Page 152 of Scorned Obsession

“You fucking asshole,” I snarled. “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to end your miserable life.”

The phone switched back to Miller. “I’m fond of Bianca, but unfortunately, she was too precious not to use for my ultimate payback.”

“For what? Tell me what for? Do you want money? I can give you money.”

He laughed again. “I have enough. Why don’t you ask Divina?”

My eyes whipped around, and Divina shook her head and whispered, “I was going to tell you.”

Did Divina betray the family too? My head swam with fucked-up thoughts. Nothing made sense, except one: “Exchange me for Bianca. It’s me you hate. Take me. Don’t hurt her. Whatever I did to you, she doesn’t deserve this. Please. I’m begging you. Take me instead and do what you want.”

“The great Alessandro Rossi is begging?”

“I won’t fight you. Do whatever you want with me. Set me on fire. Mutilate me. Dismember me. Anything. Just…spare her…”

“Well, see, I would love to see you beg on your knees and crawl over hot coals before I tear you apart. But you’ll just die in a few days.” His smile was cruel. “But seeing your loved one die before your eyes and you’re helpless to stop it? That image will torment you for the rest of your life.”

“Don’t do this!” I roared those three words and could feel my neck muscles seizing. My hands wanted to reach into the phone and strangle the life out of that miserable fucker.

“Ask him why,” Trevor said.

“Oh, why?” Miller asked, hearing his question. “Are you trying to find out my motive, Rossi? Isn’t drowning one of your favorite methods as a hit man?” He made a funny face. “Oh, wait, you murdered too many people that way to remember.”

My hearing went in and out of focus like a faulty radio. Rage like I’d never experienced locked every sinew of muscle because Miller was right. Once I’d established my mark deserved to die, they ceased to exist to me as a person. I erased most of them from my memory and they became a number.

I remembered some of them. Like the arms dealer I killed the night I crashed into the frat house, but that was largely because of Bianca. Miller would forever be etched in my mind as someone I couldn’t wait to rip apart. Once I got my hands on him, his death wouldn’t be easy. Because the only person I loved was being tortured with drowning. It had become my worst fucking torture. More than the time I was strung up in a Russian prison, my back shredded with a whip. No torment could compare to this…watching Bianca fight for her life.

Nico had been shouting for a while, but my men had held him down.

The cogs in my brain started turning. If it was one of my jobs…How long ago? Did he team up with Doku loyalists? That meant he knew about my Doku kill.

“This is about revenge.”

“I’ll let you stew on that. Meanwhile, I’ll text you the website where you can watch your wife drown. Enjoy your life.”

The screen went blank.

“Miller,” I gritted. A text message came and there was a link.

My thumb hovered over it.

Could I bear to watch Bianca die?

Chapter

Thirty-Eight

Sandro

“Don’t click on it,” Trevor said behind me. “Forward it to me and I’ll make sure it’s legit.”

I shook off my tunnel vision, but even for two seconds, it was like my brain had ceased functioning and couldn’t respond to a simple command. I sent the link to Trevor, then turned to my men, who were holding Nico down.

“Let him go.”

His countenance was ravaged, eyes red, and tears tracked down his face. But he seemed to have pulled himself together because he silently joined me behind Trevor. He understood there was time for blame later. In-fighting would get us no closer to finding Bianca.

I was rusty when it came to tech, but I recognized the safeguards Trevor was taking. “I’m quarantining it through a secure browser.” The wait felt like an agonizing drive through Manhattan traffic. Finally, he asked, “Ready?”

---