Page 69 of Ruthless Touch
Cradling her face in my hands, I stare into those beautiful green eyes and give her my sweetest smile before kissing her. “I’m sorry, Aria. I was so consumed with guilt that I didn’t know how to handle it when I saw you like this. I’m going to kill Marcello and Franco for what they did. My father’s right. We don’t let anyone hurt those we love. Please forgive me.”
As tears stream down over her cheeks, she sobs against my chest and my heart breaks for how sad she sounds. “I’m sorry for causing all this trouble. I should have never run away. It’s just… I was so jealous.”
“I know, and that’s my fault. I made a mistake. Forgive me, Aria.”
When she lifts her head and nods, happiness fills me. If she can forgive my mistakes, we have a chance to be happy.
“I love you, Aria. I know I haven’t been good at showing you as much as telling you, but after tonight, that’s all going to change. You rest and I’ll be back, and then we can start over, okay?”
“Okay. Please be careful. Franco is vicious. He’s following Marcello’s orders, but he’s terrible all on his own. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”
Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I sigh. “I won’t get hurt. Trust me. I’ve got my family backing me up tonight. The only ones who need to worry are the two men we’re hunting. I’ll be back soon.”
I stand to leave, but still she won’t let go of my hand. “Gideon, wait. I wanted to tell you something.”
“What?”
Aria gives me a hint of a smile and sighs. “I just wanted to tell you I love you and I’d be heartbroken if you don’t come back to me.”
“Then I better come back because the last thing I want to do is break your heart,” I say with a smile. “Don’t worry. I know you don’t know this, but I’m with three of the deadliest people I’ve ever met. They won’t let anyone hurt me.”
She lets out a heavy sigh and releases my hand. “Okay. I’ll be waiting.”
I glance back at her just before I reach the door and smile. She loves me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Gideon
Alex and my father stand off to the side as I pound my fist into Franco’s ugly face. Nearly an hour I’ve been at this, and I swear I could keep it up for hours more. Every time I imagine him even touching Aria, all I want to do is crush this fucker’s skull.
“Does it feel as good when you’re getting beat on as it did when you were hitting her?” I ask through gritted teeth and then slam my knuckles into his cheekbone.
I hear a crack and step back as he cries out in agony. “It wasn’t just me who did it! It was Marcello too. Why aren’t you fucking him up?”
Behind me, Alaric chuckles. “No honor among assholes, I guess.”
“Don’t worry,” my father says, joining in with Alaric to have a good laugh. “We’ll get to him. You just had the honor of being first. Be happy that son of mine is handling you. If it was me or my other son, you would have been dead by now. Gideon likes to play with his food for a little while.”
I glance over at him and nod. I don’t generally enjoy being this violent. In truth, I prefer to fuck people up other ways. Messing with someone’s psyche is a much better time for me than physically beating someone to a pulp, but mind games take time, and that I do not have tonight.
This is going to end just the way my family members would do themselves. Franco isn’t long for this world, and I suspect he knows it. But before he goes off to wherever the fuck he’s destined for, I want him to feel what Aria felt every time he laid a hand on her.
My fist connects with Franco’s face again, and this time his nose gets it. Blood spurts everywhere, and he cries out again, but this time he’s begging for mercy.
Should have thought of that when you were hurting the woman I love, asshole.
With his hands tied behind his back, he can’t reach up to try and stop the bleeding, so it covers his face and chest in seconds. Stepping back from him so I don’t end up wearing any, I shake my head at the mess he is.
“I say you just kill him already,” Alex grumbles. “I get that you’re enjoying this, Gideon, but Christ, this is starting to look like torture.”
My head snaps in the direction of where he’s standing. “And you have a problem with that? I thought you loved torturing people.”
He shrugs and reluctantly nods, as if he isn’t proud of who he is. “I do, but it’s not usually this ugly. There’s fucking blood everywhere. That two-thousand-dollar suit of yours is going to get ruined if you keep this up.”
As I pull my arm back for one more shot to Franco’s face, I say to my brother, “Don’t worry. I have more at home.”
My fist lands hard against his jaw, but I have to admit the fun has gone out of this for me. Time to finish him off so we can go find Marcello Angeloni.