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“He did love my mom,” I insisted. “He made one stupid mistake. Just one. Because if there was more than one, you would have thrown that in my face.”
“Love?” He laughed scathingly. “You’re here in a basement ready to be raped and where is he? He doesn’t give a shit about you. But don’t worry. I’ll give you what you’ve been missing.”
He was breathing hard now, and had been edging closer to me, that long chain giving him plenty of room to move. I pressed myself back against the door.
In horror, I realised it was true. This was why they had made me shower! To temptJonathan. Those bastards!
“You stay away from me,” I warned him.
“I deserve this,” he panted. “They’re going to kill us anyway, so why the fuck shouldn’t I have a little fun on the way out?”
“They might ransom us,” I said. “They want Marco’s gold.”
“You complete moron. Don’t you get it by now? It’s all over tonight. They’re going to break into his house to get the bullion tonight. You think they would have let me overhear that if I wasn’t already a dead man? You think they would have let you see their faces if you weren’t already a dead woman?”
I gasped. Shook my head. But it was true. None of them had ever hidden their faces from me.
“But… but… the money.”
“They don’t need you or me to get the money,” he raged. “The only reason I’m here is to be the fall guy. I’m supposed to rape and kill you, then they’ll ‘catch’ me and take me to Marco for him to kill me. Cut out my tongue first too, so I can’t tattle that it was them who stole that bullion, not me!”
I stared at him in horror. “What?”
He laughed hysterically. “Yeah. It’s that baby in your belly that gave him the idea. That idiot DeAngelis is going to be so furious I killed his woman and unborn child that he’ll want to kill me with his bare hands. But guess what? I’ll probably be carrying a knife, of course. So it’ll be me who gets to kill him.” He laughed.
“No,” I moaned. But I knew he was right. Not just because of the look on his face, but because of what Jacob had already told me.
“Oh dear God,” I whispered. “With Marco dead, he’ll kill you next and get to act the hero. Then he gets to live happily ever after with Vittoria. That was his plan all along.”
Jonathan laughed. “I’ve got to give it to him—that smarmy bastard Jacob has got it all figured out. If I’m going to die, I might as well have my fun. So why don’t you come over here and let’s get acquainted?”
Ignoring him, I turned to the door and pounded on it, screaming for Jacob over and over.
To my shock, he came. He wasn’t in his usual smart suit. He was in black jeans. Black jumper. And I knew that Jonathan was right. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen tonight.
Jacob had said that he wasn’t a bad man, but he was wrong. The look on his face was stony, and yet in his eyes I saw that hint of enjoyment. Everything he had worked for was finally happening, and he had come here to enjoy my pain.
“Please, Jacob,” I begged. “Don’t do this. You said you’re not a killer.”
He actually had the temerity to look regretful. “So you’ve finally figured it out.” He glanced from me to Jonathan. “It’ll go easy on you if you just give in to it. Perhaps if you’re nice to him, he’ll end things easily for you.”
He turned to leave.
“What about Vittoria?” I screamed. “She’s smart. She’ll find out. She’ll never forgive you for killing Marco.”
He turned towards me, eyebrows raised. “Killing him? I don’t plan on killing Marco. He’s going to go to jail for killing Jonathan with his bare hands, in front of witnesses, no less. He’s that obsessed with you that he can be counted on to lose his head. We all know that much by now.”
“What?” said Jonathan, looking angry and shocked.
“Please don’t do this,” I begged Jacob.
“A necessary evil, I’m afraid. If Marco dies on my watch, his uncle, the Don, might be suspicious. I’ll be hounded out of town or killed. But if Marco goes to jail for his own foolish actions and dies there…” He shrugged. “It’s the only way Vittoria and I get to be happy.”
I saw the future unfolding in his eyes. Exactly as he had said. And there was no way for me to stop it.
I wanted to beg. To scream. To rage.
But my hands dropped in mute helplessness to my belly, Cupping it. Gasping in desperation.
