Page 64 of The Forbidden Husband

They had been hanging here for an hour while I sent away the police my nosy neighbors had called when gunshots began firing. It took a few lies and exaggerated claims about a stalker to get them to go away and leave us to our devices. The media attention that had come to investigate were given the same story.

Usually, questioning would occur in our family mob home, but today was different.

This was personal, and I wasn’t waiting.

I stared at the sniper who had killed two of my men. A cousin and a guard—two men who had long been loyal and important to our family. He would suffer for it. Uncle Giovanni finding and bringing him down here showed his agreement.

“We could do this the easy way,” I said, pacing in front of all of them. Two of the men dangled their heads from the exhaustion of their injuries, but they wouldn’t be subdued for long. I ran my finger over the blood-covered tools on a table at my side. “Or we could do this the fun way.”

This was my element.

This was where I belonged, and Uncle Giovanni standing back and allowing me to work told me all I needed to know about the limits he had placed on me.

There were none.

This was how I got my reputation.

“We’re not talking to you.”

“Men do many interesting things to preserve their lives,” I mused. “Two of you are going to be killed quickly and painlessly. One of you will be kept alive for a long while to bear the consequences of what happened today. I know which of you I would prefer to keep alive, but it all depends on who gives me the best information.”

I pulled a circular saw off the table and powered it up. “Eeny, meeny.” I started, pointing to each of them. “Miney…”

I swept the saw across one of the foot soldiers, and the saw sputtered as it went through the man’s flesh and bone. It cut off before I could complete the cut, but his screaming didn’t stop. It rang in my ears, and I smiled wickedly.

“Who has the best information?”

The sniper’s eyes went wide, and he shook his head rapidly. “Alonzo had his daughter here as a spy,” he shouted, eyes veering between me and the saw. I flicked it on for just a moment before allowing it to die. “She orchestrated this. It was supposed to be a take-down. We were supposed to kill both of you.”

I didn’t allow myself to feel the words.

“And?”

“And… and…” He hesitated, looking between both of the other men strung up. “He plans to be capo dei capi. He wants the power of having full control of all of New York.”

“Why didn’t he do it, then?”

There had to be a good reason. There was always a good reason.

“He was afraid it was a setup,” the man shouted frantically, as if giving me information was the most terrifying thing he had ever done. It probably was. “In the past few weeks, he said he was losing his hold of the girl. She was supposed to take out Giovanni, but she refused.”

“How the fuck do you know all of this?”

“I was never supposed to be called in,” he said. “I was on a job in Chicago until a few days ago. He called me in because I’m the best. He was pissed to call off my job. He told me about his brat of a daughter who refused to do as she was told. He… he told me that she switched sides.”

“Aria never switched sides,” I shouted, powering up the saw and taking one step forward.

“She did!” His frantic words overshadowed the rumble of the saw. “He had to ship off his other daughter to be sold in a black-market sale. She didn’t want to hurt any of you, so Alonzo used her sister as leverage to have her organize the party.”

“Then why the fuck didn’t you pull the trigger?” I shouted.

“She came back. She returned and gave him something he wanted in exchange for your lives.”

My stomach churned. “What did he want?”

“I… I don’t know. I know she went back to him. I don’t know what she traded.”

Every part of my body stilled. She could have escaped this entire situation, yet she decided to return to that monster, and I couldn’t unpack it all. She was forced into this marriage, and I didn’t doubt she had been ordered to wreak havoc on our lives.

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