Page 88 of Mercy in Betrayal

Maybe this means I won’t be forever confined to my bedroom? Excitement buzzes along my veins as Ivan offers his arm, and I take it. He leads me down a hall I’ve never traveled and eventually into a parlor of some sort.

My breath catches.

A giant, two-celled cage has been built into the middle of the room. In one of the cells, slumped against the bars, is Angel.

His face is swollen and bruised. So many colors of bruises, indicating old and new ones. Black. Blue. Red. Yellow. Even green.

I jerk my arm out of Ivan’s and glare at him. “What have you done? You said you wouldn’t hurt him if I came with you!”

Ivan smiles and tugs me out of the room, away from Angel. He begins to lead us back the way we came, toward the foyer and the staircase.

“Your friend, the O’Rourke girl. She taught me a valuable lesson about how flighty little birds can be.”

My gut churns. “Did something happen to Rowan?”

“She’s doing quite well. She appears to have settled happily into her life as Scarpetta’s wife.”

I shake my head in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

We reach the foyer, and instead of releasing me into Dumb and Dumber’s care, Ivan begins to walk me up the stairs. “No,” he says. “You wouldn’t. Scarpetta almost lost his little bird, didn’t he?”

“No. No, he didn’t. She was just confused.”

“Hmm. You know, my forgiveness is generally only granted through retribution. Do you understand what that means, Vivi?”

“Retribution? Yes, I understand it.”

“Years ago, when we were children, our fathers came to an agreement. You and I would be married, and I would gain all of the benefits entailed with being connected to the Valachi famiglia.”

“A worthy investment.”

“Indeed, it was. Until your brother chose to play his little games. The Valachis were powerful, holding a Commission seat of the Five Families of New York City. All of the families answered to them. This is the prize I was promised for taking your hand. That’s gone now. His maneuverings…getting the families to destroy each other and calling in Azrael to clean up the mess…I don’t understand his motivation, but whatever it was, it was foolish. He has destroyed the machine that was the New York Italian mafia. He has rendered the Valachi name all but useless to me.”

Ivan pauses outside of the master bedroom door and turns to me.

I shiver at the coldness in his gaze. “I will have what was promised to me, Viviana Valachi. I will have the Five Families functioning as they should, I will have peace, and I will have you.” He opens the door, and I turn my head to look inside. The scent of fresh paint filters out, strong and acrid. In the middle of the bedroom is a cage, painted gold. Ivan smiles down at me. “No more flighty birds.”

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