Bound by Hatred (Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles 3)

Matteo

If Bardoni thought I hadn’t noticed the way he’d eye-fucked Gianna when we’d arrived, he was even more stupid than I thought. If it weren’t for Luca, I would have plunged my knife into the fucker’s face right away. But Luca was a new Capo and couldn’t use any more trouble, so I had promised him to stay on my best behavior. As the party progressed I slowly came to the realization that I might have to break my promise.

Gianna was trying to put on a brave face but I could see how upset she was after a talk to my bitch of a stepmother. I didn’t want to know what the old goat had said to Gianna. She would never dare say something to my face. She was scared of Luca and me, had been for as long as I could remember.

Unfortunately, it took me a few more minutes before I could finally follow Gianna after she’d fled the living room. Luca’s warning glance almost made me want to laugh. I had no intention of doing something stupid, except for having a quickie with my wife to lift her spirits. What was wrong with that?

When I stepped out into the lobby, I didn’t see Gianna anywhere. I paused, listening closely, but the sounds of the party behind me were drowning out everything else. What if she’d run? I should have told Romero or Sandro to keep an eye on her at all times, but I hadn’t wanted to embarrass her further. People had enough to gossip about as it was.

I headed in the direction of where I remembered the bathroom to be, hoping I’d find her there. A deep voice made me quicken my steps and when I came around the next corner I found Gianna alone with old Bardoni. One look at her face and I knew she was on the verge of a freakout. She didn’t see me as I approached, her narrowed eyes directed at Bardoni.

“Why don’t you show me what you learned in Europe. I bet you’re very talented with your lips. That’s why Matteo was so eager to marry you, hm?” Bardoni said and reached for Gianna’s arm. Before she or I could react, he pulled her against him and fucking kissed her while groping her breast. My blood boiling, I stormed toward them, pulled my knife, shoved Bardoni away from Gianna and slammed my blade into the soft spot below his chin, piercing his fucking brain. Gianna gasped and stumbled back against the wall, her eyes darting from my knife to my face.

“Fuck,” I muttered. I chanced a quick glance around, then dragged Bardoni’s body toward his office, letting my knife in his chin so blood didn’t shoot out.

“You killed him,” Gianna whispered harshly.

“He shouldn’t have touched you.” I nodded toward the door. “Open that for me.” After a moment of hesitation, she stumbled forward and pushed the door open for me. I dragged Bardoni inside and Gianna quickly followed me inside before closing the door.

I put Bardoni down in his desk chair, then took a step back. This was bad. Luca would kick my ass when he found out.

“What are we going to do?” Gianna asked in a toneless voice from her spot near the door.

“We are going to make it look like I didn’t kill him.”

“Your knife is in his head.”

I grinned but sobered when I saw Gianna’s expression. It reminded me of the look she’d had after Sid had been shot. Sometimes I forgot that not everyone was as used to blood and death as me.

Slowly she came closer, gaze frozen on the body. “Why did you kill him?”

“Because he was an asshole.”

Gianna stopped beside me and dead Bardoni. She looked like she couldn’t quite believe what she saw. She raised her arm as if she was going to touch the corpse to convince herself of its existence.

“Don’t touch anything,” I ordered a bit too harshly, gripping her wrist to stop her.

She stared up at me with huge eyes. After another moment, she nodded almost robotically. She looked like she was going into shock. That was the last thing we needed.

Ideally I would have gone in search of Luca but I couldn’t leave Gianna alone with the body. If someone came in, she’d have more trouble dealing with that person than I did.

I touched her cheek to bring her attention back to my face. “Go and get Luca,” I told her.

She hesitated.

“Go.”

“Okay.” She whirled around, crossed the room in a rush and slipped out. She closed the door silently. I really hoped she wouldn’t give everything away because she was so freaked out.

I lowered my eyes to Bardoni. I really loved the sight of my knife in his skull.

“Matteo?” I heard Luca’s quiet voice a couple of minutes later. I jogged toward the door and opened it a crack. When I saw Luca standing in the corridor, I ushered him in.

“What do you want? Gianna didn’t say anything,” he said, but shut up when his gaze settled on Bardoni behind the desk. “Oh fuck.”

“Bardoni had an accident,” I said with a shrug.

Luca gave me a look. “Fuck, Matteo, what did you do?”

“If you ask me, I think good old Mr. Bardoni killed himself,” I said.

Luca circled the body, then he glared at me. “It’s because of Gianna, isn’t it? Bardoni did or said something that annoyed you and you lost your shit. I knew the girl would bring nothing but trouble.”

“The asshole has been on your death list for a while. He’s been stirring up shit. You are glad he’s gone, admit it. We’ve discussed having him killed countless times. I decided to finally act.”

“Of course I wanted him dead, but not in his own fucking home at his Christmas party. Damn it, Matteo. Can’t you think first and shoot second for once?”

Luca was right. I should have chosen a better time to kill Bardoni, but he shouldn’t have talked shit to Gianna, and he most certainly shouldn’t have touched her. He’d dug his own fucking grave.