Page 75 of Bossy Ex's Brother

I shook my head. I wouldn’t dream of doing anything to defy him unless I had a solid way of getting out of there.

“Beth,” I gasped the minute the man took the mouth gag off. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head. Stupid question, but my mind was too busy freaking out over the fact that my sister was in this hell hole too.

“I didn’t tell them anything, I swear,” she said. “They wanted to know where you were, and I wasn’t going to tell them. But they…they…”

“Shhh, it’s fine,” I said, inching closer to her.

I couldn’t hug her with my hands tied, so I tried to project as much comfort and confidence as I could. “We’ll be fine.”

She rested her head against my shoulder and confessed. “I’m scared.”

“I know, baby, I know. But don’t worry.” I was going to find a way to get her out of here, even if it killed me.

I glanced toward where the men were discussing, swallowed my fear, and called out, “Hey.”

The thin man glanced over. I guessed he was their leader, so when he looked at me, I said, “Please, let her go. You have me now, so I’m sure whatever plan of yours you have only needs me, right?”

The man cocked his head. “And why should I?”

I swallowed. “I’ll do anything you want. And I do mean anything.” Disgust slithered down my throat, and I thought I would throw up when I said it, but I was willing to swallow my pride or anything else for my sister if it meant letting her go.

“Braveputanna,” the man murmured, and he got up, walking toward us.

“No!” Bethany screamed out, getting my meaning. “I won’t let you do that. I won’t!”

The man smiled as he reached us, squatting down so he could look into my eyes. “Unfortunately for you, I like her better. So, I won’t let her go.”

“Pedophile.” I had the strong urge to spit in the man’s face, but I controlled it as he walked away. And then they began talking in English and Italian again.

I understood a little bit of what they were saying even though I didn’t speak fluent Italian. Between Lorenzo and Luca, I’d picked up a few things.

They were talking about Luca.

“He’s desperate to get out of this life,” they were saying. “He’s been asking around, especially since he got his woman. He never wanted to be in the Coppolas in the first place. He only joined so that his brother didn’t have to.”

I listened with rapt attention. Despite everything, sympathy started to rise within me. Luca had told me that he had given up his life for his brother. I recalled the pain on his face when he said it, the sheer hopelessness. He’d told me that he’d given up his soul and conscience, dropping hints about who he was the entire time.

“Lorenzo was right to warn you off. I’m not a good man,”he’d said, his eyes stormy. “You have no clue how not-good I am.And I shouldn’t be here with you right now. But I can’t fucking help myself.”

If he had told you, would it have changed anything?

I held on to my anger as it tried to dissipate and allow sympathy in. I could understand the fact that he gave up everything for his brother. And he’d tried to warn me in his own way. But I still couldn’t believe he’d never told me and endangered my family and me as a result.

I could never forgive him for that.

But now wasn’t the time to think about that. First, I had to figure out how to get the heck out of this hellhole.

THIRTY

LUCA

I turned to face my brother, feeling a million emotions spiral through me. There were about a billion things I thought I would say to him when I saw him again, but for now, what came out was, “So, this is where the fuck you’ve been hiding, you traitorous bastard?” I snarled.

He didn’t say anything but looked toward the men I roughed up, who looked annoyed by the interruption. A shiner was growing on the big one’s eyes, and I felt a savage satisfaction. Lorenzo gestured for them to go away. To my surprise, they obliged.

“It seems there’s a lot we have to talk about,” he said.

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