Page 51 of Let Vengeance Be Mine

“I told him not to take you. But Matteo will never be told. It always has to behisway.” Demitri starts pacing the floor in front of me.

“You know, before he died, Angelo Romano offered my father his entire empire. He thought Matteo was too young to take over, that he still had much to learn. All my father had to do was end his life for him. That was just like Angelo, everything was a game, even his own death.”

“I know what happened, Matteo told me,” I assure him. “It was a cruel game to play, it was too much to ask of Matteo, and of your father.”

“He could have asked me, I would have done it.” Demitri leans down so his nose is almost touching mine. “Itshouldhave been me,” he whispers. His chest rises and falls rapidly as he works himself up. “Angelo knew. He pretended he didn’t, to me, butheknew.” Demitri shakes his head.

“Who knew?” I try to keep him talking, hoping I can somehow calm him down and find a way out of this.

“Angelo. He knew he was my father. That I am the true heir to all of this.” He stretches out his arms.

“You think you're Matteo’s brother?” I ask in shock.

“Not just his brother, hisolderbrother.” He points out, standing up and moving away from me. He grips the kitchen counter so tight, his knuckles turn white.

“My mother got pregnant with me, three months before Vivian did. Angelo was never going to upset Vivian's family, he needed them. He had an heir on the way, so he had no reason to claim the child of one of his servants,” he explains, his voice so angry that it shakes.

“This place is where I was born, on that rusty bed where my mother thought she would die from the pain she was in. This is what he offered my mother when he found out she carried his child. A shack, hidden away in the forest. Before she died she told me the truth. She told me that after I was born she carried me to the main house and presented me to him. By then everyone was awaiting the arrival of Vivian’s child. I was a complication he couldn’t risk. He needed to control the situation, so he had one of his men marry my mother and claim me as his own.”

“That was wrong of him.” I show Demitri some empathy, hoping to buy some time, enough time for Matteo to find us.

“My father was his protector, his advisor and everything thatIam to Matteo. He offered him all this on his deathbed because he knew it should have been mine.”

I don’t have any words, Demitri’s state of mind is too fragile and I have far too much at stake.

“I was trying to make things right, I never meant for them to die. Matteo was supposed to be in that fucking car,” he repeats; I scream uncontrollably when he punches his fist hard into the wood surface, and a contraction squeezes my belly so tight, it takes my breath away.

“Demitri, the baby’s definitely coming. I need to get to a doctor.” I tell him, breathing steadily like the woman demonstrated on the YouTube video Matteo made us watch.

“I can’t do that, Aria. See, tonight wasn’t supposed to go down the way it did. Your father was not supposed to come. He must be crazy.” Demitri chuckles. “I tried to play things the opposite way this time. Matteo always goes against my advice. He’s hot-headed, he strikes before he thinks and I was certain that your father would be too fucking afraid to come. But, right now, they’ll be making negotiations over your future. Matteo is going to learn that I lied to him about everything. He’s going to know that it was me that put that fucking bomb in his trunk.”

My body starts to shake uncontrollably, I don’t know if it’s the shock of what's happening to my body or from fear, but I can feel myself losing all my calm.

“Demitri, listen to me. My baby is coming now. Ineeda doctor.”

“That’s what they call poetic justice, Aria. It’s proof that I’m right.”

“What are you talking about?” I feel my panic heighten when he zips open the holdall that he brought with him.

“You and Matteo are not the only ones who have been doing their research.” Slowly he starts to unpack the bag and when I see the surgical knife and the cord clamps he carefully places on the kitchen surface, it takes all my strength not to scream.

“Your child may not be full term but it’s viable.” Keeping the gun in his hand he comes back toward me and strokes the barrel across my stomach.

“The fact you may have gone into labor yourself, is good for you, Aria. If you can deliver your son naturally, you may be able to survive. I didn’t want to have to cut you open,” he tells me, calmly. I feel tears filling my eyes and keep reminding myself to breathe, but with the discomfort of my body and panic in my chest, it feels impossible.

“We’ll find out tonight how much your child really means to Matteo because once I have him, there will be only one way for Matteo to get him back.”

I splay my hands against the wall to help me get back on my feet. I will not sit back and let him threaten my child. I have to get us out of here.

“What are you doing? Sit back down.” He thunders back toward me, wrapping his hand around my neck and slamming me hard against the wall.

“Demitri, I want us to talk calmly about this. You don’t want to hurt meormy baby. I know that. You just said yourself, you told Matteo not to take me, you were protecting me before we even met.” I wipe the tears from my eyes and smile at him. “I need you to get us to a hospital or something bad could happen to the baby.” I feel another pain start to build and automatically reach for his hand, squeezing tight and making a noise that doesn’t even sound like it comes from me. I grimace as the pain takes over all my senses, and when I look up at Demitri I beg him with my eyes for help. What I see looking back at me is pure evil.

“I’m not your hero, Princess.” He slams the handle of the gun into the back of my neck, making me dizzy, and when I crash onto the wooden floor, everything turns black.

MATTEO

“What the fuck is going on?” Aria’s father follows me as I burst through my front door and call out her name. I can’t bear not knowing where she is, it's driving me crazy. The whole car journey here, I’ve thought about where he might have taken her, and I’ve come up with nothing.

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