“Then Emily got up and asked you why you were treating her like that.”
He pauses, watching me struggle to move.
Then his voice turns deadly. “Get up.”
Tony must know what’s coming because his voice cuts through the tension again.
But this time, there’s something in it I don’t expect.
Defeat.
Complete surrender.
“Carlo, don’t do this.”
Carlo doesn’t even glance his way. Instead, he repeats the command, his voice razor-sharp.
“Get. Up.”
I wipe my tears with the back of my hand and press my shaking palms to the floor, forcing myself up. Then, without warning, his palm cracks across my face so hard I crash back down.
A high-pitched ringing explodes in my ears. I clutch my burning cheek, swallowing down the sob rising in my throat.
Carlo exhales in satisfaction. “Instead of answering her, you slapped her.”
Maxim grabs my injured elbow, digging his fingers in hard. This time I can’t hold back my scream.
He hauls me up like I weigh nothing and drags me to the bed. One brutal shove sends me sprawling onto the mattress. I bury my face in the sheets, sobbing quietly.
Carlo’s voice carries on, unfazed.
“And now, the grand finale. The night you two pieces of shit ran off, leaving Emily behind as bait, Giuseppe beat her half to death. Ruptured eardrum. Two broken ribs. Face so swollen she couldn’t leave her room for weeks.”
Oh my God.
I can’t believe Emily endured that. But the pain ripping through my body, the terror of what Iknowis coming next, drowns out any trace of sympathy.
Survival instinct kicks in hard.
Carlo falls silent, and just as I think it’s over, Maxim fists a handful of my hair, yanking my head back so hard I swear he’s peeling my scalp off.
I barely register Carlo stepping closer before Tony’s voice shatters through my screams.
“I raped her!”
Carlo’s hand stops mid-air before it can strike me. His face remains blank, expressionless. Slowly, he turns toward the screen.
“How interesting. What do you take me for? An idiot?”
Tony is still staring at me, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths.
“She was my damn fiancée, Carlo. Did you know that? You’re the one who stole her from me. The woman who was promised to me before she was even born—you took her. But I wasn’t going to just let that happen. So on the night of your wedding, I made her mine. I took her virginity by force, because I couldn’t stand the idea of her being another thing your father stole from me and handed to you on a silver platter.”
Maxim’s grip burns my scalp.
“Tony… stop. Please,” I whimper.
We’re inches from death. Spitting out these secrets will only make Carlo kill him more brutally.
