Page 50 of The Beast of London & His Pet

Chapter 31

Alessio

Nero opened up the cell door and I almost gagged at the stench of rotting flesh and human waste. I got a taste of how Francesca felt with her ‘morning’ sickness. There wasn't much left of Clive, but I wanted him dead before I went to our baby’s sonogram appointment and Church.

Every so often I came and cut parts of his body off. It started with his fingers but all that remained of him was his head and torso. Well, his head was missing his ears, but he didn't need them. Nero cauterised and cared for him each time I took a piece of him.

“There isn't much left of you, Clive,” I said loudly, nudging him with my foot to awaken him.

His death would serve a purpose, my men would leave his body dangling off the Tower Bridge of London. The rumours would be spread of a similar fate to anyone who as much as looked to harm me or my family.

The date was planned and our hacker would shut down the CCTV cameras around the bridge. The security guards would be knocked out. My men would take every precaution to hide their identity during the operation. Our footage would ensure the police didn't hide the murder from the world.

“I did a good job, don't you think, Nero?” I asked him while watching as Clive’s eyes flickered.

“Nice clean cuts,” Nero agreed.

“This is no fun,” I grumbled before I pulled my leg back and kicked him in his ribs until then the sound of his bone snapping filled the cell, but there were no screams left in him.

“See what I mean? This is getting boring,” I said, looking at Nero who shook his head.

“God forbid that you get bored,” he said, his voice bone dry.

I was never bored when I was with Francesca, thinking of her made me recall her beaten and broken body. Both my wife and child could have been snuffed out. The familiar rage burned inside of me and I began to stomp on Clive’s head. The cottage was burned to a crisp. His mother’s liver was on its last legs, there was no one looking for Clive. I used the heel of my shoe to crush his face until the last of his grunts ended.

“Once the body has been hung, get the crew in to clean the cell from top to bottom,” I said straightening my jacket before inspecting my shoes.

Fuck my temper. Now I had to change my shoes before the appointment.

???

Francesca was like a live wire, I silently watched all the emotions on her face. While she focused on the screen, keeping an eye on our baby, my focus was on her. The tears were inevitable and I had my cream cotton handkerchief ready to wipe her eyes and cheeks.

“I can see why you are carrying so big now, Mrs Caruso. You're going to have twins,” the technician said.

My heart plummeted as I tried to process her words, my head snapped towards the screen, dropping Francesca’s hand to move closer to the screen.

“Show me,” I demanded.

“Alessio, I can't see,” Francesca cried.

I shifted to one side but kept my eyes glued to the screen. The woman moved the contraption around until the unmistakable image of two heads appeared. I’d read enough books to see they weren't in separate sacks of fluid. I could see a hand on one and a leg or knee on the other.

“How could the clinic have missed this in the first scan?” I asked but my eyes remained on my children.

The chill of knowing I could have lost all three of them made me glad that Clive’s useless life would protect my family in the future. Both of my babies were a miracle.

“It can happen. It all depends on the position the babies are in, technology isn’t foolproof. Now they are larger, they can't hide,” she said.

I tore my eyes away from the screen to glance at Francesca because it wasn't like her to be quiet for this long. Her eyes were full of tears but she had a dazed look in her eyes.

“Twins?” she whispered.

“Twins,” I said with a wide smile before tenderly wiping her tears away, swallowing hard as I felt my eyes burn.

Two suddenly became four. The tightness left my chest and a soft glow of warmth began to spread across it.

My family.

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