Page 69 of Mafia And Maid

I want to hear him scream. I want him to beg for mercy.

I want his last shuddering breath to be done in agony.

I want to watch the life drain from his face. And for him to know that the hell he’s going to rot in for eternity will be a paradise compared to the torture I inflict.

“I was trying to protect Ethan.”

I snap back to the kitchen. “Ethan?”

“I… He’s my son.” She takes a deep breath. My hand curls around her trembling fingers, trying to give them a soft reassuring squeeze. The action is stiff and probably useless, but I need her to know that she can lean on me. That I want her to lean on me. Where the fuck that’s coming from, I don’t know, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

“That’s why you were quitting?”

Her head bobs, and the urge to caress her face grips me. I shove it down. The last thing she needs is for me to press into her wounds.

“He’s staying with a friend. I was on my way to see him.” I can hear her voice crack, and my heart clenches in my chest. The pain in her voice is like a knife to me. Slicing at me bit by bit. “I need to know he’s okay.”

“I’ll make sure of it. Right now, you need to rest.”

“I can’t! I need to get Ethan to safety.”

“I’ll make sure he’s safe. I swear on my life nothing will happen to him while there’s a breath left in my body. I need to talk to my brothers.”

Her hand clutches onto my forearm, and my body tightens. It’s the first time someone other than my family has clutched onto me like this. The first time in a long time that someone’s touched me without expecting me to come swinging. And I don’t understand the feelings that are surging through me.

Her desperation is rolling off her in waves as her hand trembles against my skin. “No one else can know! Please—”

“You’re safe here. I promise. But I have to tell them.”

I watch her gnaw her already raw lip, and my mind begins to formulate the perfect plan to get the fucker who did this to her. How fucking dare he lay a goddamn hand on her.

“What will Marco do?” she whispers.

“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. “But you’re safe with me—and I’ll make sure that your son is too.”

Without letting go of Rosa, I use my free hand to get my cell out. I hit speed dial to each of my brothers in turn. Marco detests being woken up, but I don’t care—he can chew me out later.

“I need you. Now. Kitchen.” That’s all I say when Marco answers.

Then I do the same with Alessio. “Kitchen. It’s urgent.” Then I hang up.

We only have to wait a matter of moments before we hear footsteps thundering down the staircase.

My brothers burst into the kitchen.

Both are bare-chested, their muscles gleaming under the electric lights.

Marco has a knife in each hand, his teeth bared. Alessio is brandishing his revolver. Both are ready for battle.

As Marco’s eyes fall on Rosa, they widen with shock—and something else.

Anger.

“What the hell happened?” he snarls as he stands there in just his boxers, his muscles tensed, and his razor-sharp knives still fisted in his hands.

Rosa is plastered to my side, cowering from the fierceness in his words.

My jaw ticks, and I grip her hand a little tighter. She’s not mine, but I’m damn well not going to let anything happen to her.