Page 64 of Family Secrets

“Ah, glad to see you’re finally awake.”

Elizabeth didn’t need to see the face to recognize the voice. She would never forget what they’d done to her.

“I’d hate for you to miss when I kill your little boyfriend.”

Keeping her eyes tightly shut, Elizabeth tapped down the nausea by swallowing hard. Testing her arms, she found them tied behind her, the same for her legs.

“What’s wrong with you, Sully? Gino is your brother. Why would you want to kill him?”

When her question was met with silence, Elizabeth raised her head, ignoring the pounding headache as she opened her eyes.

Lisa stood not five feet behind Sully, her head tossed back in laughter.

“Look at you, eyes growing blacker by the second and so full of confusion. And that nose,” Lisa reached out, pressing on the tip with her jeweled fingernail, her touch causing a shooting pain which made Elizabeth’s eyes water.

“I’d feel bad for you,” she feigned concern. “If I didn’t hate you so much.”

Something told Elizabeth this went much deeper than a pair of panties left behind for her to find. How deep, she wasn’t certain. As her vision cleared slightly, she was able to see a man standing in the corner, his features familiar, but the pain in her head made things fuzzy.

“You made my job so easy, Elizabeth,” Lisa boasted, forcing Elizabeth to look at her face. “The way you instantly assumed Gino was cheating on you when you discovered the little gift I’d left for you to find. I’ll admit, you surprised me when you changed your appearance and packed your things instead of confronting Gino.”

Lisa moved her face closer to Elizabeth’s until the pair were close to sharing each other’s breath. “I’ll let you in on a little secret, sweetheart. Gino and I haven’t fucked since the night you landed in New York.”

Elizabeth remembered her call to Lisa once she’d reached her hotel, and the disappointment she felt when she learned her only friend in town had other obligations.

“You did all of this over some guy?” Elizabeth demanded, her temples pounding with each word she spoke.

“Some guy?” Lisa gasped. “This isn’t some catfight, Elizabeth. This is about the sweet taste of revenge, served up ice-fucking-cold.” Lisa seethed, placing her fingers in the center of Elizabeth’s forehead and pushed her backward.

“That’s enough, Lisa!” Sully barked, pulling a metal chair across the cement floor, the scraping noise made Elizabeth cringe and nearly vomit. “I allowed you to have your fun,” spinning the seat around, he straddled it. “Now it’s time to let this little bitch know the truth,” pulling his gun from his jacket. “Before I put a bullet in her like I did Emilio.”

Elizabeth remained stoic, refusing to allow Sully to see how much his threats terrified her. She had no idea what time it was, or how long she’d been here, but she needed to keep her wits about her, seizing the first opportunity to get the hell out of there.

“Tell me, Elizabeth. Did it ever occur to you to question how, at the precise moment in your life you needed a lifeline, a perfect stranger offered you a job?”

Elizabeth remained silent, her eyes focused on the ring adorning the middle finger of Sully’s right hand. It was a new addition, but the large ring was definitely an antique.

“Why me?” Elizabeth croaked. Sully was wrong, she’d contemplated that very question a multitude of times.

“Why you, indeed?” Sully laughed, leaning back slightly as Lisa stepped forward placing a heated kiss to his lips.

“Have you ever heard the name, Morti Rizzoli?”

“No,” Elizabeth lied.

“No?” Sully mocked. “Dear old Granny never mentioned him?”

“She said she doesn’t know him. Now back the fuck up, Sully.”

All heads turned toward the back of the warehouse as Gino emerged from the shadows, his gun pointed to the temple of a dark-haired man, one which remained too blurry for Elizabeth to identify. Letting out a shaky breath, she didn’t need to see Gino’s eyes to know he was staring at her. She hoped she looked as bad as Lisa described, fueling the fire inside him she could feel from her chair.

“Glad you could join us, brother.” Sully casually muttered, turning his attention back to Elizabeth.

“He’s talking to you, motherfucker!” Gino roared a second before a loud thud echoed in the room and a male voice uttered an oath. “Or did he hide the truth from you too?”

Elizabeth tried to focus on the man kneeling on the floor, and as he raised his head toward her.

“Mr. Evans?”

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