Page 87 of Third Comes Vengeance

I lunge for the door just in time for it to swing closed. Someone on the other side has pulled it shut and locked it.

I pound against the door. “De Luca? Open this door. Open this fucking door!”

A menacing voice travels through the door, so different from his usual weak, whiny tone. “I told you to stay out of my basement, Chiara. You think I haven’t learned by now? This house is protected by a silent alarm.”

“All those years ago, I saw your true face and I told myself that I imagined it,” Chiara says, her eyes wide and terrified. “You’re a better actor than Vinicius realized. You’ve been acting all your life, pretending to be a weak and timid father and researcher.”

“Who’s in there?” De Luca says in a sly voice. “Is it Vinicius Angeli? I strung your junkie sister out before I killed her. The withdrawal was so terrible that her whole body was on fire. How it made me laugh. I barely needed to torture her myself.”

I beat on the door with both my fists. “Open this door, you murdering fuck!”

“That sounds like the crude tones of Lorenzo Scava. I made your sister so beautiful. Aren’t you grateful? Perfect on the outside. A filthy piece of trash on the inside, just like her brother.”

I pull out my revolver and fire three shots into the wood. The bullets penetrate but don’t pass through.

Chiara calls out, “Mr. De Luca, why did you do it? What did these men and their sisters ever do to you?”

“Chiara, you’re so naïve it hurts. Of course you flocked to four broken men, the goody-goody politician’s daughter. This was all your father’s idea, and I was happy to oblige. What does he do to people he doesn’t like? He makes them suffer. He made your mother suffer, or were you so wrapped up in yourself that you didn’t notice how much he’d broken her by the end?”

Chiara puts her hand over her mouth and sobs. “You did all this for Dad?”

“For the price of his silence. Your father found out about my artistry and he agreed to turn a blind eye on the condition that I found my victims outside Coldlake, and if I performed a little favor for him. Four sweet little favors. How he hates the syndicate for their power and lawlessness. The mayor let your men play in his city, but they were going to be happy over his dead body.”

Cassius steps up to the door without a word, lifts his foot and kicks it hard. The door barely shakes under the force of the kick.

“You’ll never make them happy, Chiara, no matter how many times you let them fuck you.”

Chiara has tears streaming down her face. “How could you? All those women were innocent.”

“I don’t need to justify what I do to those who crawl about on the surface of this earth like worms.” De Luca sounds crazed as he shouts, “I’m above you all! I’m better than all of you. You’re cattle. You’re nothing, and so were your sisters.”

“Shut your fucking mouth, youstronzo fiammeggiante,” Cassius roars between kicks.

“Those videos are some of my finest work. I hope you’ve enjoyed rewatching them as often as I do.”

He’s there. He’sright fucking there, just inches from me, and I can’t get my hands on him to tear him apart. I push my fingers through my hair and growl in frustration.

There’s the sound of footsteps disappearing back up the stairs.

Chiara screams after him, “You can leave us here to die, but our friends will still find us. It’s all over for you, Mr. De Luca. Everyone’s going to know what you’ve done. Your wife. Nicole.”

The footsteps stop. “Will they, though?”

He gives a cold laugh, and then he continues walking up the stairs.

“Don’t you dare! Leave them alone!” Chiara screams, but there’s no answer.

Cassius goes on kicking the door and ramming it with his shoulder, but we’re trapped like fucking animals.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and glance at the screen. “Does anyone have any reception?”

Chiara and Cassius check, but they’ve got nothing, the same as me. I go over to Chiara and put my hands on her shoulders. Tears are flowing freely down my face.

“Princess, look at me.”

“I should have known something was wrong with Mom. I didn’t see it until my birthday. I could have—”

“Hey. Stop that. Cassius and I are going to get you and the baby out of here safely, but I need you to take a few deep breaths. Nothing that piece of shit said is worth the oxygen he fucking steals to say it.” I take her face in my hands. “Okay?”

---