’s more than you deserve. I’ll kill you like I did your husband who thought he could touch what was mine.”
Her eyes narrow. “I know you killed him. I just knew it.”
“You hated your husband. Were you honestly upset?”
“No,” she spits out. “But I thought you and me would be together. Instead you married some random girl and flaunted her in my face.”
“Not everything is about you, Ginevra. You’re not a good person.
Neither am I. But I love my wife and I will get her back.
” It’s the first time I’ve admitted my feelings for Aurora out loud but I know saying it, there’s no going back.
I don’t want there to be. I love Aurora and I will fight to save her life just like she fought to save her father.
“You love her?” All the fight leaves Ginevra’s eyes. “Truly?”
“Yes. I never loved you. You have a choice, Ginevra. Tell me where Giovanni is now and I’ll make your death painless. Or I’ll torture you until you tell me.”
“Aurora might be dead by then.”
“You won’t be able to hold out long. I just know it. This is your chance. You’re out of options and you know it.”
“Kill me,” she spits out.
I tighten my hold on her throat. “Tell me where Giovanni took Aurora. Tell me.”
“Ok,” she rasps out, grabbing my hands. “Ok.”
I loosen my grip. “Tell me.”
“He took her to a mansion. A basement. He cut her.”
My chest squeezes in pain. “He cut her?”
“Across the stomach. But when I left, she was still alive. I was… I was going to go back tonight. I just had to do some shopping first.”
“You went out clothes shopping knowing someone was getting tortured?”
“You don’t get to judge me, Gabriel. You’re not a good man.”
“And you’re not a good woman. Aurora is better than all of us and she doesn’t deserve any of this. Give me the address.”
Ginevra hesitates only a moment before she rattles it off.
“Good. Now, I’ll keep to my promise.” I snap her neck before she even knows what’s happening. Her body slumps to the ground. Dead.
I step over her body. “Let’s get Aurora back.”
Aurora
Pain covers my body. Giovanni has cut me over and over again. Just small, light cuts. Enough to scar but not enough to cause serious damage. I’ve bled but not enough to die. It’s torture plain and simple.
He’s cut over my stomach and arms. My legs. Purposely avoiding any major arteries.
With the rag in my mouth, I still can’t scream. It’s been at least a day. It has to be. Giovanni left me alone for a while. I assumed it was because he had to go to bed.
But now he’s back with another knife in his hand and a determined expression on his face.
“Do you know what I did to your husband’s family?
” he asks in my ear, making me shiver. “I shot his father in the head. He was a nuisance to me. He was in my way. I wanted to be on top and Gabriel’s father was already there.
I killed his pregnant mom just for fun. And now I’ll kill his wife for revenge for Gabriel trying to kill me.
He duped me. I don’t know if you know that?
I didn’t know who he was when he came into my life years later.
The fucker played me for a fool and that cannot stand. You will die because of him.”
Giovanni raises his knife high. I close my eyes. This is it. I’ll never get to see my dad again. I’ll never get to see Gabriel again. I’ll never get the chance to fight for the ones I love.
I accepted my fate with Gabriel and I will accept my fate now. There’s no other choice. No more deals to be made.
But as soon as I accept my fate, I hear a loud boom from upstairs. Giovanni frowns and lowers his knife by his side. I breathe out in relief.
“What the fuck is that?” he snarls at his guard in the room with us. The sound of gunshots is loud in the air. Piercing. It hurts my ears.
Loud footsteps descend on the stairs and before I know it, a large group of men enter the room. Gabriel is at the front. Behind him is Leo and Rocco and other men I’ve never seen before.
Leo shoots Giovanni’s guard in the head without even blinking.
Gabriel stalks right over to Giovanni and punches him in the face. Giovanni falls to his knees.
“I hesitated to kill you last time,” Gabriel rasps out, pointing his gun at Giovanni’s head. “I won’t hesitate this time.”
“Aren’t you going to give me any last words?” Giovanni taunts.
“Not after you kidnapped my wife. Not after you killed my entire family. I was reckless a few weeks ago. You got under my skin. I attacked before I was ready. But I’m ready now.
I have my team of men behind me. We killed all of your guards.
I killed Ginevra. I killed anyone working for you. And now it’s time for you to die.”
“Please, Gabriel. Don’t do this. I helped raise you. I helped you become the man you are today. Don’t do this.”
“You took everything from me. I won’t let you take my wife.
The one good thing I have in this world.
She taught me to fight for the people you love and I’m doing exactly that.
I could be a better man and let you go. Let my revenge go.
But you would just keep coming back like a fucking cockroach.
So you have to die, Giovanni. It’s the only way I can find peace. ”
An ugly sneer crosses his face. “You’re pathetic.”
“And you’re going to die.” Gabriel calmly shoots Giovanni in the head. I gasp.
Gabriel turns to me and all the anger in his eyes evaporates and is replaced only by softness. “Aurora?” He unties me from the table and takes the rag out of my mouth. I don’t hesitate to throw my arms around him and hold on tight.
After a beat, Gabriel holds me back, just as tightly. It dawns on me that he’s showing vulnerability in front of all of his men but he’s doing it… for me.
Gabriel tightens his arms around me, silently telling me that he’ll never let me go. And for once, I’m glad for that.