Page 166 of Matteo
“I need you to know that I wouldn’t hurt you like that, sis,” she breathed out. “I can be a bitch, but I would never…everhurt you.”
Fresh tears spilled down my face. “But I’ve hurt you.”
“You didn’t.”
“But Matteo?—”
“Matteo was never the one for me.” She shook her head, then gripped my hand. “I used him to make someone jealous.” I suspected I knew who, but I didn’t interrupt her. “In the process, I hurt you. I hurt Matteo. And I’ve caused harm to myself. It was all me.”
“I don’t want to lose you,” I murmured on a sob. I could handle a lot, but losing my sister wasn’t on the list. “Please, please, Hannah… Whatever you need, just talk to me and I’ll help.”
She pulled away and sucked in a deep breath before she spoke. “I just need time and help. For now, that help cannot be from you.”
Her words nearly split my heart in two.
“Why?”
“I love you and you’ll always be my other half, but this I need to do on my own,” she said, watching me with an expression that was tearing me into pieces. “Please, trust me.”
“I trust you.” My chest heaved, our harsh breaths echoing in the silence of the hospital room. “And I love you. Don’t ever forget that. We all love you.”
“I love you too. Always have and always will.” She released a shaky breath before she whispered, “I just need time to come to terms with… everything. Particularly with myself and the things I’ve done.”
With no words left to say, we hugged.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
NICO
Matteo was here to stay.
That fucker forced marriage on Arianna, but judging by my daughter’s face, she didn’t mind it. In fact, she was so deeply in love with him that she took it upon herself to protect him from my wrath. Of course, she knew I was a sucker for making any of her wishes come true, so naturally, I couldn’t rough him up a bit for daring to point a gun—albeit an empty one—in her direction.
That didn’t mean that I missed any opportunity to throw jabs at him. The fucker took that with grace and a wide, happy smile which certainly made it lackluster.
“Are we going to stare at this guy or get started?” Matteo growled, eager to dish punishment at Simón King, the child we never knew Marco produced. Jesus fucking Christ. How many people were part of this organ trafficking scheme?
“You’re only extracting information,” I muttered to my son-in-law. “Remember, the final punishment is for Hannah to dish.”
I must admit being surprised when I heard that demand, but if it helped my daughter get the closure she needed, so be it.
Matteo stood over the fucker who lay on the ground with his mouth taped, arms and legs bound together. He stared up at us with those same dark eyes that his bastard father and grandfather had. The very same eyes I hoped never to fucking see again.
I crouched in front of the man and yanked the tape from his mouth without a care.
“It’s bonding time,” Matteo said with a twisted smile and an expression I hoped my daughter would never see on his face. “You tried to have my wife killed and for that you’ll regret ever being born.”
“Let’s not forget you kidnapped my youngest and took the kidney from my eldest,” I growled with a scary smile.
“Think about your mistakes as we bring you to the brink of death, only to heal you and restart the torture,” Matteo growled. “This place, Simón King, will be your tomb.”
We were in the basement where once upon a time, I’d tortured a woman who dared hurt my wife. Today, this man would meet the same fate, minus the killing. Because I always kept my word to my family.
Placing a gun on the nearby table, where torture tools sat, I yanked Simón by his collar and Matteo reached for the hook and hung him by his tied wrists.
I reached for my knife and our prisoner’s eyes filled with terror.
“Now, time for conversation,” I drawled, while Matteo circled him. “Trust me when I tell you, my son-in-law is a master at torture. And I know exactly how to keep you alive for Hannah.”
