AllFreeNovel
Share Us
34
DANTE
“You son of a bitch,”I roar, lunging forward and pulling at my shredded wrists.
“Oh, look, son. He’s finally awake again. Looks like it’s time to begin.” Angelo’s so fucking relaxed it makes my skin crawl. It’s not an act either, and that’s the truly fucked-up part of it. He’s genuinely fine with a little light torture and some heavy mind games. All in a day's work for him.
He’s so much worse than Matteo and I knew about. For all the time we’ve kept our interactions minimal so our plans weren’t discovered, we missed his slide into madness.
“Turn around, Maddie, and get out of here.” Despair grips me in its clutches, tasting like ash and broken dreams on my tongue.
I stare at my girl through a swollen eye, and she finally looks at me. She’d been doing so well at keeping her gaze averted. I knew it wasn’t personal, so I wasn’t offended. Truthfully, I’m not even that bad. That motherfucker ambushed me and got the drop on me. If I wasn’t so fucking blindsided, I’d kick my own ass for missing the signs.
Maddie’s lower lip trembles the longer she looks at me. A busted nose and lip, black eye, rope-burned wrists—it’s all superficial shit. The worst is the dehydration. I’ve been tied up in this fucking warehouse for too long without water in this heat.
She steps toward me, and like a whip, Rafe’s hand reaches out to snag her around the shoulders. He pulls her into his side, and she fights him the entire time. After just a moment, she stands still next to him and shrugs his arm off her shoulder, brows slanted across her perfect icy eyes.
I’ve never seen eyes the color of hers before. They’re perfectly unique—just like she is.
The door slams open again, the metal screeching as it scrapes the floor.
“Right on time—oh for fuck’s sake. That boy made punctuality a fucking personality trait and he’s late today of all days?” Angelo snaps, rubbing the spot between his eyes with his thumb.
Leo comes into view, his steps slow and his gaze bouncing around between all of us. “What the fuck is this?”
He stops just to the side of Maddie as Angelo reaches around and pulls a gun from behind his back. He aims it at her and I feel like I’m having a fucking heart attack. “Whoa, whoa, Dad. What the hell?”
“Now, son, you can’t stay and watch if you don’t follow the rules. Dante, tell my youngest son what the rules are.”
I clench my jaw, ignoring the pain in my face and say, “Listen to your dad, kid. If you don’t, he’s going to shoot Maddie.”
Leo stares at me, jaw dropped and face pale.
“Just listen to what he says, okay, Leo?” Maddie’s sweet voice snaps him out of it a little and he looks at her.
“Jesus, are you okay? I got a text—”
“It wasn’t me. I’m mostly fine.” She glances at me from under her lashes before looking back at Leo. Whatever she was going to say is interrupted by the creaking of the door.
“There he is. The man of the hour!” Angelo crows like he’s the ringleader of a circus.
Matteo stalks inside the warehouse, taking stock of the situation. He stops at the side, his back to the wall and in view of everyone here. “What’s going on, Dad?”
Angelo’s face falls into a familiar sneer. Long gone is the fucking creepy happy façade. “What’s going on, son, is that I know all about your plans to take the family from me. And don’t bother denying it. Your brother already told me everything.”
Matteo’s head whips to Rafe, who’s still holding a gun, pointed at Maddie’s side and he advances on him. “You son of a bitch. I’m going to fucking ki—”
Angelo fires a shot into the ceiling, it pings off of something metal before it lands somewhere in the darkened recess of the space. It does the trick though—everyone freezes. Matteo nearly vibrates with energy as he stares at his father. Hate spews from his gaze, and if I wasn’t in such a precarious position, I might be able to talk him down a little. Get him to find the best plan, but when Maddie’s involved, he loses all sense and reason. Not that I blame him.
“So here’s how it’s going to go. Miss Walsh is going to kill your best friend for conspiring against me, then I’m going to take Miss Walsh for a little bit, just a few months, before I’m going to kill her while you watch.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind? No one is doing any of that,” Matteo screams, veins bulging from his neck.
Angelo scratches his head with the end of the gun. “Either she kills him or I kill him and her and then maybe still take her home with me for a few months.”
Matteo pulls his gun and aims it at his father. Instead of trembling anger, icy rage shines from his eyes. He’s cool and calm and about to fucking murder his father. “I said no.”
Angelo sighs. “I had a feeling you would say that. Rafael.” He tips his head toward him.
