Page 39 of Brutal Vows

“You wouldn’t dare.” Elio’s eyes blaze with defiance as he lunges toward Vitali, the metal chains clanking loudly and pulling taut, restricting his movement to mere inches. His frustration boils over, and his chest heaves with the effort, triggering a harsh, wet cough that echoes through the room. My lower jaw trembles involuntarily at his desperate struggle.

“The plan is already in motion, Elio,” Vitali states with a deliberate calmness, rising from his seat and walking over to stand beside me. His eyes lock with Elio’s, a silent challenge hanging in the air. “The question is, whose side are you going to be on? Your sister’s or your father’s?”

Elio’s upper lip twists into a disdainful sneer, and with a swift motion, he spits at Vitali’s polished leather shoes, the glob of saliva landing with a soft splat.

“I rescued her from my father,” he retorts, his voice laced with defiance, “and I’d rather die than see her fall into the hands of someone who is just like him.”

Vitali’s eyebrows shoot up, arching into a perfect expression of surprise and intrigue at Elio’s bold declaration. “Then we both agree on something, it seems.” Vitalitips his chin up and levels my brother with a hard stare. “We know Fino sent you to assassinate me, Elio. I want to know why.”

Elio lets out a hard breath, his chest rising and falling heavily as he shakes his head, wincing at the sudden motion. “It isn’t what you think,” he mutters, his voice carrying the weight of defeat.

“Then tell me what I should be thinking,” Vitali retorts, his eyes narrowing and his tone laced with anger. “Because from where I am standing, it looks as if you were in cahoots with your father all along. Plotting to get your sister out of Italy so that he could pocket all the profits from her inevitable sale on the dark web.”

My heart skips a beat, and I whip my head up to stare at the man beside me, disbelief etched on my face. Did he just say the dark web? The very one that Hades controls?

“No,” I stammer, my voice trembling as if on the edge of breaking. “My father was selling me to Salvatore.”

Vitali’s gaze softens as it meets mine, a deep, unplaceable sadness swimming in his eyes. “No, Gia,” he gently reassures me, his voice taking on a tender tone. “Fino intended to hand you over to Salvatore so he could sell you on the dark web to settle his debts. But I suspect Fino discovered the true value of a virgin and plotted with Elio here to whisk you away, claiming you were kidnapped, while he planned to sell you himself.”

“Then why didn’t he come for me at the cabin?” I ask, panic rising in my chest like a tidal wave. “I would have been useless to him dead.”

“Because Elio was the one who cut the power,” Vitali explains, his voice gentle as he meets my eyes before his gaze hardens and snaps to Elio. “Isn’t that right?”

When my brother remains silent, I shift my gaze towardhim, feeling an icy resolve settle within me. His expression is etched with remorse, eyebrows knitted together, and lips turned down in a silent plea for forgiveness, but I can’t muster any empathy.

“Why?” I ask, my voice barely a whisper but laced with an edge.

Elio nervously wets his dry, cracked lips with the tip of his tongue, hesitating as if each word weighs heavily. “The wires were a failsafe, Gia,” he explains, his voice almost desperate for my understanding. “I set them on a trigger switch, thinking it would be foolproof. But I didn’t realize that when I first activated the device, it hadn’t worked properly. The blackout in the house was supposed to be the cue for you to leave, to escape, but it failed. You stayed until you were nearly half dead from starvation.” His voice trembles, the enormity of his mistake hanging in the air between us.

“You were never going to come back for me?” My voice cracks, and the tears that have been welling up in my eyes finally spill over, tracing hot, salty paths down my cheeks. A sob escapes my throat, raw and jagged.

“I trusted you,” I choke out, “and you abandoned me like I was nothing. Even if your failsafe had worked. You left me alone in a foreign country with no money, no shelter, and no one to turn to.” My chest heaves with each breath, the words hanging heavy in the air between us.

“I know,” is all he says, his voice barely a whisper, eyes cast downward in a mixture of guilt and regret.

“You know?” I snap, my voice dripping with venom as I fix him with a glare. “You know! Was that your plan all along? Save me and then dash off to assassinate Vitali, one of the most powerful men in the country, fully aware that you’d likely never come back alive?”

Elio shakes his head, his eyes wide with desperation, ashe mumbles frantically under his breath and tugs against the iron chains biting into his wrists, holding him upright.

“Tell me, brother,” I sneer, leaning forward with eyes narrowed in accusation. “Who had you so afraid that you agreed to one of the most idiotic suicide missions known to man?” My voice echoes in the dimly lit room, but he stays silent, his jaw clenched tight. I press him again, my patience wearing thin. “Who is it, Elio? You owe me this much at least because God knows that I nearly died out there because of your stupidity. Tell me who”

“I don’t have a name, alright?” he screams, the words erupting from him like a dam breaking. Elio’s face contorts with frustration, his fists clenching at his sides. His eyes squeeze shut, the weight of his regret evident in the furrow of his brow and the tension in his shoulders. “I never got a name. Just a symbol, one I’ve come to fear.”

“TheGeryon,” Vitali whispers the name harshly, his eyes narrowing as he leans closer. Elio’s throat bobs visibly as he swallows hard, his eyes darting to the floor. He nods, his lips pressed tightly together, too afraid of the consequences to confirm it aloud. “They contacted you and offered you a deal, didn’t they?” Vitali’s voice cuts through the tension like a knife.

Elio takes in a shaky breath, his shoulders tense. “If I killed you—” he pauses, exhaling sharply as if trying to purge the weight of the words from his chest, “then they would consider my father’s debt paid in full.”

A flicker of hope ignites in my chest, a fragile light in the midst of the surrounding darkness. “So you weren’t trying to sell me on the side with our father?” I ask, my voice a whisper of disbelief and yearning.

“Never,sorella,” Elio replies, his voice soft and steady,eyes meeting mine with earnest sincerity. “I only wanted you to be free of everything.” His words wrap around me like a promise, a vow whispered in the shadows.

“Then you are going to have to decide whose side you are on.”

Twenty-One

“You could have at least letme stay,” Gia mutters petulantly next to me as we make our way back to the tavern.

“He’s in good hands, Gia,” I tell her. “The doctor will have your brother all fixed up in no time.”

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