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“Ti amo, il mio re.”
“As I love you,bella.”
Cohen is already on the move, pulling at books on the bookshelf, knocking over bottles of alcohol and random trinkets. Noah starts going through drawers, pulling out handcuffs and lube. Gross. There are papers scattered all over the place and Ren starts shuffling through them, checking for who knows what. I look around and see a painting on the wall and walk up to it. Removing it from the wall, it seems so cliche that there’s a safe behind it, but we’ve already discovered that Lorenzo has exactly zero ability to be original or creative in any way. Which means, I have a real chance at cracking this safe.
Ren and Matteo’s birthday? No. “Ren, what’s Lorenzo’s birthday?”
“It wouldn’t be that. Try your mom’s instead.”
I enter the month and then the day and… it opens. “No shit,” I whisper to myself. This guy is chalk full of mental instability.
Inside the safe are stacks of cash, two envelopes addressed to each of his sons, and a small remote. I grab the envelopes and the remote. There’s only one button on it and it’s not a big red detonator button like the one’s for bombs in movies, so I shoot my shot and press it.
When one of the bookshelves slides to the side and reveals a door, my mouth damn near drops to the floor. I can’t believe that worked. “Someone tell me that we’re going to find Matteo behind that door,” I beg them quietly.
“We’re going to find him Q, don’t worry,” Cohen says, pushing the door open.
We all raise our guns back up protectively and walk silently into the dark space. Ren and Cohen have flashlights on and I’ve never been so happy to not be alone in the dark. This place is next level creepy. It’s a genuine pathway that leads to a small output of light at the end. It looks like there’s a few smaller paths leading to different spots that I imagine are all different escape routes. We’ll explore those on the way out.
An ominous feeling travels the length of my body and goosebumps raise all over. The hair on the back of my neck stands at attention as we get closer and hear the sound of flesh against flesh and small grunts of pain.
We sneak up to the lit space and peer in at the exact moment Lorenzo pulls a large blade out and runs the tip of it down Teo's arm. “Tell me, son. When did you become so weak?”
“Fuck off.”
“Falling for that girl was a problem. We’re going to fix it. Haven’t I taught you better? To fake intimacy is one thing. To fuck her? Definitely. Use up pussy until it’s no longer good and then dump her, sure. Trust her? Love her? Become weak for her? Unacceptable. You disgust me. Now I need to break you and fix the mistakes I made with you.”
“I guess I didn’t say it loud enough the first time. Fuck. Off. You’ll have to kill me because there’s nothing in the world you can do that will erase my love for Alessandra. Our love is transcendent. It will surpass the laws of time and space and survive even death itself.”
Lorenzo looks down at his tied up son and stares for a minute in silence, watching him with a strange, sick sort of fascination.
“Then kill you, I shall. First though, I think we’ll have a little fun with your precious Alessandra. She’ll be joining us for family dinner tonight and you can watch on as I break her in your place. Only when you beg me to stop will I offer her the kind mercy of death,” he promises with a smile.
A shiver runs down my spine and I can’t tell if it’s from fear or excitement. Probably a little of both. Anyone who isn’t a little bit afraid in a situation like this is either a liar or a total whack job. I decide it’s time to step out from the shadows to have a little fun of my own. One of the guys tries to grab my arm and pull me back but I’m not fighting them on this. I will save Matteo so I shrug them off and shake my head. There’s barely enough light for them to see my face so I hope like hell they see it when I mouth, “stay here”. I assume they do when nobody follows me into the lit doorway.
“Sorry to start the party early dear father-in-law, but it seems I’ve double booked myself for tonight and can’t make it. I hope my being here now will suffice,” I grin.
“Alessandra, no! He has men crawling all over this place and Piero—”
“Dead. All dead. Princess Peach too,” I tell them and my smile widens when a brief glimpse of fear flashes in Lorenzo’s eyes. I walk toward them slowly enough that he doesn’t do anything out of panic, yet confidently enough that he knows I won’t stop until he’s dead.
“Impossible,” Lorenzo scoffs, moving closer to Matteo. “Come any closer and I’ll slit his throat.”
He’s scared now. He should be. If he’s smart, he’ll realize that I’m not alone. Hopefully, I’ve knocked him off his game enough that he’s frazzled and won’t think about it.
“How about this instead. We can make a trade. My life for his.”
“No!” Matteo screams, fighting against his bindings. All his movement causes his father’s blade to dig into his throat and my chest tightens at the stream of blood that flows from the wound.
“Matteo, stop. You know he won’t quit until he’s won. You have too much to offer this world. I’m an orphan, a street kid. I’m meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Your father has some misguided notion that I’m important when we both know that’s not true. The only thing in this world that matters to me is you and your brothers. I need you to live for them. I need you to live for me.Please,” I all but beg him.
“I can’t live this life without you. I won’t,” he replies.
“You won’t have to. Our love is transcendent. I will always be with you,” I say, repeating his words back to him as I lower my weapons slowly for Lorenzo to see. “Let him go and you can have me. You can kill me. You can marry me for the position of power you so desperately want. Whatever it takes. Just let him walk out of this room right now before the others come looking for me. Sneaking out will only get me so far with those guys, you must know that. We’re running out of time,” I urge, pushing him into a metaphorical corner.
I see the indecision in Lorenzo’s gaze before he falls victim to the pressure I’ve put him under. How can he not see that it’s really him that’s the weak one? It’s no wonder he’s had to play games and manipulate people to obtain his power. He’s not strong enough to take it. He uses the big blade in his hand to cut through the leather straps holding Matteo down.
“Good, now Teo, I need you to walk to the edge of the room so your dad doesn’t think you’re making any sudden movements toward my guns. I’m going to walk to him as you walk away. Don’t go find the guys and look for redemption, I’m strong enough to handle this.”
