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“And if he doesn’t cooperate?” I hissed, turning to look out of the window so I didn’t punch the man’s face.
“Then we show him what will happen to his little sorella,” Lorenzo smirked.
I turned in rage, my eyes narrowing on him. “What?”
“We start small. Her hair. A finger. Maybe video a beating. And if that isn’t enough… we send her back in bits,” he shrugged like he was suggesting what we should do to a prized cow rather than a woman. I shouldn’t have been surprised. This was the way of our world. Many leaders kidnapped other families’ women and raped, mistreated or murdered them to gain the upper hand or seek revenge. But I had never been one of those leaders. Nor had my papi. Women and children were not killed. One rule I never budged on.
In a flash, I had crossed the room and punched him hard in the stomach, ensuring I just missed his ribs. He crumpled over holding his belly as he tried to recover from the force of my fist.
“You won’t touch her,” I growled in his ear. "Barbieris don't kill women. But I have no problem ending you if you ever try it."
His frown deepened and his stare turned hard with judgement as he stood upright. “You are acting as if you care about the girl. She is your enemy, Alessio! Everything your father wants is within our grasp now. We can take Giovanni down. He will comply and we will win this war.”
I knew he was right. This would be the quickest way to damage Giovanni beyond repair. The Barbieri name would rule the North by the end of the year. But I was not about to allow any harm to come to Elenora to achieve it.
“Fine. We will send the bodyguard back to Gio with a message,” I groaned. There was nothing that could be done now. Pretending we only wanted to talk to Elenora and sending her back to Buccini with a message would do fuck all. Lorenzo was right. We had to keep her. “But she comes back to the South with me.”
I started for the door but he spun me by the arm. I glared down at his hand and he removed it quickly. “That is a bad move. It will take longer to get things sorted if she is in the South. If we have to do anything with her, it will be easier to—”
“She comes with me,” I held his gaze as I pronounced every word slowly with unrelenting authority. I had no idea how I was going to handle having Elenora Buccini in my home, as my captive, but all I knew was that I couldn’t leave her here with him. Storming back into the living room, Isabelle looked up from her position on the chair opposite Elenora and smiled. I ignored her and went straight for Finn, yanking him up to his feet by his arm.
“What are you doing? Leave him alone,” Elenora shouted furiously; complete panic in her tone as she watched me throw the man into my soldiers.
Ignoring her, I turned and ordered them to take him down to the torture chambers. I would be there in a moment.
“No! Please,” she begged, “Don’t hurt him!”
I stared at her, seeing how much he meant to her and I couldn’t help the jealousy it caused. Pushing it down into the deepest cavern of my soul, I turned to Fabi.
“Get her ready to leave. She comes with us.”
“No! I won’t go anywhere with you! No fucking way!” She stood up, and started hurling abuse at me in the form of every Italian curse word under the sun. Fuck, that filthy mouth of hers.
“Why is she going with you?” Isabelle ordered, glaring at me from the sofa. “Lorenzo! Why is she not staying here where we can torture her?”
“It’s been decided, Belle. I don’t want to hear any more about it,” Lorenzo stalked into the room and for once I had a small dusting of respect for the man as he put Isabelle in her place. This had nothing to do with her.
“NO! Keep me here. Torture me for all I care! Just don’t make me go with him!” Elenora screamed and my feet froze on my mission to leave.
Did she seriously hate me that much? I turned slowly to regard her and our eyes connected, sending a buzz of excitement through me. No. She didn’t hate me at all. That was her problem. I could see it in her eyes. She was terrified. Not of me but of herself. She knew she wouldn’t be able to resist me. A slow devious smile crawled up my face and I winked at her before heading down to the torture chambers to see an old friend.
They Want a War…
Giovanni
“You really want to do this, Gio?” Maximus inquired, looking over the contract I had already presented to Sergio, a dealer from the South. “There is no turning back, once we do.” He affirmed resolutely.
The long board table was full, seating all of my trusted capos, Enzo and Maximus as we drew up shrewd strategies on dealing with the threat of the Barbieris.
“If Barbieri wants to steal business from me, then he best be prepared for the backlash,” I smirked, bringing my cigar to my lips and inhaling a long, bitter drag. “I found the weak link in his chain. His main dealer, Sergio. He is in huge debt and just got on the wrong side of Alessio which resulted in him losing a hand. He’s an easy target and has already agreed. The next large import for Alessio will be rerouted straight to us. Importing the goods through Sicilia to Roma to meet with our men.”
“And how are you going to offer this man protection? If Alessio finds him, he’s dead.”
“I've paid off his debts. He will get new identities for him and his family and I will set him up in a new city in the North where he can work for us.”
Max whistled and shook his head, “It’s a lot of effort just to fuck with Alessio. We still have no solid proof that the Barbieris have even broken the treaty. If they figure out you are behind this before we have anything on them, it will look like you are the cause of war between the North and South. The commission will have your head.”
“Which is why I need you to find the fucking proof,” I growled, losing my patience. Turning to Leo, my Capo of Venice, I asked, “Have you found anything?”
