39
Bain
With all options exhausted,I stood outside the Vitucci compound. Moments earlier, I’d seen the limo that held Anya and Nova Vitucci inside enter the gates. I’d watched as Anya had gotten out at the mansion, the main house on the compound. She’d said something teasing to her daughter-in-law that I hadn’t been close enough to hear before shutting the door.
Anya had entered the mansion, and the driver had continued on with Nova in the back. She and Ryan had one of the newer houses on the compound grounds, according to Conor’s inside contacts. Wherever they had hidden Ciana, they were only now returning, which told me nothing. Ciana could have been in Siberia for all I knew, damn it. Now that Anya and Nova were back, I just needed to get them to talk to me.
Whatever they wanted me to do, I would do it. If all they could offer me was one last look at my wife in person—so I could tell her how much I loved her, that I was sorry for whatever I’d done to make her want to leave me—I would take it.
The last time I’d come there, I’d been prepared for war. But this time, I couldn’t use that same tactic. It would only hurt my beauty more, and I’d already promised her I would never hurt her again. Moving out of my hiding spot, I made myself known to the guards at the gate.
As soon as they recognized me, they pulled their guns. “Stop right there, O’Farrell,” someone snarled.
I lifted my hands, showing them I was unarmed. “I need to speak to Anya and Nova Vitucci,” I announced. “Strip me and put me in shackles, I don’t care what you do to me, just let me talk with them.”
My command seemed to confuse them, and given the state I was in physically, it was obvious I was no threat to anyone but myself. Someone grabbed me, patting me down to ensure I wasn’t hiding a weapon. I didn’t struggle, not even when someone punched me in the kidney and then knocked my feet out from under me. Another guard tried to render me unconscious by hitting me with the butt of their gun, but all that did was make me bleed.
I sighed from where I was on my knees. “Are you done yet? You’re wasting time.”
One of the other men spoke into his communication device, telling whoever that I was at the gate and what I wanted. Several minutes later, Anya Vitucci appeared in front of me herself.
“Well, this is a lot faster than I anticipated,” she muttered, staring down at me dispassionately with her cold blue eyes. “You look half dead.”
“I am half dead without her,” I rasped. “She’s the only soul I have. I need her to be human.”
She pressed her lips into a hard line, but after a long moment of silently observing me, she finally lifted her phone to her ear. It rang several times before someone finally answered. “We have company, l’vitsa. Bring Ryan so we can have a chat with him.” She didn’t wait for a reply before hanging up. Turning to the guards who were still standing behind me, she rolled her eyes at them. “Do you feel better now? Did making him bleed a little make you feel like you have bigger dicks?”
They all lowered their gazes, heat filling their faces, their ears turning red.
“Pick your brand-new ball sacs up off the ground and drag O’Farrell inside.” As she walked away, expecting them to do as she commanded, I heard her mutter, “Useless men.”
My legs scraped across the asphalt through my pants as two of the guards dragged me inside the gates and then up the steps to the mansion, but they didn’t take me inside. “You’ll excuse my not inviting you into my home,” Anya said with a grimace. “My daughter is having a friend over, and I’d rather not embarrass her by getting blood everywhere if I have to shoot you in the head.”
I shrugged. “At least I’d be put out of my misery.”
She didn’t respond to that, but she gave me another long, searching look before turning away. Walking to the edge of the top step, she stood there waiting until Ryan and his wife finally appeared over ten minutes later.
My cousin marched angrily toward me, the rage on his face contorting his features. But little Nova, so pretty with her long blond hair and green eyes, jumped in front of him. “Whatever you’re thinking right now, stop,” she commanded, making him take a step back. “I know you dislike him, but whatever else is going on with C right now, she has three beautiful little girls who love their father. And whether we like it or not, this bastard is their dad. Think of them, Ryan.”
He muttered a curse and took several steps back. Thrusting his hands into his suit pockets, he glared down at me.
Turning, Nova stepped toward me. She was even smaller than I remembered, but I was glad to see her alive and whole, even if she was responsible for taking my life away from me. Ciana loved her. The two of them weren’t just cousins—they were best friends.
“How is she?” I asked, needing to know.
“She’s…sad,” Nova answered honestly, making my chest tighten with pain. “How’s your Cori?”
I frowned at the acid in her tone. “Dead,” I told her honestly, making her blink in surprise.
“Dead?” she repeated. “But…”
“But?” Ryan asked behind her when she trailed off.
She grimaced and looked over at her husband. “Ciana said this Cori chick was Bain’s mistress. That he went to Ireland just to hook up with her. Seemed like he was really excited to be seeing her again after so long apart.”
“What?” I bellowed, jumping to my feet. I grabbed for her arms, but before I could touch her, she dropped me on my ass. Stunned, I tried to catch my breath as the reality of what she’d just said continued to crash through me, even as I tried to figure out how that little girl got me on my ass so damn easily. “Why would she think such a thing?” I demanded when I could speak again.
“Plenty of reasons,” Nova said with a shrug. “For one, you said you would take care of this Cori person, but it’s been months. According to Ciana, you don’t normally hesitate to take care of problems, unless you don’t want to do it. She seems to feel that your feelings for Cori were stronger than you let on. For another, C said you hadn’t seemed interested in touching her, and she figured you were desperate for a taste of pussy.”
“She really thinks that?” I whispered in horror. I’d actually made my wife think I didn’t want her. This was one of the worst mistakes I’d ever made with her.
“Apparently,” she confirmed.
“Fuck,” I groaned. “Where did I fuck up this time? What have I done to make her think such nonsense?”