Raffaele flushed red. “You aren’t a member of the Outfit. Nobody would tell you anything even if I raped her. I could break her in for you. Maybe I’ll even film it for you.”
I grabbed the bastard and threw him to the ground. His face hit the floor hard and I dug my knee into his back. I wanted to break his spine in two and rip off his fucking balls. Then he’d never even think about using the words ‘rape’ and ‘Aria’ in the same sentence again.
Raffaele struggled and cursed. He was like a bothersome fly: weak and disgusting. Worth less than the dirt on my shoes. That he even dared think about touching Aria, about breaking her in…I grabbed his wrist and pulled out my knife.
I should cut off his balls and dick. That was what he deserved. But this wasn’t my territory. Even though it pissed me off, I looked at Scuderi for permission.
Scuderi nodded. I brought my knife down on Raffaele’s pinky, cutting through bone and flesh and relishing in his pussy screams.
A female cry echoed through the walls.
I let go of Raffaele and stood. He cradled his hand like a baby, a blubbering mess. Disgusting. Romero and Cesare had drawn their weapons.
Scuderi went to open a secret door, revealing the redheaded sister and Aria.
“Of course,” Scuderi hissed. “I should have known it was you causing trouble again.” He wrenched the redhead away from Aria and into the lounge, raised his hand, and slapped her hard across the face. My fingers on the knife tightened.
And then the fucker stepped toward Aria, raising his arm again. Fury burned through me. Mine.
I caught his wrist, stopping him. It took all my willpower not to ram the bloody knife into his stomach and let him bleed out like a pig.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Umberto drawing his knife and Scuderi reaching for his gun. Matteo, Romero, and Cesare had drawn their own guns.
I hated the words I had to speak next. “I didn’t mean disrespect, but Aria is no longer your responsibility. You lost your right to punish her when you made her my fiancée. She’s mine to deal with now.”
Scuderi glanced at the ring on Aria’s finger, marking her as mine. He gave a nod and I released him.
“That’s true.” He stepped back from me and gestured at Aria. “Then would you like the honor of beating some sense into her?”
I turned my eyes on Aria. She was pale. Her fearful eyes darted to the knife in my blood-covered hand, then back up to my face. She froze. The idea of raising my hand against her was ludicrous. What kind of man hit a woman? And Aria? No, the mere idea set my teeth on edge. She weighed less than half of me. She was innocent and vulnerable. “She didn’t disobey me.”
Scuderi looked fucking unhappy. As if I gave a fuck. “You’re right, but as I see it, Aria will be living under my roof until the wedding, and since honor forbids me to raise my hand against her, I’ll have to find another way to make her obey me.” He hit Aria’s sister a second time, and I had half a mind to intervene again, but that was beyond my control.
“For every one of your wrongdoings, Aria, your sister will accept the punishment in your stead,” Scuderi said. Aria looked as if she’d rather have him hit her than her sister. She was way too innocent and gentle for someone like me.
Scuderi turned to the bodyguard. “Umberto, take Gianna and Aria to their rooms and make sure they stay there.” Umberto sheathed his knife and led them out. Aria avoided looking at me as she helped her sister.
Raffaele’s whimper drew my attention back to him. He was still clutching his hand, crying like the fucking wimp he was. Matteo held out a tissue. I took it and cleaned my hand and knife roughly. I’d need water and soap to get rid of it completely.
“I trust you’ll keep Aria safe from male attention,” I said coldly, fixing Scuderi with a hard look. “I don’t want him anywhere near her. If I hear that someone as much as looks at her the wrong way, nothing will stop me from dragging Chicago into the bloodiest war you can imagine. I don’t share what’s mine, and Aria is mine. Only mine. She’s under my protection from this day on.”
Scuderi’s mouth thinned, but Fiore would lose his shit if peace broke because Scuderi couldn’t protect his own daughter. “Don’t worry. She will be protected. Like I said, she attends a Catholic school for girls and is never alone with men.”
I knelt beside Raffaele and he shied back, terror flashing in his eyes. I leaned even closer. “This was nothing,” I growled. “This pain is a fucking joke compared to the kind of agony you’ll be in if you go near Aria ever again. If you ever touch as much as a hair on her body,” my voice turned even deadlier, shaking with the force of my rage, “a single fucking hair, I’ll shove my knife up your ass and fuck you with it slowly until you bleed out through your asshole. Got it?”