His face turns purple and he raises his hand to slap me again, but I punch him in the jaw, causing him to stagger back. My triumph is short-lived though. He barrels forward, crashing into me and pinning me against the wall with a hand wrapped around my throat. He squeezes hard, and I struggle to breathe.
“Boss?” A familiar voice makes us both turn. “Not here, eh?” Stefano says with narrowed eyes. “Let her see her brother before she dies.”
Carmine grunts but releases me, and I rub at my tender throat. I follow the men to a darkened room at the back of the house, lit only by one bare low-watt bulb. The faint scent of copper that always seems present in this room makes me gag. I lost count of the number of men I saw walk in here and never come out. It’s the same room where I first saw West Archer. The thought of him and Zeke and Xander gives me a fresh injection of courage.
“Lily Pad?” Nico shouts, and I rush to the back of the room where he and Dean remain bound to chairs. Dropping to my knees at their feet, I check them both over for injuries and find nothing serious. Their wounds were caused by someone who knew what they were doing. Someone who knows how to make the cuts and bruises appear worse than they actually are. “Are you both okay?”
“We’re fine. We’ll both be fine,” Nico assures me.
I stand up and face Carmine and Stefano. “Let them go.”
Carmine’s lips twist into an evil smile. “Soon. Once you’re dead. For good this time.”
“No!” Nico and Dean shout in unison, struggling against their bonds. “Let her the fuck go, Pop,” Nico adds.
I put my hand on my brother’s shoulder and squeeze. “It will be okay. I promise.”
He blinks a drop of blood from his eye, his face a mask of confusion. He isn’t stupid. He knows something isn’t adding up.
“Stefano has been waiting for your return, Liliana. Isn’t that right?” Carmine turns to his second-in-command.
Stefano winks at me. “Sure have.”
“You remember why we call him the surgeon, don’t you?” Carmine picks up a scalpel and holds it to the light. “You know he can peel all the skin off a person’s body while they’re still alive.”
Stefano grabs the blade from him. Not taking his eyes off me, he stalks across the room. I step back and bump into my brother’s knees.
The unmistakable click of heels on marble echoes from the hallway outside, and Carmine turns toward the open doorway. “Who the fuck?”
I suppress a smile as Stefano reaches me. With Carmine’s back turned and his attention focused on the noise outside, his most trusted soldier leans close to my ear. “Okay, Marshmallow?”
I nod, and then he winks at Nico and Dean, who I turn to see are both staring at the two of us with pure shock on their faces. But it’s nothing compared to the look on Carmine’s face when my mother strides into the room.
“Ludovica.” The obvious tremor in his voice makes me want to fist pump the air.
“Carmine,” she says, her voice dripping with disdain.
Carmine’s mouth opens and closes. “What—how did you get past my guards?”
“Oh, I used that secret entrance. The one you use for your whores.” She holds up a shiny silver key and he sputters. Then he turns and looks at Stefano, the only person other than him with access to the key for that door.
“What do you want me to do, Boss?” Stefano asks.
Carmine curls his hands into fists. “I want you to—”
“He wasn’t talking to you,” my mom says, breezing past him. “I think we should keep it as clean as possible. Perhaps a fight between father and son that escalated? Carmine pulled a knife, and Nico tried to defend himself and … oops.” She shrugs. “It was all a nasty accident. You and Dean witnessed the whole thing.”
Carmine gapes, his eyes ping-ponging between my mother and Stefano.
“Did you really think I would allow you to take my daughter and not afford her some protection, Carmine? I should have had you killed a long time ago for what you did to me, to my Angelo, and to our beautiful Liliana.” Her cool facade slips for a fraction of a second before she slots it firmly back in place.
Carmine spits at her feet. She laughs, but it’s not a pleasant sound. It’s cruel and mocking. “Did you not think it even a little strange that Stefano turned up on your doorstep looking for employment just a few days after you and my uncle took Liliana from me?”
“But he was sent by—”