Page 65 of Used By the Bratva

Carlo crouches down, resting his forearms on his thighs. “You weren’t under the impression that your father was a good man, were you?”

I shake my head because I know that my father was not a good man. But neither is the man I married. He is as dangerous and deadly as can be.

So, this Ursula woman was my mother?

Carlo continues with a sentimental expression. “Ursula was a beautiful woman. She looked just like you. I can’t remember a single man who didn’t have his eye on her back then, but Antonio was the bastard who won her over, even though he had a wife and two sons waiting at home.”

I swallow hard, trying to keep my expression neutral. “Did you want her too?”

If I can stall him long enough for Leon to find me, Carlo won’t have time to hurt me or the baby. Trying to trick him didn’t work—but getting him to talk might.

He looks like he wants someone to hear his side of a story I barely know.

Carlo smirks and stands up. “I wanted her. You’re right about that. What man wouldn’t want to walk around with the most beautiful woman in New York on his arm? She was smart too. Really smart. She loved music. She sat on the porch of her little house every night and played the violin.”

I feel queasy in my stomach, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

He leers at me while pointing his finger at me. “I always told her that I would do anything to make her happy, but she was convinced that she wouldn’t be happy in this life. She said it was too hard. That she couldn’t bear it if I got hurt.”

I take a deep breath and try to focus on him so that the world stops spinning. I need to clear my head.

Carlo was obsessed with my mother. I’m not sure he ever spoke to her, either. Part of me thinks that the conversation she had with him was nothing more than a delusion.

“However, she turned against me. She told me she could never be with me, but then she dated your father behind my back. She didn’t care about the wife or the children, and neither did he.”

Carlo paces back and forth in the empty room like a caged animal. His hands are in his pockets, and his face looks as if he has been trapped in a distant memory for most of his life.

Then he smiles at me like the devil. “But don’t worry about it. I've made sure she knows what she's missing. She didn’t like it at first, but then she warmed up to me. You should have heard her moan when she realized I was better than Antonio would ever be. I was able to satisfy her in a way that no man had ever done before.”

My breath comes in gasps, and terror grips my chest as I piece together the missing parts of what he did to her.

The man standing before me is a monster. He hurt a woman because he was jealous. He was angry that another man had her, while he wanted to keep her as a trophy. If I had anything in my stomach right now, I'd puke. The acrid taste of bile fills my mouth, but I swallow it down.

Carlo takes a step closer to me. “That was, of course, after she gave birth to you. While she was pregnant, Antonio kept her locked away in his damned villa. It was hard to get near her, but I found a way, and a few weeks after you were born, she finally gave in to me.”

“She didn’t give in to you!” My voice cracks through the room like a whip.

He laughs and shakes his head. “You don’t know what your mother wanted. You never knew her.”

“What happened to her? What did you do to her, you bastard?”

“I gave her the best night of her life.” He crouches down once again, his hand landing on my calf.

As my skin begins to crawl, I am reminded that nothing separates us except a bikini and a thin linen cover-up.

I shouldn't have rolled down the window. I should have started honking until Leon came running.

Now, both me and my baby are in danger.

“She killed herself that night. She snuck down the stairs and got my shotgun out of the closet. I don’t think she could bear the thought of being without me since Antonio would never let her out of the house again if he found out what had happened between us.”

“She killed herself because you’re a fucking monster!” I pull back against the wall and try to pull my legs to my body as his hand brushes over my knee. “Don’t touch me.”

“You sound just like her, too.” He chuckles, pausing with his hand on my leg.

As he leans forward, his suit jacket falls open just enough to reveal the gun at his hip. I have no chance in hell of getting out of here alive if I try to run for the door.

Right now, I have to play along with him. I can’t let the vile creature get under my skin. There’s time to mourn for my mother’s life when I’m back safe with Leon again.

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