Page 124 of Devil's Tulip

So I tell her about Senator Bradley Hart—a serial cheater—and how his wife coped by wearing sexy clothes while cleaningthe entirety of the old mausoleum we lived in, practically inviting the lascivious gazes of her husband's security guards.

I tell her about going to my mother’s room one evening and finding her fucking one of the guards. About running into my father and, in my horror and confusion, spilling it all to him. About him dismissively saying it didn’t matter since he cheated too—but I could still overhear their argument later that night.

And the following morning, my mother and her bodyguard were just… gone. Father said they’d run away to be together, and I acted out for weeks, consumed by guilt, convinced it was all my fault. But the year my father died, I found out the truth—he actually had my mother and her lover killed, disposed of like garbage.

I tell her how it all messed me up mentally. And how when I saw those pictures of her with another man, it made me sick to even think about. When I finally calmed down enough to think rationally, of course, I realized it couldn’t be real. But that one moment of gut-deep fear made me react like a damn idiot. Made me choose my reputation over her and imprison her in that cell, just in case it turned out to be true.

I’m not telling her this just to get her sympathy—but I get it anyway. And I find I don’t hate it. A small smile tugs at my lips when she wraps her arms around my neck and draws me into her embrace, my face pressed against the soft warmth of her chest. “You were just a child,” she murmurs. “That must have been horrific for you.”

I sink into her and allow her to comfort me, surrendering completely to the only person who’s ever made me feel safe enough to be vulnerable.

37

MICHAEL

“Find me Marie Cabello and bring her to the dungeon,” I tell Lorenzo as I walk down the hallway, casting one last glance back at the bedroom where I left Gianna sleeping, her face finally peaceful after everything she’s endured.

Lorenzo’s brows shoot up in surprise. “Marie? Isn’t she Aldo’s wife? Was she a part of this all as well?” A short nod is all I can manage, too pissed to even speak.

I leave Lorenzo to his task and motion for Marco and two of my men to accompany me to what my brothers and I fondly call the dungeon—an abandoned storage warehouse not far from Rafael’s penthouse that he uses to hold and torture traitors and enemies.

It takes almost an hour to get there, and just as Marco pulls up in the parking lot, my phone buzzes with a text.

Lorenzo

Got her. She was at the airport trying to sneak out of the country. On my way.

Primal satisfaction surges through me. I wait in the parking lot for him since the airport is only a short twenty-minute driveaway, and distract myself with the live footage of Gianna still sleeping peacefully in our bed. The sight of her calms the savage beast inside me, if only temporarily.

She’s safe at home, surrounded by the most trusted men in my army, with my security system locked down tighter than ever—no one authorized to let anyone in, not even her.

After the meeting that was disrupted by Aldo accusing my wife of being a cheat and traitor in an attempt to buy himself immunity from whatever punishment we might levy on him for his crimes, thecommissionedecided on a unanimous vote that both matters were separate issues to be judged independently.

Aldo was sentenced to be punished however I deem fit, since the crime was committed against my wife, and Gianna’s alleged ‘crimes’ were left to me and my brothers to judge, since they supposedly happened in our territory. My brothers immediately bowed out after the meeting, leaving me to deal with her judgment alone.

So nothing turned out for Aldo like he had hoped.

And he’s about to learn just how big of a mistake that was.

Lorenzo arrives, his truck pulling up next to my Cullinan, and I take off my cufflinks, rolling my sleeves up to my elbows as I get out at the same time he does.

He moves to his trunk and pops it open, revealing a bound and struggling Marie. She glares at me as Lorenzo drags her out.

“I don’t know what it is about Gianna and Agnes that have powerful men bewitched, but she’ll pay for it!” she screams.

I frown, not getting her twisted logic. I never could understand vindictive witches. “Why do you hate your niece so much?”

“That child is no niece of mine,” she spits with vitriol. “Agnes stole Cesare from me. I was betrothed to him, but that slut went and got pregnant with his child, leading Cesare to break off our engagement to marry her.”

Ahh, it all makes sense now.

She was jealous that Gianna's father married someone else instead of her, and she let that bitterness eat into her so deep, she’d hurt an innocent girl because of what her parents did decades ago.

I thought maybe Aldo had misled her, but no—she knew exactly what she was doing. She’s every bit as evil as her husband and son.

My brothers and I swore never to physically harm women and children, but there are several ways to make her regret her actions and existence on earth without laying a finger on her.

I nod at Lorenzo, and we go into the warehouse, down to the basement twenty feet underground where her husband is waiting—stripped naked and strung up like a piece of meat at a butcher’s shop.

---