Page 26 of Ruthless Sinner
I have come face-to-face with men far worse than Tommaso Martinelli. I’ve stared at myself in the mirror, covered in blood, after flaying the skin from a man’s back. I have met and become the stuff of nightmares. And still, no one has disgusted me the way Tommaso does. “Better than stripping her in front of my men so they could jack off as they beat her.”
The calm and composed expression on Martinelli’s face abruptly changes. His brows furrow, and his lips tighten into a scowl. “Is that what she told you? You can’t trust her.” His face tightens with anger, and a thin sheen of sweat beads on his brow. “She’s a liar.”
“Perhaps,” I shrug. “But I doubt she was putting out cigars on her back. Who did, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Tommaso’s face contorts into a fiery shade of crimson, his anger evident in the pulsing veins and flushed skin. “You cannot possibly understand what that bitch is capable of.”
“I’ll only say this once, so pay attention. If I ever hear you call Adalina a bitch again, you’ll regret it for the rest of your short, miserable life.”
He changes his strategy. Despite the lingering flush on his cheeks, his lips curve into a small smile, betraying his amusement. “You like her,” Tommaso laughs. “I didn’t think it was possible because she’s not a very attractive thing, nor is she very smart.” His nose wrinkles in disgust as he looks at Adalina; in that one look, I see the depths of his twisted desire. He despises his daughter, and he’s in love with her.
“But I suppose if you want a dumb cunt around to keep your dick wet, she’s that, at least. Because you are fucking her, aren’t you, Terlizzi?.” His smile is dangerous when he turns to me to say, “I might have to speak to Saverio about this. You’re engaged to his sister and halfway to knocking up my daughter. Imagine what he’d say.”
I’ve envisioned what Saverio would say countless times, and each time, the outcome is the same—I wind up dead. “I can imagine that he’d give me the go-ahead to kill you if he knew how much money you borrowed from my father and then refused to pay back. He’s a man of honor; he believes in paying his debts.”
“I didn’t refuse to pay it back,” Tommaso grits his teeth. “I gave you an amenable schedule.”
“You gave me an amortization schedule for a mortgage loan with a measly 3% interest. I’m not waiting 30 years to get my money back, Martinelli. And my father did not loan you a quarter of a mil at 3%.”
Tommaso waves me off with a bored flick of his wrist. “Your father is a loanshark. As far as I’m concerned, my arrangement with him isn’t valid due to predatory terms and conditions.”
I’ll show him predatory terms and conditions. If he says one more thing about my father, if he insinuates that he didn’t know exactly what he was getting into, I’ll tear his arms from their sockets and use them to beat him to death. “I don’t care what you’re concerned about. I want my money, Tommaso, and I want it paid in full in the next five years. Including the $100,000 in interest you agreed to when you signed the deal with my father. You’re lucky I’m not charging extra for you being a piece of shit.”
Tommaso’s total debt is $350,000. It’s a significant amount, the kind of money that would get a man killed. And instead of doing anything in his power to keep himself alive, he makes vague threats and sets himself up to look more menacing than he actually is.
“I want my daughter back first.”
“This isn’t a negotiation, Martinelli. I expect a year of payments before I consider returning her to you. And who knows? By then, she might be knocked up or dead. And will you really want her back if that’s the case?”
Adalina’s silence is a boiling cauldron of suppressed fury.
“I jest about you getting my daughter pregnant, but God help you if you do.” Tommaso’s head tilts to the side, his dark eyes slowly roaming over Adalina’s form. His gaze lingers on the delicate collar around her neck, like a predator assessing its prey. “I’m going to issue you one last warning, Terlizzi.” But he doesn’t look at me while he says it. “If you don’t return my daughter to me by sunset, I will wipe out your family and everyone you love. I’ll kill your brothers and sister, your parents, your friends, your bodyguard, her,” he juts his chin toward Adalina. “I will kill everyone you love. You will be an orphan at thirty-one, and I will ensure that no one ever dares to follow your leadership again. Do not test me.”
Chapter 28
Adalina
On the drive to Nico’s, Dante urges me to keep my mouth shut. “I know what you’re thinking. I’m asking you to remain silent, so you’re going to do the exact opposite. But please, for once in your life, follow instructions.”
His insinuation is correct; I would have opened my mouth and started yapping the first chance I got.
Enzo sits behind the wheel, his eyes focused on the road ahead as he drives. Despite his apparent focus, we both try to ignore the desperation underlining Dante’s words. Out of respect, I give in and agree to his request.
As we enter the back room at Nico’s, we’re met with a sea of my father’s guards, all sitting around the table laughing as if they don’t have a care in the world. Tommaso pays them handsomely to live in his home and be utterly loyal. But for me, they served a different purpose: they were paid to use their fists to keep me in line. I am familiar with each of the guards on a personal level, and it puts me on high alert. Their presence is a message to both Dante and me.
I cautiously study my father’s expression, avoiding direct eye contact as I keep my gaze lowered. He greets Dante with utmost respect and civility, but I catch a subtle spark of mischief glimmering in his eyes. Every word that drips from Tommaso’s mouth sends a shiver through my body, like spider legs crawling down my spine. His repeated demands for Dante to hand me over only serve to confirm his cruel intentions. He may mock and belittle my captor for using me as leverage, but he is just as vile and manipulative.
My father has done more than strip me of my identity—he has torn it to shreds and stomped on its remains. Every fiber of who I am has been brutally ripped away, leaving behind nothing but a hollow shell and burning rage. He’s taken my sense of privacy, stolen my sense of security, and robbed me of my sense of safety.
I don’t care if Dante refers to my captivity as enforcement for debt repayment; at least he’s never hurt me. And considering what he told me about his father, I doubt he ever will.
When Dante asks my father who put cigars out on my back, my cheeks burn red with shame. I grit my teeth and will myself not to look at him, knowing that it will somehow make this worse.
“I expect a year of payments before I consider returning her to you.”
My head snaps to attention, the sudden movement causing my neck to strain. I twist quickly, my eyes searching for Dante’s amidst the chaos. But his gaze remains fixed on my father, unyielding and intense.
I can’t live with Dante for a year. I can’t stay locked up wearing this God-forsaken collar and being hand-fed like a dog. I won’t survive. It’s not the same abuse that my father has imposed upon me all these years; it’s psychological. Dante treats me like an animal; if I have to endure it for a year, I’ll go insane.