Page 62 of The Forbidden Husband

His manic laughter filled the room. “Evelina is going to be sold to the highest bidder regardless of your fate here. She’s more of a hindrance than she’s worth.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “You can’t. Noemi is gone, and I’m done. You are losing everything you have left.”

“I have lostnothing,” he shouted. “I will get back that little whore eventually, and I will bring the Russian to his knees. You and Livia will always be mine. You are my daughters, and I will use you as I please.”

He grabbed my wrist, and I went to pull it away, but his grip was bruising.

“And now, you’ve given me more leverage.”

“I gave you nothing,” I shouted, spitting in his face.

He laughed. Why was helaughing? He dragged me toward the bed and tossed me on top of it. In the time it took me to right my body, he had my wrists handcuffed to the metal bedframe. I kicked out, but he stepped out of reach.

“I might not have killed them tonight, but when Enzo learns that his wife and child are in my hands, do you think he will stay away?”

“You’re a fool,” I screamed, shaking my arms in hopes of breaking through the metal cuff. “He will destroy you. You are nothing but a weak man who wants more power than he can handle. You can’t even keep your own daughters under your thumb. What makes you think you can keep a powerful crime syndicate running smoothly? What makes you think that you have any right being capo dei capi to a group of people who hate you and everything you stand—”

He shoved me backward, grabbing a handful of my hair and slamming the back of my head into the metal bedframe hard. My vision danced for a moment as I tried to blink away the disorientation.

“When I kill him in front of you, I am going to take my time,” he snarled. “And then I’m going to keep you alive long enough to watch Evelina be fucked by whatever man buys her. I will let you carry this baby to term, and then I will rip it from your fucking arms and let you die, knowing that I will raise it to become everything you would hate.”

When he released my head, I exhaled sharply.

“I hope he kills you,” I shouted as he walked away.

He turned back around with narrowed eyes. He began pulling the tie from his dress shirt, and I watched in horror as he straightened it out and reached for me. No amount of wiggling could stop him from tying it around the back of my head and shoving the fabric hard into my mouth.

“Oh, Aria. There are things worse than death, and your lover will experience all of them.” I would never forget the pure evil in his eyes as he said the words. “Vito, come in here,” he shouted.

His consigliere—a man just as evil and cunning as my father—stepped into the room with his hands clasped behind his back. How could this man be even half-related to Enzo? They shared a father, but that was all they shared. Nobody with an ounce of self-respect would work for my father.

“Do whatever you want while I’m taking care of business. But don’t leave this room unless I say otherwise. If your brother survives the attack, I’ll lead him straight here, and you will take care of him.”

As my dad left me and Vito alone in the room, every nerve in my body stood on end. I selfishly prayed that Enzo came for me, but as a wicked smile crossed Vito’s lips, I hoped for something else entirely. I hoped that Enzo stayed away and stayed safe. I hoped that hesurvived…

My choices had brought me here, and I had nobody to blame but myself.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Enzo Rissi

The first shot had landed in the skull of one of my father’s guards.

When we all ducked for cover, the second shot shattered the wine cooler in my kitchen.

We were sufficiently pinned down. Uncle Giovanni and I took cover behind the kitchen’s center island, and the rest of the family and friends found other parts of the house that provided sufficient cover.

A firefight in my fuckinghome.

During a party that had been arranged, as Uncle Giovanni told me, by Aria herself.

I glanced at the body of my cousin lying beside the front door. I tightened the grip on my pistol, resolving to kill every one of these mother fuckers who dared to infringe on my home. On my family.

I had never seen Uncle Giovanni look so cold and remorseless. He had secured his position because of thebrutality he had shown years ago, but he had become a different man since then. A much more forgiving one.

Aria had seemed to remind him of who he was.

“If Alonzo knows what he’s doing, he sent these men to take us all out. There’s a target on our heads, and they have us pinned. They have the advantage,” I said. “I have something like an armory in the back of my closet—enough weapons to arm all of us and give us a fighting chance. If I can get to it, we might have a shot.”

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