HEARTACHE AND REGRET ~~~~

VINCENZO POV

The car turned into the warehouse lot. The place hadn’t been used in years by the looks of it, which was perfect for this errand. When the wheels stopped, I opened the door of the rented car and stepped out. Marco got out and unlocked the trunk.

The boy was yanked out and thrown onto the ground, where he crumpled in a pile of limbs covered in cheap clothing. My men caught the stronzo crawling out of her bedroom window this morning. I stared at him, wanting to see what she saw.

Why would a woman as beautiful as Has Valentina Romano ever wasted her time on such a pathetic and ordinary creature like this?

She was glorious. The rumours of her looks weren’t exaggerated. All three Romano daughters were said to resemble their mother. Sofia Romano had been a famous model before marrying Roberto, I remember jerking off to her photos as a teenage boy and Valentina was the spitting image of her mother, except with bigger tits.

Dio, how I would love to fuck those tits. Stop, She’s marrying your son. Angry at my inappropriate thoughts, I transferred that fury onto the man on the ground. “So you are the boyfriend.”

His frightened eyes darted between me and my men. “Who are you? Why am I here?”

I nodded at Marco, who gave the boy a swift kick in the ribs. “I ask the questions,” I said when the boy caught his breath. “And I want to know if you fucked her.”

The boy’s brows rose. “What?” After another kick from Marco, the boy wheezed for two full minutes. I sighed. “David, I grow weary. Just tell me if you have fucked her.”

“Wait, are you talking about Valentina ?” Marco lifted his leg to kick again, but David held up his hands. “Stop, stop. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

Finally, I bent and looked him in the eye. “DID YOU FUCK MY SON’S FIANCÉE?”

My tone seemed to impart the gravity of the situation on David. His brows flew up and he started babbling. “I had no idea she was engaged. Really. I’m sorry. She never told me. I never would have slept with her if I’d known. Please, you have to believe me.”

“How long, David?”

He licked his lips. “We’ve been seeing each other for seven months.” I rose and gestured to Marco, then put my hands on my hips.

Seven months this brutto figlio di puttana bastardo had been putting his dick in her. Cazzo, what had Romano been thinking, letting his incredibly hot daughter loose on the streets of Toronto?

Marco put some effort behind this kick and David curled up in a tiny ball, gasping. “Please, no more,” he begged.

“I think you broke a rib.” I exchanged an amused look with Marco. We both knew he’d been holding back. “Get him up,” I ordered.

Marco and Benito each grabbed an arm and hoisted David to his feet. The boy moaned, his head hanging, so I snatched his hair and tilted his face up to meet mine. “Listen to me carefully, Forget she exists. If she contacts you today, tomorrow, a year from now, ignore her. If you don’t I will peel the skin from your body while you watch. Do you understand?”

He whimpered and I could smell the piss now staining his jeans. Cristo santo, I wanted to go home.

“Are we clear?” I repeated. David wisely nodded. “Yes.”

“Good.” I stepped back and headed for the car. “Leave him.”

I heard David drop to the ground as I opened the door. Marco and Benito, both my second cousins, got in and we drove off, leaving David to find his own way to home. I rubbed my jaw and stared out the window.

Romano had clearly let his daughter run wild. She’d probably slept with a handful of men. Did I care? Even though we retained most of our traditions in Siderno, the old way of insisting on a bride’s virginity was dying out.

The bloody sheets ritual was practically archaic these days. My wedding twenty years ago had adhered to all the traditions, the things that were supposed to bring a couple good luck.

Yet my bride died after just five years of marriage, a young son left behind. There hadn’t been good luck. Only HEARTACHE AND REGRET.

I hadn’t loved Lucia. We’d both been young, the marriage arranged as an alliance with the Lombardo ’ndrina. I thought she understood her role as my wife, tolerating my long absences and the mistress I kept in town.

After all, these things were common in our world. Dimitri had been born after our first year of marriage and I always assumed we’d have many more sons and daughters.

How foolish I’d been. How naive to think the violence of my world wouldn’t extend to my family.

“You think Dimitri ’s going to like her?” Marco asked. “He wasn’t happy when you were coming here to select his bride.”

“Dimitri will marry whoever I tell him to marry.” To be honest, I had no idea of Dimitri ’s taste in women.

Even at eighteen, my son was secretive, a trait he learned from me. But who wouldn’t want Valentina Romano? And it didn’t matter. The marriage would forge a strong bond between our families, as well as settle a debt.

A win-win. Marco glanced at me in the rear-view mirror. “Should we go back to the hotel?”

“For a bit. But she’s going to run, so we need to be ready.” Romano had given his daughters too much independence, clearly, with no discipline or consequences.

The manner in which Valentina had spoken to her father and to me meant she didn’t know her place. I almost envied my son for his task of bringing her to heel.

I liked women with spirit. They were much more fun to fuck, and having a strong woman bend to my will always got my dick hard. Benito turned around. “You think she’s going to run?”

A smile tugged at my lips. “Oh, you can bet on it. But we’ll be waiting. Tell the pilot we leave today.”