Page 128 of Wicked Rivals

“Only what I deserve. And you’ll call me Donnie, you disobedient bitch.”

The only thing you deserve is a bullet between your eyes.

I bit my tongue to keep from sharing that one out loud.

“And what do you think you deserve… Donnie?” I asked.

“The same as every man. A beautiful woman to keep my home, warm my bed, raise my children, and serve me. Just like God intended. No more, no less.”

Oh, mother of Christ. I prayed Stefano came quickly, so I could escort this spineless coward straight to hell.

I stopped in my tracks. The basement was by far the worst part of the house, and it had nothing to do with the smell.

Photos of Benedetta covered every inch of the back wall. The images ranged from when she’d been a young girl around the age of ten to earlier today as she left Stefano's house in the gorgeous sheath dress she wore that morning.

“What are you, her stalker?”

A sneer marked his lips, his entire face.

“I'm the love of her life,” he said. “And she’s mine, the Juliet to my Romeo. Which barely makes you Rosaline, doesn’t it?”

The last part didn’t quite make sense, but I didn’t have the patience for fucking Shakespeare references.

But if he thought of himself as a star-crossed teenage boy who would end his own tragedy by killing himself, I sure as hell wouldn’t stop him.

“Then why did you bring me here? You want me to… what? Clean the basement for you?”

“You misunderstand. Caring for my home is a privilege reserved only for my wife. You had your chance, but that’s gone now. Honestly, I should’ve taken it from you the second I found out about Enzo's father.”

He just kept talking and talking as he trudged across the basement, his fingers still entangled in my hair.

“The second I saw the engagement announcement, it was all right there, staring me in the face. Vignali standing there beside my Benedetta. How much Enzo looks like him. I knew then what had happened, just like I knew you were nothing more than a worthless whore.

“But I’m a decent man. I still gave you a chance. An opportunity to better yourself, to provide a better life for you and your son. You just weren't smart enough to take it.”

I shook my head to keep it clear, to keep myself thinking.

“So you brought me here because I wouldn’t date you?”

Luka looked at me in surprise and clicked his tongue.

“Really, Valerie? This isn’t even about you now. I brought you here because everyone knows the best way to kill a rat is to lay a trap. And every trap needs something the rat wants.”

“So I’m the bait,” I seethed through my teeth.

“Something like that.”

He yanked me to the back of the basement, spun me around, and shoved me against the wall plastered with photos. Before I could react, he’d pinned me there against the cold concrete with nothing other than his hand on my throat.

I wanted to fight him, but my arms weighed so much. My failed attempt only knocked a few photos off the wall.

Holding me there with one hand, he fished around for something dangling beside me.

Metal clinked near my ear, then a harsh, cold weight settled around my neck with a heavy click. Then my wrists.

I could hardly hold myself up anymore.

Luka stepped back, tilting his head, grinning like a madman as he admired his accomplishment.

---