Page 12 of The Forever One
Lina is left on the floor, her jeans around her ankles and her panties torn, hanging off of her waist as she lies in the filth, curled up in a ball. Her eyes are still on Enzo and she reaches out to him. He does the same and their fingers are so close they’re almost touching when Ugo grabs her hair and pulls her up and over his shoulder.
“That was fun. Thanks for the treat, Whore. Aldo, lock ‘em up.” He leaves the barn with Lina struggling against him, even now, but I don’t get to see the outcome since Aldo is suddenly in front of me. He grips my cheeks and growls a deep, disgusting growl before licking the side of my face and untying me.
My burning eyes find Marco’s tear-stained ones as I’m dragged out of the barn, kicking and screaming, trying to tell himI’m sorry.
I love you.
Please forgive me.
CHAPTERSEVEN
MARCO
The room is eerily quiet. No more cries, no more screams, no more threats echoing from these four stone walls. My throat is on fire from my fruitless efforts to yell at and intimidate that motherfucker.
Still tied to the barn door, my head hangs low with the weight of my shame, of my uselessness. A sob rakes through my body, the sound foreign to my ears.
What the fuck just happened? How did we get here?
Lina. My beautiful, carefree Lina, will never be the same and I don’t know how I can save her from those unforgettable minutes she just endured.
I can hear Enzo sniffing and I don’t need to look to know he’s still lying in the same position as earlier as he watched the love of his life lose her youth. He hasn’t moved since they were dragged away by the hair and taken to I don’t fucking know where.
And River. Fuck. The guilt she no doubt feels is going to eat her up for the rest of her life. I’m livid with River for bringing Lina, even though my rational brain tells me she probably didn’t have a choice. Lina may be happy and fun loving, but the Mancini stubbornness gene did not skip her. Still, my capos and my mother… how could they not keep her back in New York? It seems so fucking simple to me.
Heads are going to roll for this.
If I get out… no,whenI fucking get out of here, every person who had a hand in this tragedy will die.
Every single one. From the pilot of the plane to the drivers of any of the cars. Hell, I might just slit the throats of their cooks and their fucking Nonnas if I hear they were involved in any way. And the guy who was holding River back? Yeah, he’s going to lose those meaty hands he used to fondle my wife. I’ll cut those off first, then I’ll shove every one of his fingers down his throat and let him choke on them.
My breathing begins to pick up with the rage that slowly builds from the pit of my stomach to the hammering organ in my chest. Good, I need this fire to burn deep so I can be the leader I should have been weeks ago. Instead of trying to maintain the peace, I should have chopped off heads and asked questions later.
Lesson learned; I won’t be making that mistake ever again.
The door to this godforsaken barn slams open but I don’t lift my head, instead I watch through my eyelashes as a brick of a man takes one bucket and splashes me over the head and back. I’m disgusting, I can smell the days of filth sticking to my body and no amount of water will take that away, so I don’t even fucking bother.
The guy does the same to Enzo, who doesn’t even move, just keeps lying there like Lina is still facing him. Fuck, he’s been through so much, how is he going to survive this guilt? The same guilt that’s feeding my fury.
My gag slides off somehow and I just bend my head lower to make sure this asshole doesn’t notice. Enzo and I need a plan and in order to make one we need to speak to each other.
“We have a special guest, need to get you nice and cleaned up.” He tells me this in Italian and it takes everything inside me not to tell him to fuck right off, to tell him he’s not going to live long enough to appreciate the fact he’s on the wrong side of the war.
When the idiot walks out of the barn, I wait a few beats until I hear a car door followed by the turning of an engine and tires running over the gravel.
“Enzo.”
Nothing.
“Enzo, look at me.” I’m pulling at my restraints but fucking Hell, whoever tied them knew what they were doing. My skin is burning from the push and pull of the rope scraping into my flesh over and over again.
“This isn’t going to help Lina. You need to—” Enzo’s entire body turns and the violence etched across his face makes me pause. His gag is hanging around his neck and his teeth are so tightly gritted I’m surprised he hasn’t snapped off his jawbone. But his eyes? Holy shit. I’ve never, in all the years I’ve known him, seen him lose control, but in this moment, the beast that has always resided inside him is out and seeking vengeance.
Good, but without a plan it won’t do us any fucking favors.
“Why was she here, Marco?” The break in his voice is the only clue to his pain, all the rest is a mixture of hatred and condemnation.
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out and heads will roll for this. They will pay, I can promise you this.” My tone is even. It has to be in order to convince my right-hand man.