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I don’t return the hug, but just like all the other times, it doesn’t faze him. He just holds me tighter and lays a kiss on my head. “I told you not to call me that.” I pull from his arms and plop in one of the wood chairs.
“My apologies. I’ve missed you, and the name just pops out. How are you?” he asks sincerely and takesmy hands.
“I’m stuck in a mental institution, Sebastian. How the hell do you think I’m doing?”
“Sí. That was a stupid question, but I have good news for you. I’ve decided it would be best to takeyou home.”
I sit up straight, hope tickling my nerves. “Really? You’re taking me backto Texas?”
His smile drops, and his eyes grow sad. “Greta, you’re my wife. I’m taking you back toourhome. Though not the one in Rome but in Germany where there’s more land.”
“You want to take me to Germany?” I squeak and stand so suddenly that my chair falls back with a resounding bang. I don’t have anything against Germany, but it will make it much harder for Emil to find me.
He stands and picks my chair up before taking my shoulders in his large hands and applying slight pressure to have me sit down. “In Germany, we will have more privacy, and you can enjoy nature while recovering. I’ll be honest: I thought this was the best place for you, but see that I was very wrong. You will have weekly therapy sessions and a nurse on staff to help with any … issues that may arise.”
“Issues meaning if I suddenly decide to murder everyone in their sleep?” I’m only half kidding because if the warning bells tell me anything, it’s that this man is not who he pretends to be.
Sebastian laughs and kisses my knuckles. “I do not foresee you doing something sodrastic.”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Didn’t you hear I’m insane? Regardless, I’m not going to Germany, Sebastian.” I pull my handsfrom his.
His eyes darken with the rejection before he leans forward with his elbows on his knees. “Not yet. You’re right. We will stay in Bolzano for a few weeks while the restorations on our home in Germany are completed,” he speaks softly, almost reverently, but like a switch has flipped, his eyes turn cold, and his hands fist. “I am your husband, and seeing as you’re considered unfit to take care of yourself, I have the last say,Piccolo Uccello. And I say you’re leaving this hospital today, and we’re going to Bolzano, then to Germany. Do you understand?” I shiver at the malice in his tone and the maniacal look inhis eyes.
“Yes,” I whisper, my voice drowned out by the warning bells blaring in my head.
“Buona.” He smiles. “Diego will take you to your room to change while I take care of your discharge papers.” He stands and takes me with him with our handsentwined.
“But what about Doctor Meyer? She said she can’t sign off on letting me out.” I argue only because I have the distinct feeling that I’m safer in this place than I’ll be in this man’s home.
“You let me worry about the doctor. Now go.” He turns me toward Diego, and as I walk to my room, it feels like I’m walking tomy demise.
2
The night Greta escaped
Emiliano
“Are youVipera?” I ask my father for what seems like the hundredth time. The bastard can take torture like a skilled soldier. Impressive for someone who never spent a day in the service. Regardless, the bastard keeps his silence.
The moment I step into the warehouse, I know that my father will meet a brutal end––after I get every detail of his trafficking operation. I want every player in his twisted game, and I want itnow.
I have the woman I love waiting for me back at my penthouse. I don’t want to be in a putrid-smelling warehouse surrounded by my men, waiting for my worm of a father to talk. I haven’t spoken the words to her, but I vow I will the moment I step through those doors tonight. Then I will lay her onourbed and worship her bodywith mine.
“You think you have it all figured out, don’t you, boy? But you know nothing,” Idris rasps through blood-stained teeth. My fist comes down with a sickening crunch. If his jaw wasn’t broken before, it is now. My men had time to work out their frustration; now it’s my turn. He howls as bones crack andteeth fly.
Music to my fucking ears.
“I know you play a role in the abductions here in Rome and that the Conti debt was never ours to collect. Is that the real reason you wiped out the Vasile family? Did they even take my mother?” I ask through clenched teeth.
“Your mother was a traitor and a whore! She thought she could take you and run away? I knew her––” I silence him with a blow to his gut.
“You will not speak about my mother like that. She was a good woman stuck with a cruel bastard for ahusband.”
He gasps out a laugh. “You have no idea what she was or what she did. I kept her secret and allowed her to live––until she thought she couldleave me.”
Done with his bullshit, I fist a hand in his hair and wrench his head back. “Stop talking in fucking riddles,” I grit.
“I don’t think I will. Beat me to within an inch of my life, boy. You will get nothing from me.” He grins at me, his jaw swollen and slightly off toone side.
