Page 27 of The Don's Eternal Vows

My hands pass through his form, the chill of the underworld biting into my skin. The redhead's laughter echoes around me, mocking and cruel.

"Still as hotheaded as ever, eh, Gianni?" he taunts, his voice grating on my nerves. "You really think you can save her? Genoveva's soul is beyond your reach now."

“You belong in Tartarus!” I bellow, wanting nothing more than to drag him to the depth of hell.

“I made my choices, for the sake of family. That counts for something.”

I bare my teeth, my voice dropping to a low, menacing growl. "I'll tear this place apart if I have to. You think death will stop me from making you pay?"

The redhead glides towards me. "Oh, I'm counting on it. Your pride was always your weakness, Montagna. It'll be yourdownfall here, just like it was in life. You’ve come here seeking your wife? You’ll never succeed."

My hands clench at my sides, nails digging into my palms. "I swear on everything I hold sacred, I will destroy you. You took her, and I’ll take her back if it’s the last thing I do!"

"Big words from a man who couldn't even protect his woman," he sneers. "Face it, Gianni. You've lost. Genoveva is-"

I lunge forward again, my voice a primal roar of fury and anguish. "Don't you dare say her name!"

My hand flies to my waist, fingers wrapping around the cold steel of my gun. Logic be damned, I can't let this bastard mock me any longer. I draw the weapon in one fluid motion, muscle memory from years on the streets kicking in.

"Eat lead, you spectral piece of shit," I snarl, squeezing the trigger.

The gunshots echo through the Asphodel Meadows, a jarring sound in this realm of whispers and shadows. But the bullets pass harmlessly through the redhead's translucent form, disappearing into the gray mist beyond.

He throws his head back, echoing laughter ringing out. "Always resorting to violence. Some things never change, do they?"

With a final mocking grin, he vanishes, leaving me alone with my rage and frustration. I holster my gun, hands shaking. "Fuck!"

A flicker of movement catches my eye, and my heart nearly stops. There, just at the edge of my vision, is a familiar silhouette. Soft waves of dark hair, the graceful curve of a neck I've traced a thousand times.

"Genoveva?" I whisper, my voice cracking.

I spin, desperate to catch a full glimpse of her. But as I turn, the form dissipates like smoke in the wind.

The emptiness that follows is suffocating. I drop to my knees, the cold seeping into my bones. "Genoveva," I murmur, "where are you, amore mio?"

The Meadows offer no answer, only an endless expanse of gray nothingness. But I can still feel her, like a phantom limb. She's here, somewhere in this godforsaken place.

As I sit there, the air around me grows heavy, thick with tension. Whispers rise from the mist, a discordant chorus that sets my teeth on edge. I rise slowly, muscles taut, every instinct screaming danger.

"Who's there?" I growl, eyes darting left and right.

“Who treads here?” a dozen echoes come from all across, screeching, crying, wailing, angry.

The spirits are restless, agitated. I've disturbed their eternal slumber, and now they're circling like sharks scenting blood.

A chill creeps up my spine, ice-cold fingers of dread wrapping around my heart. The temperature plummets, my breath visible in short, sharp bursts.

"You don't belong here, living one," a voice hisses, so close I can almost feel lips brush my ear.

I whirl, but there's nothing. Just more shadows, more mist. "I'm not leaving without her," I snarl, fists clenched at my sides.

Spectral hands materialize from the gloom, dozens of them, grasping at my clothes, my skin. Each touch is like a knife of ice, stabbing deep into my core. I grit my teeth against the assault, fighting the urge to shiver.

The cold is relentless, sapping my strength with each passing moment. I think of Genoveva, of her lying in my bed, lazily running circles down my chest.

She had reached up, smoothing the lines on my forehead. "Remember that day on the playground? When those boys were picking on you?"

I turned towards her, took her in my arms. "You stood up for me."

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