There’s no doubt that he could be lying, that he could be making this up just to fuck with Roman’s head, but the pride in his tone, the joy at finally getting to tell his son what he’s done is just too real. The baby really is Giovanni’s son.
“Weak,” Giovanni spits, looking over the three of them before turning to me. “This is what you’ve done to them. They were strong, fearless. They would have been gods among mere men, but you made them weak.”
I shake my head, knowing just how wrong he is. “No,” I tell him. “They’re not weak. They’re the strongest men I know, and you’re just scared because you’ve realized that they’re so much more than you will ever be, and without you, they will rise up to create an empire you could only ever dream of. You’re the only weak bastard I see, and it’s about time someone put a fucking bullet right through your head.”
“My, oh my, Miss Moretti. You’ve got a nasty little mouth on you,” he says. “If my sons were half as strong as you thought they were, they would have knocked that shit right out of you, brought you in line to be a good little whore, but you’re wild and reckless, which is exactly why I need you.”
Giovanni meets the eyes of his soldier. “Pull her to her feet.”
He does exactly as he’s been asked, yanking me up by the throat until my feet are firmly planted beneath me. Giovanni strides across the blood-soaked lawn, looking over me with interest. “You know, I think there’s going to be a change of plans,” he announces, his voice dropping low as his tongue rolls over his bottom lip. “I had hoped to marry you off to Roman to gain access to the Moretti fortune, but now that Ariana is nowhere to be seen, I think I might take you for myself.”
Horror tears at me as I suck in a gasp, my eyes flicking straight to the boys to see the same disgust reflected in their eyes. Marcus shakes his head, the idea of losing me to his father tearing at his soul, while Levi clenches his jaw, looking as though he’s about ready to break free of his binds and tear his father’s heart out of his body with his bare hand. But Roman, he simply looks broken. His father took Ariana from him as a young man, and while that was no great loss in the end, it has still scarred him, and he always believed that Giovanni killed Felicity, the woman he wanted to marry. Learning that she was alive and pregnant this whole time, only now to realize that child wasn’t his … fuck.
And now they could be losing me too.
No fucking way. I’ll never let it happen.
I spit at Giovanni, hating myself for the atrocious act, but feeling it’s necessary seeing as though my hands are pulled behind my back, making it impossible to gouge his eyes right out of his face. “Over my dead fucking body,” I growl, watching as he retrieves a handkerchief from his pocket and wipes his face. “I would rather swim in a pool of acid and feel my eyeballs explode inside my body than become your wife.”
“Careful now,” he mutters darkly. “You’re tempting me, but don’t worry. I’ll be sure to use you for everything you’re worth before letting you drown in acid.”
Bile rises in my throat as my chest heaves with heavy breaths. “I wonder what my mother would say if she heard this,” I tell him, trying to be brave though I know he sees right through me. “In fact, her men only stormed through here this afternoon. I wouldn’t put it past her to keep eyes and ears in this place.”
His eyes flash with a hint of nervousness, and as his nostrils flare, he quickly pulls himself together before leaning into me. “I hope she’s watching and listening to every little thing,” he murmurs. “Because then she’ll get to see exactly what I do to her precious daughter and hear her blood-curdling screams as I take her life from this world. Now, be a good little wifey and play a game with me.”
Giovanni turns his back and strides toward his sons, his shoulders softly bouncing as though he’s laughing. He reaches Roman, the furthest from me before turning to meet my stare, my stomach sinking with dread.
I slowly shake my head, knowing exactly what game he intends to play. “Tell me, wife. Which of my sons will die today?”
I don’t say a word, remembering exactly what happened last time. He didn’t have the balls to kill his sons, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t end that night with a brutal murder.
“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,” he sings almost like a chant, and then in a flash of lightning, he grips Roman’s shoulder as his hand whips toward him, the long, delicate blade sparkling in the dim moonlight.
It pierces right through his stomach and a wailing scream tears out of me. The soldier holds me down as Roman’s eyes widen in agony. His head whips toward me, his broken stare boring into mine as Marcus and Levi are held back by the guards.
Giovanni grins as the long blade is yanked back, sending a spray of blood across the lawn. He steps back from Roman, and the guard releases him, letting his heavy body fall to the ground and slowly bleed out.
Giovanni laughs as the screams continue to pull from deep within me, my throat burning from the piercing sound, but Giovanni is just as ruthless as his sons have always warned. He takes a step, his eyes sparkling with laughter, and without remorse, he looks me dead in the eye, grabs Marcus by the shoulder, and plunges the dripping blade deep into his stomach.
My body goes numb as Marcus lets out a pained cry, and my screaming turns into a horrendous wail. He grunts and the sound kills what little is left of my heart. “No,” I whimper as Marcus’ face turns a ghostly shade of white.
Levi pulls hard, fighting with everything he’s got knowing what’s coming next, and I cry out for all three of them.
The knife is pulled free from Marcus’ stomach, creating the same sickening splash against the grass and just like Roman, he’s pushed down into the hard ground to bleed out, his sad eyes pinned to mine, begging me to run.
I pull against the man at my back, my efforts weak and useless as I watch with a heavy heart. Levi’s eyes are on mine, giving the soldiers hell as he tries with every last ounce of energy he has to try and free himself and get to me, but we’re out of time. “Don’t look,” he begs me, trying to save me from my own demons. “Don’t look.”
A heaving sob tears from my chest as Giovanni steps up to his last son and I shake my head. “No, don’t,” I cry, the sound broken over the building lump in my throat. “Don’t do it. You’ve proved your point. Let him go.”
“And only do two thirds of a job?” he howls with laughter. “I hardly think so.”
And just like that, the knife sinks deep into Levi’s gut as the final part of my world is shattered.
Levi cries out, his head falling forward as the soldier releases him, letting his body fall into Giovanni, sinking the knife deep into his stomach. He groans, the sound sending a wave of agony soaring over me as I watch my worst nightmare come true.
Giovanni pushes back against his son’s shoulder and yanks the long, thin blade out of him before dropping it into the grass and wiping his hand on his black suit. He releases Levi and I watch as he crumbles into the grass with his dying brothers, all three of their dark, obsidian eyes locked on mine, Roman looking as though he almost welcomes death.
Tears fall from my eyes, my whole world crumbling around me with absolutely no hope. Giovanni strides toward me, and I don’t even bother to look up. “Come now, Miss Moretti,” he tells me, stepping into me and curling his blood-stained hand around my arms. “Let’s make this official. You will become my bride.”