I bit the inside of my cheeks to hold back the tears and the revulsion washing over me.
Fortunately, he stopped. The skull-faced man pulled his hand away and brought it to his mouth, making me want to vomit as he licked his fingers.
“I like them younger, you know? At five years old, they’re just right.” My eyes widened. I finally realized the kind of monster I was dealing with. “But I know how much Don Vicari likes that cunt of yours, Signorina Parker. He’s watching right now, you know? I wonder if he liked seeing me work my fingers inside his woman?” My lower lip trembled. “The rest of the fun will have to wait, unfortunately. As I said, for now, I just need your housekeeping skills.”
Accorinti nodded, and a hooded figure threw me on top of Martino Accuri’s lifeless body. I shuddered, overcome by nausea and horror.He was still warm. That smell of blood took me back to the train tracks, twelve years ago, and clouded my mind.
“Butcher the body, Signorina Parker.” The order made me freeze. “Into small pieces. The size of… I don’t know, a chicken?There’s a roll of trash bags on the table. Separate everything properly.”
“Please…” I begged for the first time, writhing on the floor, getting down on my knees before that hideous creature and his men. “Please… I can’t do it.”
I wasn’t lying. It was unthinkable for me to dismember a human being.
Accorinti sighed, that malicious smile ever-present on his monstrous face. “I recommend you start by removing the guts.”
“No… No! Please, I can’t do it! I—”
“Elizabeth Parker.” The name was a punch to my stomach. “Your aunt. Pregnant. Completely clueless. She lives in Silver River, Mississippi. Her biker boyfriend spends his days working at a local diner.” I shivered, sweat beginning to trickle down my skin. “Do you know how much a pregnant woman is worth on the market, Signorina Parker?”
“Don’t hurt my aunt.”
He whistled. “She’s worth a lot of money. There are some seriously messed-up people in your country, Signorina. The elites, they like to eat newborns. Literally. Newborns are a rare delicacy. But you’ll only know that when you try it. It’s the tenderest of meats. Maybe I’ll let you sample some in the near future. For now…” There were no words to describe my horror. “If you don’t want your aunt to end up on some millionaire’s dinner table and your cousin on a plate, be a goodgattinaand do as I say.”
“I—I don’t know how,” I stammered, the words catching in my throat.
Cissio Accorinti looked at his soldiers. “Put the body on the table and explain to Signorina Parker how to proceed.”
The skull-faced man disappeared. I stood up and dragged myself toward a wall, realizing my hands and knees were covered in fresh blood. Shaking, with tears once again streaming down my face, I looked toward one of the cameras.
My face twisted in a sob.Camillo, get me out of here.
Chapter 53
Camillo Vicari
August, 2025
Calabria, Italy
Be strong, Piccola Furetta.
My chest was a tangle of emotions I struggled to suppress. That bastard. Thatfiglio di puttanahad laid his hands on her…
At that moment, on a tablet screen, we were watching a scene straight out of a horror movie. Between sobs and terrified moans, Daisy was stuffing Martino Accuri’s guts into a black bag. A soldier prodded her back with the barrel of a rifle, urging her to move, and I could hardly wait to get in there.
“Figlio di cane…” Filippo Barone muttered, sitting to my left in the backseat. “He’s breaking her, Camillo.”
“Sì. To get back at me.” I wanted to protect Daisy from the world, but in that moment, I was reduced to a hollow shadow of a man. One who understood his own limitations and was confronted by the consequences of his actions.
For her sake, we both had to be strong. For her sake, I would have to be strong. Because when that nightmare came to an end, if she wanted to stay, I would have to be man enough to send her away. To send her as far away as possible from the reality of my world. That was the only way to protect her.
The car filled with Daisy’s screams of horror and the sound of a chainsaw. Accorinti’s soldati were forcing her to cut Martino piece by piece. Blood and flesh were spurting everywhere, covering her from head to toe. She was trembling. My Piccola Furetta was trembling like a leaf in the wind, and I still couldn’t do anything to help her.
“Luca.” I looked up at the rearview mirror. Luca was in the driver’s seat. “Will they be much longer?”
“They should be arriving any minute now.”
And then, they were.
