Page 104 of Twisted Obsession

‘What are you going to do with me, Mama?’ I forced myself to speak again and added her title to the question, not because she deserved it, but because I hoped it might make her remember that it was her that had given birth to me.

‘I have no idea what he intends for you.’

‘He?’ I questioned, already knowing the answer.

‘He… the only man who has ever loved and respected me.’

By chance, the sound of a phone ringing stopped our conversation. With her phone on speaker, I heard a male voice, which I recognised as Ricco.

‘Well done. You found the cove,’ he offered.

‘Thank you,’ she gushed. Sounding nothing like the woman I had lived with for twenty years. ‘Peter listened to me, just as you said he would.

‘They know.’

‘What?’

‘They know,’ he repeated the two words. ‘De Luca and Ricolleti,’ Ricco confirmed.

‘How?’ she screeched.

‘They have Lorenzo. They have our baby boy!’

Their baby boy?For a few seconds, I was stunned, then I comprehended that he was feeding her utter rubbish and that she really was that deluded. To have given birth to Lorenzo she would have been about ten years old. I understood it wasn’t impossible, but I was convinced it was far from the truth. She had given birth to Romeo ten months after she’d married my papa, and she hadn’t been seventeen.

Is this some kind of sick game of pretend Ricco has over her?

‘They can’t have him. He’s to be the next Don. He will rule over Calabria.’ Then she shrieked, ‘Move, get her to move.’ The men who had been walking calmly to either side of her found their way to both sides of me. They grabbed at my forearms and I was suddenly propelled forward towards the end of the quay. ‘We can get him back. We must be able to get him back.’

‘Is Peter with you?’

‘He’s dead. I killed him. I couldn’t have him getting in our way—in the way of the future for our family.’ Her voice was beginning to sound more manic with every word she spoke.

‘But you have Giovanna?’ Ricco asked, and my blood ran cold as all the pieces fell into place. Lorenzo wasn’t their son; he was yet another pawn in Ricco’s game of taking over the part of Italy I loved so much. And now I understood, me marrying Lorenzo would have been the icing on the cake.

‘Yes.’

‘Good girl. With her to bargain with, we will get him back and then we will get away from here. I promise you.’

‘Yes, yes! We will kill her if they don’t comply.’ I heard her speak, and attempted to find the part of me that I was convinced should still love her as my mama, however estrangedwe’d been over the previous few years. It hurt, albeit fleetingly, when I found nothing. It had taken years of her mental abuse and neglect to get us to this point. Understanding that she would kill me to satisfy her own wants was the final nail in the coffin, whether she was mentally ill or not.

‘Look for me, Valentina. I’m coming down to meet you.’

Being basically dragged along, I lifted my head to watch as the small group of men who were now halfway down the cliff increased their speed, so they could meet us at the very end of the quay.

Then I looked once again at the cars. When no one appeared to get out of them, I felt bitter disappointment, resigning myself to the fact that I was alone, and would feasibly only have one chance at firing the pistol concealed inside my waistband. And if that was so, I accepted myself to my fate, and came to terms with the fact I would be pointing the flare gun at my own head instead of one of theirs.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Dante

‘Wait.’ Salvatore’s grip tightened on my upper arm. ‘They’re not far enough yet. I want them together.’

‘I just need this started,’ I replied through gritted teeth, as I clenched and unclenched my empty hand. ‘I want this done. I want her back where she belongs.’

‘I know—do you think I don’t?’ he answered me, without moving his gaze from his baby sister. ‘Remain calm. Think more than you act and notice everything. Men fear and respect the man who thinks before he speaks.’

I took what he was saying and exhaled slowly, as I attempted to follow his guidance.

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