She spluttered for a few seconds then dry heaved, tears cascading a river down her cheeks. “I had a hand in his sister’s rape,” she sobbed, choking. Zena gasped, slapping a hand to her mouth. “I’m so sorry, Lorenzo,” Bianca mumbled. “Please I’ll do anything to help you. Please don’t kill me,” the words rushed out of her mouth.
“I’m confused.” My laugh was low. “If you’re at my feet, begging to live, what help could you possibly give me?” I leaned forward. “You see,cara, while you were playing me, you didn’t realize you were being played.” I gripped the hair at the back of her head until she yelped. “Did you really think I wanted to fuck you? Me. Lorenzo Rossi, who has whores begging to lick his fucking shoes, was desperate to fuck a D’Angelo. No,cara, you were a means to an end, nothing more. Six years tells you I’m a patient man, doesn’t it?” She nodded. “Good. Then you know that the time is up for you and all the fuckers responsible for Arabella’s death.”
“Please, Lorenzo,” she begged.
I glared at her before glancing up at Zena. Surprisingly, she didn’t look as frightened until I met her gaze with the full force of my fury. She looked away and fidgeted with the sheet. “My leniency will depend on your part in this, Bianca.” I let go of her hair. “Spill.”
Hiccupping on a sob, she swiped at her tears. “I befriended Arabella and introduced her to Luca. He was just eighteen at the time and I thought they’d become friends. I had no idea he had other plans.”
I cocked a brow. Amazed that she could lie to my face. “And the video?”
“It was collateral against Luca.”
“What you’re telling me is that you lured my sister to that fucker’s porn house, set her up to get raped, took the time to record it, so you can blackmail him?” I heard Zena’s gasp but didn’t bother looking at her. “Did I get all that right, Bianca?” She nodded. “And while my sister was dying from shame, Luca was purchasing this beautiful penthouse suite for you?”
Slowly, she shook her head as if realizing for the first time that she’d dug a hole so deep, she wasn’t likely to get out of it. “Yes,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
I glanced at Zena. “Have you made a decision about her punishment?” She shook her head. “Well, decide quickly or you’ll be joining her if I decide.”
“You wouldn’t,” she gasped. “I had nothing to do with your sister’s death.”
“No? But sleeping with the enemy can get you in a shithole worse than death.”
“Trust me. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come here.”
“Trust is a luxury a man like me can’t afford, Zena. Even if you’d done a good job at sucking my cock.” An immediate scowl replaced her desperate expression. It seemed like my compliment sounded like an insult. I grinned and her scowl deepened. I grabbed Bianca by the hair again. “Beg her for your life,cara.” Still keeping her hair in my grip, I turned her fully to face Zena. “Tell her why you should live.”
“Zena, please,” she sobbed. “Don’t let him kill me. Please,” she begged.
My gaze locked with Zena’s, I cocked a brow and her pretty green eyes begged me. To what? Not kill Bianca. Not let her make the decision. I didn’t give a damn. Without breaking Zena’s stare, I leaned forward and slowly with the precision of a surgeon’s hand, I sliced Bianca’s neck from ear to ear. Her shocked gasp crested into ragged screams before morphing into incoherent gurgles with each inch of torn flesh the knife sank into. Zena’s hands flew to her mouth to muffle her screams. She scrunched her eyes tight, shaking her head from side to side like it were possible to unsee the death of her friend.
“Open your eyes,mia caro,” I warned. She did while gasping for air, her tear-soaked eyes now riveted on Bianca’s shuddering body. I could smell the stench of her filthy blood, its coppery tang a satisfying start to my bloodlust—one I’d waited a long time to unleash. I pushed her twitching body away from me and she fell to the floor with a soft thud. Picking up Bianca’s scarf that had floated to the floor sometime between her arrival and her death, I watched Zena as I cleaned my knife. She was trembling, her sobs now soft sniffles. Done, I tossed the scarf aside, pocketed my knife and stood.
Stepping over Bianca, I righted my jacket then looked at Zena. “I’m aware you had no hand in this bitch’s plan to ambush me today, but I’ll give you a piece of advice. Don’t underestimate what I know or don’t know. Fucking with me is one thing, fucking with the people I love, is more likely to get you killed. Beware of the company you keep, Zena.” I turned to walk away.
“Lorenzo?” I looked at her. She drew in a shaky breath. “Aren’t you going to ask about Rayden?”
“The fact that you let me fuck you tonight, I’m going to assume you’re no longer fucking him.” The fury that had slithered away with Bianca’s last breath, slinked its way back up my spine. “And if you still are, it’s a pity. He deserves much better.” I had to be cruel because she couldn’t give me what I needed. Even if I asked, she wouldn’t. I walked away on her string of curses, angry with myself for not getting more involved, for not protecting Rayden. But I was no one to him.
Outside the apartment, Dario fell into step next to me while on a call with the clean-up crew. “All good?” he asked when we exited the building.
“Yeah. Got what we need.” I climbed into the Escalade.
“How are we going to play this,” he asked, sliding into the front passenger seat.
“Like a Fourth of July festival.”
“I like fireworks.” Dario gave me one of his smug grins in the rearview mirror as my driver started the car. “Did she say anything?” He glanced over his shoulder at me.
I stared at my bodyguard, shaking my head. “I didn’t ask.”
He opened his mouth to say something, seemed to think better of it and turned away. I didn’t miss his soft sigh. He’d been a good friend over the years, more than just a bodyguard and while he refrained from being direct about certain things, I knew he cared. I liked that about him. He might have the hands of a killer, but he possessed a heart of a lover. I smiled and glanced out the window. Zena and Rayden belonged in my past and that’s where they’d stay.
