Once broken, she was no longer fun to play with, and I lost interest. Now that they might fix my toy and make it better, I find myself wanting it back. I scoff at myself. Nah, nothing’s going to fix that, she’s beyond help now. Satisfaction rushes through me. When I set out to do something, I do it right.
Harris appears in the doorway, Eilidh lying limp in his arms. The rest of my harem trail after him, pointing at me and whispering. I jump up, growling and baring my teeth, and they quiver and scream. I laugh again, delighted by their fear. Harris once again ignores me, disappearing up the stairs quickly, ushering the women along.
I can always get a new harem. These were too demoralized anyway.
Sitting back down, I cross one leg over the other and inspect my damaged fingers. I know a good surgeon who can make them good as new. They still hurt like a bitch, though. Someone could have at least offered me some painkillers.
Daniella finally appears, and I’m disappointed. There’s nothing on her face. No anger, no guilt … nothing. She’s as blank as a child’s doll, and they’re not nearly as fun to play with. My brows furrow as I watch her speak to one man, then another. They both nod and jog up the stairs, seemingly eager to do her bidding. I scoff. Like she could ever be a leader. There’s only one thing women are good for, and leading men isn’t it.
“Daniella!” I call out, needing her to look at me. She might be able to keep a straight face, but her eyes will show me the truth. I want to see the guilt tearing her apart.
The cunt has the gall to ignore me as if I’m nobody. That Cruz animal stays protectively at her back, and I want to gnash my teeth. If my idiot brothers hadn’t died, and if my backstabbing bitch of a daughter hadn’t interfered in my plans, I’d be riding high by now. Daniella would be locked in her cell, my wife and lover. She’d have been pregnant quickly, and together we would have taken over the world.
“Stop ignoring me, you useless whore!” I scream, as a sense of doom starts to trickle through me.“Zuia! Puttana!”She continues to pretend not to hear me, although Cruz’s shoulders stiffen, and I chuckle inwardly.
Everyone begins to file up the stairs, except for the man claiming to be my son and his lovers. The blonde woman tilts her head and grins at me, her eyes dancing with anticipation, two guns trained on me. I stand and push myself into the corner, some belated sense of self-preservation finally kicking in.
Nate and Eric stride into the cell. I thrash out with my arms, but Nate catches the chains, loops them around my neck, and yanks. I stumble forward, tripping over my feet, and fall to my knees. “Fuck you,” I shout, then sprawl forward onto my face when he kicks me in the ass.
He hauls me up by the chains, none of them saying a word, and pulls me along behind him, the other two following behind. I curse them, their families, and any future children, but they say nothing, and eventually, I give up.
They lead me out onto the rear patio, and I notice a helicopter sitting on the lawn. The one that damaged my fingers gets into it, along with twin men, the man with the mask, and Charlotte. The copter lifts into the air, flies to the left, then hovers, giving the occupants a bird’s-eye view.
Daniella whispers to the men, who then converge on me. Nate holds the chains too tight; there’s nowhere for me to go. It doesn’t stop me from kicking out, wriggling out of their grasp. Finally, Eric punches me in the face, dazing me. The men work quickly together, pinning me up against the wall.
My arms are spread wide, my legs close together. It reminds me of those beautiful crosses I executed their people on.
The late afternoon sun shines through the leaves, lighting up the stairs right as Cruz’s head comes into view as he comes up them. His eyes are locked with mine, and I swallow down the terror at the sight of two machetes in one hand, and two swords in the other.
Beads of sweat form on my forehead, and I scream out, begging for help. Cruz’s mouth twists into a malicious smile as he comes closer and closer to me. The men grip me tighter as Cruz hands his weapons to Daniella. He takes one of the swords, and in a move even I can appreciate as graceful, impales it through my right arm and embeds it into the wall behind me.
Agonizing pain sears through me, and my screams echo through the trees. Cruz comes closer, the first to speak to me in what seems like hours. “No one touches what’s mine,” he growls, then does the same to my left arm. Backing away, he takes the machetes and runs them through my thighs, effectively pinning me to the wall, in the shape of a cross.
Then they turn as one, leaving me screaming and dripping with blood, and walk down the stairs to the lawn below. I shout curses at their backs, threatening to end them all. When they’re close to the boundary wall, they turn, their expressions too far away to see.
“You cannot leave me like this!” I roar. “I am Vincenzo Gianelli! I am the king, a god! I will destroy you and everything you hold dear!”
My words cut off when my ears pick up the sound of heavywhoomphs. Squinting against the sun, I watch with a mix of horror and trepidation as a military helicopter slowly rises from behind the wall and flies toward me.
I swallow against the lump forming in my throat, my chest growing damp as sweat begins to drip from me. As it comes closer, I sweep my gaze over it, clocking the giant guns. My hands tremble as I notice the missiles underneath, and I squeeze my eyes shut when they launch.
But then I force them open. I am Vincenzo Leonardo Gianelli, and the Gianellis do not show f–
Chapter 73
Dutch
Cruzholdsme,myback to his front, arms wrapped around me protectively as Kian’s voice comes through the earpieces. He counts down from five, then releases a missile, and I squint against the force of the explosion. It’s followed by a second and third as Ryan and Kian destroy both my father and the compound.
“Boom, baby, yeah!” Kian screams, and we all flinch at the volume. When they’re done, they fly away, the second copter following after them.
I stay still for a moment, soaking in the sight of the destroyed building. There’s no sign of Vincenzo, Kian is too good at his job. I’m sure I’d find fragments if I wanted to go looking, but I have no desire to.
He’s gone. Finally. I can’t undo the evil he’s done. I can’t give families back their children, or women back their lives. I can’t undo the horrors they’ve faced or the suffering they’ve endured. But I can rid the world of him and save countless more that would have come after.
Flames lick at whatever bits of the structure are left, thick black smoke rising up into the horizon, a beacon to anyone looking this way. It’s time to go.
Someone cleverly thought to hang ropes over the wall, and in a matter of moments, we’re all over it and piling into the SUV. We drive away, leaving behind my past, and I don’t look back.
