[ARTEMY]
I threw my fist, and it connected with his face. A crack resonated around the room, but I didn’t care. “I left her with you. You were supposed to bring her inside.”
I trusted Brayden to get her inside, to keep her safe while I tried to get myself under control.
“I thought she would follow. She’s probably outside. Calm the fuck down,” Brayden said, holding his bleeding mouth.
Milandro came to stand beside me. “I’ll get her, Boss.”
I nodded, pulling away from Brayden. “Bring her inside,” I ordered. Milandro nodded and left without a glance. The need to protect her, shield her away from any suffering, was overwhelming. Raffaele wasn’t getting anywhere near her.
My head tilted to the side, and I speared Brayden with a glare. He glared back. “Are you done? Because you can’t act like that when Rebecca comes inside. You’ll scare her to death.”
I didn’t say anything. Only because I knew he was right.
I had to get out of here, think clearly, away from Rebecca so I couldn’t hurt her.
Even though she was my Angel, she still betrayed me. My heart and mind were in a constant battle.
In that moment, I realized that I was more hurt that she lied to me than the fact that she was an Cavalieri.
Rebecca might have been an Cavalieri, but she was innocent. She was another victim. And I couldn’t hurt her for that.
I shook my head at that thought. That was exactly why I had to be heartless. Ruthless. That was why I never wanted to get close to her in the first place.
The human heart was a strange thing. It was treacherous and weak. It made us weak. It was easy for me to forget my revenge, only because what I felt for Rebecca was more powerful.
What we had was more powerful than my need for vengeance.
I sank down on the couch and rubbed my forehead tiredly. How did this happen? One minute everything was perfect, and now…it was ruined.
What concerned me more was Rebecca’s feelings. How scared and worried she must have been.
“What are you going to do?” Brayden asked, sitting down on the sofa facing me. He regarded me with curious yet suspicious eyes. “With Rebecca?”
I leaned forward, placing my elbows on my knees. “Is that even a question?” I hissed. “Do you really think I will hurt her?”
Brayden stared at me in silence and then shook his head. “I know you won’t hurt her.”
“And what if I did?”
I needed to know his answer. I needed to know where Rebecca stood with my men, how much she meant to everyone.
I needed to know that when the time came, they would all stand in front her, protecting her.
“I would have had to go against you,” he replied simply, shrugging his shoulders as if it meant nothing. But his eyes were intense and told me everything I needed to know.
My head turned toward Leon as I waited for his answer. He shook his head. “We can’t let you hurt her, Boss.”
I felt a sense of relief. They were Rebecca’s champions. If something happened, they would protect her.
But the relief was short-lived.
I saw Milandro standing in the doorway. Alone. His face was forlorn, and when he caught my eyes, he looked down, shaking his head.
“Where’s Rebecca?” I asked, standing up.
“Boss, I’m sorry,” he replied, keeping his head bowed.
“Where. Is. Rebecca?” I asked through gritted teeth, punctuating each word as my heart accelerated almost painful.
“Boss, I tried to stop to her. I really did. But she left. With that fucking bastard. I couldn’t believe my eyes, either.”
“No!” I bellowed, rushing past him.
Panic rushed through me as I ran down the steps and into the driveway. The gates were closed, and I tore them open, but I was too late.
There was no sign of Raffaele. No sign of Rebecca. My Angel. She was nowhere to be seen.
I heard Brayden, Leon, and Milandro behind me. The air crackled with tension.
“Rebecca was just playing with you this whole time. She lied to us. That little bitch,” Milandro said in disgust.
Turning around, I grabbed Milandro by the collar. “You are lying!”
It was impossible. Rebecca couldn’t betray me. She wouldn’t betray me…not like that.
Milandro winced as I pressed my fingers around his neck. “Don’t ever call her a bitch! Where is she?”
“Boss, I saw Rebecca going to him. She was in his arms,” he wheezed as I pressed my fingers tighter around his throat.
I wanted to scream. Rage. Hit someone. I wanted to kill…I needed to kill.
“She betrayed you, Boss,” Milandro said, his voice hoarse.
And that was when I exploded. I lost it.
“Shut up! Shut the fuck up!”
Taking my gun from my waistband, I pointed it under Milandro’s chin. His head tilted up in surprise, and his eyes shone with sudden fear. “You are lying!” I growled, pushing the barrel into his throat. My fingers itched to pull the trigger and end his life.
He gulped hard and shook his head slightly.
I almost pulled the trigger then. If it wasn’t for Brayden pulling me away, Milandro would have been dead.
“Artemy! Damn it!” Brayden hissed in my ears. I glared at Milandro as he coughed for air.
“Have you lost your mind? Pointing your gun at your man. We are a brotherhood, Artemy,” he tried to reason with me. But I barely heard Brayden.
The only words that rang through my ears were Milandro’s.
She betrayed you, Boss.
She left. With that fucking bastard. I couldn’t believe my eyes, either.
She was just playing with you this whole time.
“No!” I gripped my hair in frustration, in denial. “Rebecca wasn’t lying!”
It was a lie. Rebecca wouldn’t betray me. I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it.
I was sixteen when I was raped.
He raped me on my sixteen birthday, and he continued to do so every single night for seven years.
My father never did anything. He never even paid attention to me. I was a loner, never allowed to leave the house. And then he handed me over to him. A cruel man who destroyed me.
He used to beat me. He would chain me to our bed and then whipped me if I did something wrong or what he perceived wrong.
Every word, every moment rushed back to me until I was blinded with grief. My lungs constricted as I fought for breath, my heart aching in the most painful way.
When Rebecca was telling her past, I heard the truth in her words. Her pain-filled eyes, her nightmares, they weren’t lies. They were real. Her suffering was real.
But why would she leave? With him…the same monster who destroyed her?
It didn’t make sense. None of it made sense.
I refused to believe it.
Because I believed her. I believed in us.
“She didn’t leave,” I said, staring at the gates. “She wouldn’t go back to Raffaele.”
“I agree,” Brayden said beside me. “There’s no way she would leave of her own will. I saw how scared Rebecca was of him.”
There was only one conclusion.
Raffaele took her. Snatched her away right under my nose.
My eyes widened, and a sudden pain went through my chest and I almost doubled over.
My stomach lurched, and my hands shook beside me. I shuddered as I thought of the things Raffaele had done to her. And now she was with him again. At his mercy. She had been thrust back into the darkness she’d been running from.
And it was all my fault.
I had one simple job to do. Protect her. But I failed. I failed my Angel.
“Are you sure you saw her leave with Raffaele?” I heard Leon ask behind me.
“I saw her getting in his car,” Milandro replied.
“So it’s possible Raffaele had threatened her,” Brayden added.
It didn’t matter.
None of it mattered. How or why it happened.
The only thing that mattered was getting Rebecca back safely. And making sure Raffaele was no longer a threat.
In that moment, my vengeance was forgotten. The reason why I needed to finish the Cavalieris was forgotten.
It was replaced with another purpose.
Getting rid of every single person who had hurt my Angel. Slowly and painfully. Until they wished they had never laid eyes on her.