Page 6 of Claimed By My Stalker

“I was at Giovanni's last night.”

My eyes widen a bit, refusing to believe the fingers belong to the great Giovanni. In a scuffle, Giovanni would strangle him with only one of his hands, not releasing his grip until he chokes the life out of him.

“Oh he’s alive, I made sure of it, but his hands?” he clicks his tongue a couple of times and shakes his head sympathetically.

“You piece of shit,” I mutter under my breath.

Giovanni trusted him, turned on me because of him, chose to do business with him, and severed all ties with me and this was how Bruno chose to act. Bruno grows more sinister and ugly with every passing second I stare at him.

I have always put off killing him off because of old times but this is the last straw. Bruno has to go.

“I made up my mind when he offered me 30%. It’s the most insulting deal I’ve ever gotten, my late father would be turning in his grave knowing I belittled myself like that. I hear you took 30% with no objections when you and he were partners. That’s too bad, you don’t know your worth Carlo.”

Bruno talks too much, it is always torture to hear him blabber away nonsense. I decide I’ve heard enough. I give Enzo a nod and he responds by cocking his gun at him, the rest of my men follow suit and I run my hand over the Glock 19 at my side.

“Aw come on, what do you think you’re doing? Avenging Giovanni?” Bruno's hysterical laughter echoes through my courtyard.

“My story with Giovanni ended the moment he cut ties with me.” I take slow heavy steps toward Bruno, trying not to let my emotions get the better of me. “If you wanted to kill him, you would have brought his head, not his fingers.”

I calculate what it would cost to put a bullet through Bruno's head at that moment. His men would retaliate no doubt, a shootout would ensue, about six of my men could wind up dead, half a dozen lives in exchange for his. Is it worth it? Enzo might survive, he always knows how to, but his emotions can get the better of him and he could wind up getting shot trying to protect me.

Another option is to grab Bruno and order his men to drop their weapons. I know this plan is riskier than the first, there is no telling what reckless Bruno will do after he gets out of a hostage situation. I don’t want to start a fight there, putting the lives of my people at such risk.

There is someone else I have to protect, I can’t risk her life trying to get rid of this monster. She is all that matters.

“Carlo!” Bruno yells, waving the Campari bottle in my face and spilling the contents on me. “Snap yourself back to the present, don’t tell me Giovanni's situation has you all in your feelings already, I never mistook you for a…”

His voice trails away as the evil sneer on his face fades. Bruno isn’t looking at me anymore, the death stare he often gave me had also vanished. Murmurs ring across his men, distracted by something behind me. I turn around abruptly wondering why Rosa had to bring my pills at such a heated and critical moment.

I nearly jump out of my skin at seeing Carrie standing by a pillar, wide-eyed and disoriented. Here I am delaying getting rid of Bruno because she is in close vicinity, and now she makes it worse by walking into the danger zone. An unspeakable fear grips me.

The light courtyard breeze sways her blonde hair into her face and her dress from side to side. All eyes remain on her. I feel an anger rise in my throat, angry that these unworthy men could behold Carrie, her blonde hair, and honey-brown eyes that seem to pierce through your skin. The thought of the lustful things occupying their minds makes me clench my fist, the idea of these men ogling her sends an angry rush of blood to my head, and even in my anger, I find myself as mesmerized as the other men.

“Take her away, Enzo,” I order.

“Wait, wait, not so fast,” Bruno yells. “Take her where? I haven’t gotten the chance to introduce myself to the lady.”

I want to yell at Bruno to back off from her but that would only be revealing how much I care for her. That would be endangering her. I don’t want to risk it, evil and scheming Bruno would get ideas. The last thing I want is for Carrie to get caught up in this mess.

Enzo ignores Bruno and tries to usher Carrie away, but Bruno isn’t having it.

“You’ve grown some balls Enzo, if you don’t watch it I’ll cut them off ”

I hate the look in Bruno's eyes. He looks like he’s just seen something he fancies, something he wants for himself. Bruno steps forward, his eyes still glued on Carrie.

“Am I interrupting something?” she asks with a shaky voice “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“You have done absolutely nothing wrong, my lady. Carlo and I were about to start one of our fights but your presence has calmed my temper. Call me Bruno.” He takes her hand and kisses the back of her palm.

I squeeze the piece of paper I have in my palm, turning it into an irredeemable ball. I remember telling Carrie not to leave the main house. How am I supposed to protect her when she won’t even listen to my simple instructions?

Rosa is supposed to keep her in check in my absence, the old hag is probably somewhere in the compound gossiping with the other maids. Someone will have to answer why Carrie came strolling into the courtyard when I instructed everyone to keep their eyes on her and keep her in check. Someone has to be held responsible, meanwhile, I have to throw Bruno out.

“You should return now Carrie, I’ll have Enzo attend to whatever you need, Bruno was just leaving anyway.”

Bruno throws his head back and laughs, his gold teeth twinkling in the afternoon sun. “Carlo has had too much to drink, please forgive his manners. I have so many questions as to why you're here. Surely he's not keeping you, prisoner, for some debt you and your family owe?”

"I'll see you to the door, Bruno," I grit out.

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