And now he’s going to use them on my mother if he manages to capture her.
That thought makes me woozy and I stumble back but before I can leave the basement, I fall to the floor as darkness overtakes me.
Chapter Twelve
Emma
Ijerk awake.
My body is on the cold, stone floor. My dress is wrinkled. And Leo is standing over me with worry in his eyes.
“Emma?” He helps me get to my feet. “I came down here and found you like this. What are you doing?”
I point at the torture table. “You’re going to use that on my mother, aren’t you?”
“If I have to, yes. But I would much prefer to use it on your father. I want him dead. I won’t deny that. But you shouldn’t have seen that. This wasn’t for your eyes.”
“Wasn’t for my eyes?” I ask, pulling away from him. “You locked me in that cage, right there. I think I’m allowed to see this place.”
“So then why were you on the floor?”
“I passed out,” I admit. “It scared me. Sometimes you still scare me. And other times…”
He quirks an eyebrow. “And other times?”
“Other times you make me feel good. Alive. I don’t understand it. How can I like a man who wants to torture people? Torture my parents?”
“You don’t even know your father.”
“No. But maybe I’d like to know him.”
Leo roughly shakes his head. “He will hurt you, Emma. I know it. He will use you how he wants. Why do you think your mother kept him from you?”
“My mother is not in her right mind. She never has been. Maybe I want to know my father. I’d like the chance.”
“In a dream world, you deserve that. But not in this one, I’m afraid. I am at war with your father. The moment I can kill him, I will. You promised to stay here with me. I won’t hurt you. But you can’t go to your father. Who knows what he’ll do to you?”
“I just don’t know if I can agree with you torturing my family. I don’t know. It’s all so… terrifying.”
He sighs, running his hand down his face. “This is the real me, Emma. I am a mafia man. You need to accept that.”
“I don’t need to accept anything,” I snap. “You forced me to be your prisoner. You deceived me. Tricked me. And now you’re being kind to me? How can I trust you?”
“Fine. You want to know what kind of man your father is? I’ve already told you. He’s the kind who stands back and watches as his brother murders two people in front of their little boy. That’s the kind of man he is. But if you don’t believe me, then I’ll have to make you see your father for who he really is. I’ll find him.Bring him here. You’ll see.” Leo storms out of the basement, leaving me feeling nothing but icy coldness.
Leo
Getting Alessandro is not going to be easy. He’s always surrounded by guards and is a good shot himself. But I need Emma to know why I am doing this. Why her father cannot be trusted. Why I took her in the first place. It was all to prevent a war.
If I want Emma to want me, she needs to let her parents go. I saw instantly how horrible her mother was to her. And I know Alessandro is no better. He will hurt her. I feel it in my gut.
“We need to get Alessandro,” I say to Gabriel, bursting into his home office.
“That’s what we’ve been doing.”
“No. I mean, we need to get him. I want to torture him. I need to do that.”
Gabriel sits back in his seat, staring at me calmly. “You’re angry, Leo. I can sense it.”
