Annoyed, I barked, “What was that?” daring him to repeat the dig to my face.
“Nothing.” Matteo shook his head, staring at me like he hardly knew me.
“Do whatever you want. Makes no difference to me.”
My focus was firmly fixed on the information we could squeeze out of Corsi that would lead us to the man making all of our lives Hell.
Dario was going to pay with his life if it was the last thing I did.
Doctor Carmelo Corsi was tied to a metal chair in the middle of the empty warehouse we used for interrogation and torture. Blood dripped from his split lip, and the skin around his right eye turned a deeper shade of purple with each passing minute. Matteo had roughed him up good prior to bringing him in to face his judgment.
The man who had been in our family’s employ for over four decades didn’t cower when I entered the space, instead electing to dip his chin in a gesture of respect as he met my eye. “Don Bellini.”
Rage simmered in my gut, hot and bright, but I slammed a lid down on it before it boiled over. Calmly, I asked, “Do you know why you were brought in today?”
He gave a firm shake of his head. “No, sir.”
I clicked my tongue. “Come now, Corsi. You know how this works. You go against the family, and we don’t have any other choice but to enact vengeance.”
Genuine confusion flickered over the doctor’s features. “Go against the family?” he repeated.
Shoving my hands into my pockets, I circled him. “What else would you call it when someone colludes with the man threatening my family, who then sends an associate to administer synthetic oxytocin to my pregnant wife to trigger preterm labor just shy of my heir reaching viability?”
Corsi’s eyes bulged, and he sputtered, “A-associate? Oxytocin? Wh-what are you talking about?”
“You deny your involvement in the attempt on my unborn child’s life?” I pressed.
He scoffed. “Of course I do. I’m a doctor. I took an oath to do no harm.”
“Forgive me for not believing that the oath of a mafia doctor holds much weight.”
Maintaining eye contact, he didn’t back down. “Believe what you want, but I know my truth. I save lives. Never have I taken an action that would intentionally end one.”
“Am I expected to congratulate you for finding a loophole? For sending a woman to cause harm on your behalf? Is that how you keep your conscience clear?”
His brows furrowed. “Woman? What woman?”
The thin thread on my temper snapped. “Arianna! Who the fuck else?”
“Arianna.” Corsi shook his head. “I don’t know any Arianna.”
I surged forward, and my hand found his throat, squeezing until his face turned a deep scarlet. “You fucking sent her to my house!” Flecks of my spit landed on his skin with the force of my roar.
Matteo tapped me on the shoulder, coaxing, “Let’s give him a moment to breathe, shall we?”
I turned to my brother, giving him a look that asked,Are you out of your fucking mind?to which he shot me one back, telling me to trust him.
Since I wasn’t getting anywhere on my own, I figured it was worth a shot to let Matteo take a crack at the old man, so I released my hold on Corsi’s neck and stepped back. The sound of the doctor’s wheezing inhales filled the open space as he recovered from the near strangulation.
Playing the good cop to my bad cop in this scenario, my brother grabbed a bottle of water from a nearby table and offered our captive a sip.
“That better?” Matteo asked.
“Mmm.” Corsi cleared his throat. “Much. Thank you.”
“Gio and Rory have been through quite a terrifying ordeal this afternoon. They were faced with the reality of losing a child, which, as a father yourself, I’m sure you can agree is every parent’s nightmare.”
The doctor ducked his head. “Children are a gift from God. I would never want to see one’s life cut short.”
