“You stupid bitch,” Silvio swore at her, and straddled her so that her arms were pinned at her sides.
I couldn’t look away, even as I pulled against the pipe. My shoulder popped, but it didn’t help me get off the pipe. Pain vibrated down my arm.
I hadn’t been able to get out in all the days I’d been here, but I’d never been so motivated.
Silvio banged Sofia’s head against the floor and caught her by the throat. His hand tightened on her neck, and she let out a soft cry.
Fuck, no.Every single cell in my body rebelled against the sight of her being hurt.
With a roar that came from the depths of my soul, I bore my entire weight forward and ripped half the pipe off the wall.
It crashed to the floor as I launched myself at Silvio. My hands were still tied behind me, and my right shoulder ached in a way that hinted at dislocation. Without my hands, I had no choice but to hit him with my body.
I flew at him, getting a good head-butt in when I reached him. He slumped to the side, and his foot hit the gun, sending it sliding across the floor toward the door. He rolled away, and Sofia coughed, dragging air back into her lungs. I advanced on Silvio, getting my feet under me with difficulty, given the numbness of my arms, which was quickly spreading across my chest. Breathing hard, I stood over him and kicked him quickly with cold precision.Kidney, liver, spleen. The man would piss blood for weeks and think of me.
As I pulled my foot back to deliver another kick, this one to the back of his head, the sound of a gun cocking stilled me. I turned slowly, praying I was about to see Sofia holding the gun.
Of course, that would have taken the kind of luck I’d never had.
Men crowded in the doorway, and Silvio’s father, Franco, stood on the threshold, an incredulous and furious expression on his aging face.
“What the fuck is going on here?” he thundered.
His gun was trained on me, and he wasn’t nearly as drunk as his son. It was obviously the first time he’d realized that his son had been fucking around with the prisoner in the bowels of Casa Nera, and his niece, too, for that matter.
Sofia stood, her bare skin smudged with dirt and blood. Her white dress was ripped, sagging open at the shoulder, and blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. Franco took her in with horror.
“Zio, Silvio brought me down here. He-he threatened me,” she said in a hoarse whisper.
Franco frowned and turned an incredulous look at his son, who was out cold. He jerked his head over his shoulder. “Bring him upstairs,” he instructed his men. “We don’t have time for this. Sofia, tell me what happened.”
No, don’t. That man isn’t on your side,I wanted to shout at her, but there was nothing stopping Franco from shooting me, an escaped prisoner, dead like a dog right here, and then Sofia would be alone.
She swallowed. “He-he strangled me and threatened to…” She broke off, not finding the words to explain to her uncle that his son had threatened to rape and kill her. It was too horrifying.
Franco studied her for a long moment and then nodded. “Your father has taken a turn, Sofia. I have to go to the hospital.”
“He has?” Fear coated Sofia’s words. It sat unspoken between them that Antonio would be furious to hear about this.
Franco nodded, his expression ice-cold. “He shouldn’t be upset right now, and you’re clearly distraught. I don’t know what happened here, but I’ll hear Silvio’s side when he wakes up, then we’ll decide what to do.”
“Silvio’s side? You can see what happened,” Sofia ground out.
I wanted to clamp my hand over her mouth. There was nothing I could do but stand there like a statue before Franco’s gun, knowing both of our fates were being decided at this exact moment. Which way Franco would go would decide if we died today or lived to fight another.
“No, I can see that something happened, and I’ve heard your side, but it’s only that. Your side. I’ll hear my son out. Until then, I think it’s best that you recover somewhere secure. You’re clearly hysterical.”
He turned to his men again. “Bring her.”
Sofia exclaimed softly as she was pulled from the room, casting a last look at me. Men entered and picked up Silvio’s inert body. More men approached me slowly like I was a wild animal capable of ripping out throats. They were right. At this moment, I was more animal than man. I couldn’t stop a snarl from leaving me as they approached.
“Be careful, Chernov. I won’t hesitate,” Franco said calmly. I believed him. His brother was on death’s doorstep, and he’d made no promise to spare me. Even if it opened a rift with the Chernov bratva, it was unlikely he’d care. It would be a chance for him to show off a little power before Renato returned from Italy. Maybe he even hoped to dispute the younger man’s claim to being boss.
I swallowed my anger. I had to focus right now. I couldn’t get Sofia out of here if I was dead. I’d already dislocated a shoulder, and my hands were so cut up from the zip ties that blood was dripping freely onto the floor. They dragged me backward, swearing about the pipe where it had come loose from the wall and would no longer be effective to keep someone tied up.
“Tie his legs, too. He won’t get far.” Franco’s dismissive words reached me as his men hurried to follow his orders.
In the end, they left me lying on my blazingly painful arms, on my back on the floor, with my ankles tied with zip ties. The freezing floor prickled at my skin even through my filthy T-shirt. I was glad I could still feel something, considering the numbness spreading from my shoulders.