She doesn’t look happy about it, but I want to do this first.Then I’ll work on making her happy.
I tell Caputo to come with me and the other four to keep a close watch on Gianna.
Then I head for the office in the back, past the kitchen where the chef and most of the helpers stop what they’re doing and gaze at me, steam rising from the untended pots.
I nod at the chef, but don’t stop to chat.
In the office, Martin has the window and the safe wide open and is stuffing cash and papers into a large black garbage bag.As he sees me, he leaps for the open window.But I grab him by the collar and pull him back in, while Caputo relieves him of the garbage bag.
The grip I have on his collar is tight enough to choke, and I don’t loosen it as I look into his eyes.He’s gasping for air, his face turning a purplish red as he starts clawing at my hand.
“You’re not going anywhere yet, you rat,” I tell him.“You’re gonna stay right here, running this place until I find a replacement.And if you try to double cross me again or steal from me, I will murder your entire family and make you watch.Am I clear?”
His eyes are so wide they’re mostly white and his face is a dark shade of purple as he nods like his life depends on it.Clearly, he understands that it truly does.
I didn’t used to be the guy who would threaten a man’s family over business.But that was a decade ago.Everything is different now.And alone as I am now, it is far better to be feared than loved.
I finally release him, and punch him in the jaw so hard I can feel something crack.“That’s so you’ll remember it.Do not let me down again.”
Fat tears are streaming down his cheek as he nods, massaging his neck.
“I won’t,” he croaks.“Thank you for letting me live.”
I scoff.“I never said I was letting you live.”
He gasps, his eyes darting to the open window again.
“But I might,” I add, probably lying.I hate everyone who profited from our downfall with a black passion that nothing can lighten.Not even Goldie.“If you prove yourself to me now.”
Martin nods faster.“I will.I will do anything you need.I swear.”
“Keep running this restaurant just as before,” I tell him.“But all the profits go through me now.”
The left side of his face is starting to swell dramatically, blood leaking from the side of his mouth.I probably broke a couple of his teeth.He’s still nodding.
“Get yourself cleaned up now,” I tell him.“And you better not let me down.”
He promises he won’t again, but I’m already walking away.
The dark thing of tonight is done.Now I can focus only on the light.On Goldie.
Just seeing her from afar, her hair shining gold, the diamonds around her neck sparkling more beautifully than the ocean, lifts some of the darkness from my soul.
But then I see she’s not alone.
Dante Moretti is sitting next to her.And all the darkness returns, blacker than ever.So black that no light can ever touch it.
If I kill him tonight, then all my fantasies of making him suffer first will be null and void.
But he’s talking to my Goldie, sitting so close to her she can probably smell his foul breath.That’s a killing offense all on its own.So I don’t know what I’ll do when I reach him.
Chapter9
GIANNA
For a little whileas I was getting ready to go out, I actually forgot where I was.Forgot that I was a prisoner of the man who destroyed my family.As I was applying my makeup it was almost as though I was getting ready for a date with the man I love.Not someone I should hate.
And it should have given me pause.But it didn’t.That put me in a foul mood.Almost made me change back into my tracksuit and tell Matteo I’m not going anywhere with him tonight.It’s not that I should hate him.I do hate him.
