Chapter 48 - Marco

I was living my worst nightmare, and I was certain of it when I slammed my phone against the table hard after the video Filippo had just sent. Seeing her hanging from chains, her body bruised and blood covering her skin, had turned my stomach.

"Why the fuck haven't you found him yet, damn it?" I shouted at my men, and I even saw Frank wince in the corner.

He should have been home—or anywhere else—dealing with his own grief, but he'd offered to help under the excuse that he needed to keep his mind occupied.

"You shouldn't keep watching that—he just wants to mess with your head..."

"It should be me in her place—Angela shouldn't be going through any of this," I shouted, interrupting my brother. "This is my punishment, my retribution for pushing her away from me."

"Don't blame yourself so much—she knew the risks of leaving alone."

"She was angry at me, and that's why she acted like that. I broke her heart last night—I wanted to make her suffer like I was suffering in that moment, and look where that led us!" I punched the table, staring at the paused image from the video where she was nearly fainting and Filippo laughed diabolically while violating her. "Angel said she loved me last night."

"What?" He asked, coming closer as my words came out low.

"She said she loved me even though I don't love her, and at the end of the night, I hurt her—I broke her heart."

"But you do love her—she'll understand that soon..."

"I told her I don't love her. Right now, she's suffering, being tortured and abused by that sick fuck, while my last words to her were how I'd succeeded in turning her into a cold killer like me, and how I'd made her her father's worst nightmare."

I'd repeated every word I'd said to her since Filippo hung up—she must think she was nothing more to me than a piece in that game, that I'd only used her to achieve my goals.

I couldn't imagine how lost Angela must feel in that moment, how hurt and wounded she was—not just physically. Nearly half the day had passed, and not a single son of a bitch had managed to find the bastard's car or his signal.

The trail was lost shortly after the airport at one of the exits—they'd been smart entering an old, abandoned part of the city where almost all the cameras were broken, making it hard to find where they'd holed up.

"Why did you tell her you don't love her? It's obvious you love her—you're completely obsessed with that woman," Nero insisted, making me look away from the image on the phone.

"I don't love her—I just have a duty to take care of her, after all, we're married. But that's it. Angela is important for my takeover of the Cosa Nostra territories—she wanted freedom, and I wanted power, and we both got that," I summarized the reality for him. A person with a broken soul like mine couldn't love.

"Keep fooling yourself," Frank said after an eternity of silence. "You'd put the world at her feet, just like I'd do for Mel."

"That doesn't mean..."

"We found them!" He exclaimed, cutting me off and coming toward me with the tablet. "The drone spotted heat signatures, and our men confirmed—it can only be them with the number of armed men around the warehouse."

"Let's go! I want all those bastards dead—except Filippo!" I shouted, leaving the training room before all my men.

The cars sped out of the property and didn't stop for anything as we crossed the city. Every minute lost was one more minute of her suffering in Filippo's and his men's hands.

Before the cars even stopped, the snipers who'd done the reconnaissance of the place started shooting from strategic points, taking down each man in our path.

"Ram the damn gate with the car!" I ordered when I saw the men ready to break down the warehouse gate with tools, but we didn't have time for that—they could kill her.

The car crashed through with a bang, exploding the large wooden doors into a million pieces as we entered. The men ran desperately, shooting in all directions, and we jumped out.

My heart was racing more than usual, and my eyes scanned the place looking for her or the chains I'd seen in the videos that worm had sent. I just needed to lay eyes on her and be certain my little angel was alive.

"Come to claim the rest of your wife, Marco?" Filippo's voice echoed through the warehouse, sounding above the gunshots and making my blood boil. "I didn't think you'd find her so fast—my men and I haven't had enough time to play with her yet."

"I'm here to keep the promise I made you on the phone—to make you a dead man once and for all!" I exclaimed, advancing through the madness around me.

"You know, I understand why you adore her so much. Angela really is a delight in every sense—too bad you stole her virginity from me." I quickened my pace, following his voice and spotting him as he lowered her body from the ceiling.

"Think you're going somewhere with my wife?" I surprised him, appearing behind him with two guns aimed at his head.

I heard a click behind me and turned just in time to see one of his men with a gun pointed at me.

"I don't think—I know. You stole my fiancée, and now I stole your wife."

He pressed a button, letting the chains run all at once, and I took advantage of the noise to turn one gun and shoot his man without ever taking the other off him.

Angela's body hit the ground with a thud, and not even a grunt of pain escaped her lips. That made my heart clench, and I advanced against them, watching her lying there, seemingly inert on the floor.

There was so much blood on her body, along with cuts, purple finger marks, and others so large I couldn't even imagine what they'd hit her with. One of her eyes was purple and almost completely swollen shut, her nose was swollen—definitely broken—her lip was cut, and there were bruises on her neck and face.

I knew she wasn't dead—he wouldn't have killed her, as he couldn't get what he wanted that way. But fear gripped my heart seeing her unmoving eyes and body. She lay just as she'd fallen, as if she didn't know she was safe.

"You stupid son of a bitch!" I grunted before turning the gun and smashing it against his nose, putting enough force to knock it to the other side. "I'll kill you slowly!"

"No." The whisper escaped her, drawing a sick laugh from Filippo, who stared at her even with blood pouring from his nose.

"I'm here, angel. You're safe—that worm won't lay hands on you again!" I said, crouching beside her as two of my men grabbed him by the arms. I took off my jacket, covering her body carefully, but even then, she pulled away from my touch, curling into a fetal position when I tried to touch her face.

That made a lump form in my throat, stealing my breath at the same pace a dark, cold force took over my body, remembering the images of what they'd done to her.

"He... he's mine," Angela said in a hoarse voice but didn't look at me—her eyes rolled to Filippo. "I want him and his men. Alive!"

"Seems she enjoyed fucking with us more than with you, Demon of the Camorra," the worm taunted me, making my hatred—and revulsion—grow.

Unable to contain all the emotions I was feeling in that instant, I lunged at him, smashing my fist into his face and throwing him to the ground before mounting him, hitting him several times.

Filippo laughed like a crazy son of a bitch, teeth covered in blood, but he wasn't intimidated by my blows because he knew he'd hit me in a way no one else could.

"That's enough!" Angel shouted, and a gunshot echoed past my head. I turned in that instant, only to see her dressed in my jacket while Nero supported her swaying body. "Step away, or I'll shoot."

Her gaze was on Filippo, and they were as cold as I'd never seen before in my life—not even when her mother died. And even injured, bleeding, and nearly fainting, Angela didn't waver the gun from my direction.

I stood slowly, leaving the worm on the ground with a smile plastered on his face. My men approached, pulling him up and starting to drag him out with the survivors.

"I think we're even now—you fucked with my fiancée, and I fucked with your wife's head, Marco! She'll never be yours again!" he shouted as he was dragged away. And the instant she let my brother pick her up and carry her out without flinching like she had with me, I knew he was right. How could she come back to me after everything? After going through that hell with her heart in pieces because of me?