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"No, I like it from you and what happened is not your fault. Tell me about this fucker, Calliro. He said you killed his brother."
"Calliro Romani and his younger brother, Augustus were members of our family until a couple of years ago. Augustus was a hot head and the brothers clashed often. It didn't take much to lure Augustus to an opposition family with the promise of more money. I knew it was the beginning of the end for him and I told Calliro he was free to follow, and I would not hesitate to take them out if the situation required. Calliro insisted he was loyal to me, and he stayed. I was never fully convinced, and neither was Gaetano, so he had someone keep an eye on the pair—a connected informant, for want of a better description."
I paused and took a deep breath. It was unheard of for me to open up as I was now, but Nikita had earned the right to know.
"After a few months with the other famiglia, Augustus was ordered to start picking off me and my men. Our informant heard a conversation between Augustus and the head of the other famiglia—Edvardo Klumus, speaking about taking Calliro out first to prove his loyalty to his new family. We were given the details, and when Augustus turned up to kill his brother, Gaetano and I took him out at the door to Calliro's home. Calliro heard the gunshots, opened the front door, and found his brother dead at his feet. When he saw me and Gaetano, he went apeshit insisting his brother was only visiting. We tried explaining his brother's new family had marked Calliro as a target and had ordered Augustus to take him out. Calliro refused to listen and threatened to make me pay."
I released one of my hands and sipped at the mug of coffee.
"I thought it was a heat-of-the-moment threat and once Calliro calmed down he would see we had his back. We left him and returned to the house, the same one where you were held, the following day but he was gone. That's when I knew his threat was genuine. I've had men searching for him ever since but there was nothing. It was as if he'd vanished into thin air. In my gut, I knew…I just knew he would wait until he held an advantage. You were that advantage.”
“That’s why you insisted on someone being with me at all times. I thought you were just trying to control my life.”
"I was in a way. I knew having a highly visible wedding was dangerous because it would bring Calliro out and put you at risk. You were far too tempting a reward for a man like Calliro who was filled with so much hatred. When I voiced my opposition to what you and Mother were planning for our wedding, Father insisted I was using my obsession with Calliro to justify my cruelty towards you. He said you were entitled to the wedding of your dreams and refused to accept my reason for wanting it kept low-key.”
"Ben, I have a good idea of your famiglia's business, I'm not naive or stupid. I accept everyone connected is in some level of danger. But if you want to protect me, I need you to be honest and tell me why you want me to follow your instructions. You have seen how defiant I am, and how I fight against being ordered around or having someone trying to dominate my life. Ask my father how difficult I can be at times. I'm sure on some level he was relieved to give me into your hands. If you had explained that you were genuinely worried, Ben, I never would have deceived you the way I did."
“It appears we should have been more open with each other.”
"Yes. This happened because we are both stubborn, pig-headed, and bad-tempered. We're stuck with each other for the foreseeable future, and frankly, Ben, I don't want to keep fighting with you. It's exhausting and I don't really hate you as I have been insisting. In fact…"
“In fact, what?”
“I have started to care about you and your family.”
I squeezed Nikita's hand. "When you were in Calliro's hands, the possibility that I might not see you again scared me to death. Despite targeting you with hatred and threats, I have begun to have feelings for you. It's not love, and I can't ever promise it will be, but I want to get to know you and see if we can find common ground."
“I would like that too.”
Nikita sounded weary, so after treating her face and wrists, I helped her into a nightgown I'd grabbed from her room and removed the blanket. She refused the Panadol I offered, insisting the pain was bearable, but had a few more sips of water. I watched as she shimmied down on the pillows and wriggled until she was comfortable.
“Sweetheart?”
“Yes.
"Don't overact please, but I need to tell you that you're in my bed. Dr Steele said you have to be woken and checked on every couple of hours for the next forty-eight hours. I'm a light sleeper so will hear if you are in distress. The doctor offered a nurse, but I told him I would care for you. I can organise someone if you prefer."
“Ben…Get over yourself and let me sleep. I don’t give a fuck which bed I’m in as long as it’s one of ours.”
Minutes later my wife was deep in sleep, so I fetched my laptop from the downstairs office, and once back in the bedroom, fished the disc Cosimo had given me from the pocket of my jacket.
I watched as the computer came to life, and when it was ready, typed in the security code and slid the disc into the player.
Settling back in the chair, I watched film of the empty basement, where Nikita had been held, fill the screen. Seconds later she entered the space with one of Calliro's men and a woman I assumed was Marilyn whom Nikita had spoken about. She was a woman that was yet to be eliminated.
As the film continued, feelings of anger, admiration for Nikita's strength, and rage at her treatment flowed over and through my body. When Calliro touched her pussy, that was in the clip he'd sent to me earlier, and the man I'd shot did the same, I wanted to bring the fuckers back to life, give them to Nikita, and watch her slice off their dicks and balls and feed them to the local wildlife. What they had would be barely a mouthful for most critters, but still, it would be justice.
Nikita had fought hard. She hadn't begged for her life or given in to her fear. I was so fucking proud of my lady. She had more courage than some of my men. What had really set me back on my arse, metaphorically, was when she admitted to Calliro that I was a good man and she cared about me and my family. I'd believed, when she admitted it earlier, that she might not have been fully aware of what she was saying.
I discharged the disc, placed it back in the case, and after checking my messages, closed down the laptop.
Gathering the tray full of dishes, I padded downstairs and once they were dealt with, headed to Gaetano’s suite where I knocked quietly on the door.
Gaetano opened the door almost immediately. He was dressed in sweats, his hard, broad chest on display, and his hair was damp, I assumed from a shower. The man, like me until now, had no interest in settling down with a woman which was their loss because even I could see he was a thing of beauty.
I held out the disc which he took into his hand.
“I want you to find the woman on this disc and bring her here. We’ll keep her in the basement until Nik is well enough to deal with her. She started this whole thing that caused my wife to suffer so it is only fitting, Nik is the one to dispose of her.”
