Page 110 of Deadly Vows

Luca steps forward, pressing a button on the control panel before he speaks.

“Was it worth all of this? You had a decent life. And you threw it all away for what?” he asks.

Alexander chuckles, spitting blood out as he looks past Luca to me.

“You know what’s worth all of this? That even the powerful Luca Pasquino couldn’t protect his wife. He couldn’t keep her safe from any of us. You don’t know how fucked you are, Pasquino. Your wife means nothing in the grand scheme of it all. They’re coming for you. They’re going to fuck your family worse than I fucked your wife,” he laughs maniacally.

My flesh crawls hearing his voice speak this way—hearing him taunt Luca with these lies. I shift my attention over the room, a pair of garden shears catching my attention in the pile of torture tools in the corner.

I quickly walk to it, ignoring the sound of Luca calling my name. He doesn’t stop me as I make my way into the room, ignoring the fresh stench of blood and waste as I approach Alexander. He still has a smug grin on his lips as he wheezes to speak to me.

“And what do you think you’re going to do with that? Your husband has already tortured me. Nothing you do will take away—”

I open the sheers, holding them over his exposed cock, violently closing them. The sick sound of severed flesh is drowned out instantly by Alexander’s screech. He has nothing to say now, no smug remark, and no laughter as he screams, his body convulsing in agony.

I smile as I watch him, delighted at the feel of getting my revenge for the first time in my life.

Chapter Forty-Seven

Luca

Watching Elise over the past few weeks has been a slow downward spiral to insanity. Her nightmares have kept me awake at night and pulled me from my work during the day. Her appetite has dwindled significantly, and at multiple times a day, I catch her staring off into nothing with a distant look on her face. Dr. Patterson’s warning didn’t prepare me for this at all.

I knew something was wrong when I found her in my office sleeping peacefully in front of my computer the other night. Elise has never been able to stomach this side of our world. She’s never even been able to look at me if any blood lingered. But she fell asleep to the sight of Alexander’s torture. And I’ll never forget the smile on her face as she watched the life drain from his eyes.

And now, as I watch her from a distance, I see the dark rings around her already darkened eyes from the bruising. I don’t know what she needs, but she can’t go on like this.She’s retreating into herself, having witnessed things I failed to protect her from.

“Elise,” I call to her, making my way out of the house.

She looks away from the water, a small smile appearing on her lips when she sees it’s me. I wish I knew what was going through her mind. But with everything that has been set in motion, I’ve barely had the time to be there for her, or even comfort her.

Her kidnapping was only a sideshow in all of this. My family is being hunted, but now we know exactly by whom. And it starts with agent Jeffries. Unfortunately, he is just another lackey doing his boss’s job for him. Now that I’ve gathered all the information I can, it’s time to hunt him down and find out who I need to take out so we can live in peace.

“Are you feeling okay?” I ask, taking a seat next to her on the patio.

She nods.

“I see the appeal in killing your enemies…it helps,” she says softly.

The words are chilling coming from her lips. I shake my head, pushing her hair from her face.

“Don’t think like that…that isn’t you. Sometimes your enemies are random innocents who have nothing to do with hurting you,” I say.

Elise laughs, looking away. “Like my mother?” she asks.

I release a deep breath.

“Yes. Like her,” I say.

“My father kept a picture of them from their wedding day in his office. I used to think the look in her eyes was because she was scared of marriage. Now I know it’s because she knew she was marrying a monster,” she says.

Her words inadvertently bother me. She picks up what she says, looking at me.

“I didn’t mean it in that way…You are nothing like my father, Luca,” she says gently.

I laugh. “I’m not far off,” I say.

Elise shrugs, leaning into me. She smells like lavender as she snuggles against my chest, and I take the moment to enjoy the feel of her skin against mine.

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