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“Charlotte?”
He nods. “We will position her in his view and, using her as a distraction, we will cut the head off the snake.”
“It sounds too easy.” I think he may have underestimated Massimo and he shrugs. “Sometimes it’s better not to overcomplicate things. Massimo won’t be expecting an ambush because it’s a regular arrangement. While he’s dining with his wife and his close friend, you must instruct your friends to use their soldiers and strike his homes, businesses and wipe every trace of Massimo from life.”
“This is huge.” I’m astonished by the magnitude of my grandfather’s plan, and he nods, his lips twisting into the evil grin that earned him his reputation.
“We must go in heavy and leave nothing to chance. Massimo will not leave that restaurant alive. You have my word on that.”
He stands and nods toward the door. “It’s time to eat and Nonna will be angry if we are late. Come, let us enjoy a family meal and talk about more agreeable things and welcome you home where you belong.”
As he slings his arm around my shoulder, it’s as if I just struck a deal with the devil. I have traded my soul and I would do it again in a heartbeat if it brings Winter back to me.
* * *
The next dayI leave for Club Mafia to inform my friends of the change of plan and to set the wheels in motion of the devastation that will bring Massimo Delauren and his empire to a bitter end. But most of all, it will set Winter free and there is a tiny shred of hope in my heart that she will feel the same and our one night only will turn into the start of something beautiful — for both of us.
CHAPTER1
WINTER
Massimo appears to be in a good mood today. He gently hums as he works on painting my face like an artist who is happy with his work for once. Many times, he has been irritated with his attempts at creating the perfect masterpiece of flawless perfection. Often, he would scrawl across my face with lipstick as if trying to cover up his mistakes and ending his attempts with an aggressive show of anger.
Today his touch is light, almost gentle, but I don’t think the impression of his fingers against my skin will ever stop disgusting me.
His aging face, the deep wrinkles put there by years of savagery and disgusting acts against mankind, outline a living monster who should have been slain centuries ago.
The thinning hair that he so desperately tries to freeze in time, dying it black and undergoing surgery to weave the strands of his victim’s hair into his own scalp repulses me. Yes, Massimo is a monster of a unique kind because he plunders their bodies and wears their scalps as a badge of honor. I wonder how many corpses now lie incinerated in his basement, minus their scalps that now live on the head of the man who murdered them.
Sick, twisted, depraved and psychotic. The man who controls every part of me but my soul. That belongs to two men. Three if you count my twin brother Angelo. I endure a living Hell just for them and one day I will slay the monster myself and set us all free.
It’s like a wind whipping around my soul, from the ground up. A constant realization that my day creeps ever closer. Something in the air, a faint stirring of destiny that soothes my wearied soul and gently caresses it like a nurturing mother holding their baby. My time is approaching and the man I call my husband will discover what it’s like to stare death in the face and know there is no escaping it.
I have heard so many pleas and agonized screams from the many victims he has murdered in the cell next door to my own. I shivered while perched on my swing, waiting for my turn to discover what that feels like. Massimo Delauren is one of Mother Nature’s biggest mistakes and when he breathes his last, it will be the most painful experience of his life and my greatest moment.
He leans back and considers his work and I wait for his judgment, fully expecting him to snarl and scream with anger if there is one speck of color out of place or a smudge that renders his art imperfect.
Today he appears happy, and he sings in a childish voice as if he’s four years old.“Pretty, pretty princess, how I love thine beauty. How I love thine smile and how I love thine innocence. Dance with me, my angel, and let thine happiness fill your heart because you belong to me forever until I say otherwise.”
He hums as he pulls me to my feet, and I have no choice but to skip around the dressing room as he twirls me around and laughs like the maniac he is. It’s difficult to dance on the high heels he always makes me wear, but I know one false move would sour his good mood in an instant. He may not hurt me physically, but he has damaged my soul with harsh words, cruel acts, and denying me one thing. Access to the one person who keeps my heart beating. My son. Frankie.
As I twirl in the arms of a sadistic horror show, I calm my frantic heart with images of my son. He is the one thing that counts in my life. A gift from God to accompany me through hell and provide a guiding light to walk toward, and I will not fail.
Frankie is growing up and yet I don’t get to witness those special milestones first hand. He is locked in his nursery with a faceless nanny, and the only time I visit him is when I have earned the reward. I love it when he smiles up at me from his crib, his long lashes dusting against his cheeks and those beautiful brown eyes filled with innocence and happiness. It’s like staring into a duplicate of his father and my heart twists with regret every time I allow myself to let Alessandro back into my head. I try to push him out, to guard my heart against my most treasured memory, but it’s always there reminding me how different my life could have been if fate hadn’t been so cruel.
One night only was all we had, but what a fucking night it was. We took a moment in the madness and made it ours. A selfish act of greed that erupted into one night of pleasure that I will never forget and not just because of the bundle of both our DNA that rests in his crib upstairs.
For once in my life, I was free. I experienced what it was like to be loved, and Alessandro played that part perfectly. I have come to terms with the fact it was one night only, and I regret nothing. Wherever he is now, whoever he is with, doesn’t matter anymore. At least that’s what I’m training my heart to believe.
Above all, I hope he’s happy and not too disappointed in me because to the outside world I love the monster I call my husband and turned my back on the rest of civilization to live in a gilded cage with him controlling the lock and key.
“Come my darling, today we have a very special treat to enjoy.”
My heart sinks when he laughs like the maniac he is. “But first we must visit my wife and Wesley. They will love hearing what I have planned.”
The fear creeps across my skin like a case of poison ivy. Just the thought of returning to the mausoleum Massimo has created in this mansion fills me with desperation. Since learning of its existence, I haven’t slept out of fear of joining the corpses in the sterile space and I’m nauseous at the thought of spending even just one second breathing the rancid air where death lingers, promising a cruel bitter end.
Massimo is eager to get there it seems and moves at a brisk pace along the marble lined corridor. The place is clean and sterile because any speck of dust sends him into a rage. The servants he employs blend into the surroundings and never appear when he is there. It’s as if they fade back into the darkened corners like shadows shrinking from the light.
