Locked Hearts

Chapter Thirty Four

VALERIUS POV

The car rolled to a stop a little way from the warehouse. The plan was simple. Kill Milano. Easier said than done when the coward had so many men guarding him.

"Are you sure about this?" Danny asked.

"We have them surrounded right?" I turned to Marcus.

"Yes, and we're prepared if this is, in fact, an ambush."

"Wait for my signal." I nodded to Danny.

"Val?" I looked back at Danny. "Don't die."

I smirked and continued on towards the warehouse. His men spotted me easily, but no one attacked. That fact let me know, that this was indeed a set up. He knew I'd come. His men parted as I confidently strided to the door. It opened for me by someone inside before I even attempted to do so myself. No one checked me for weapons, ego was gonna get them all killed tonight. More men stood inside, more than we had with us. It didn't deter my movements as I stuck my hands in my pocket, walking like I owned the damn place and walked into the room down the hall.

"I knew you'd come." His voice boomed.

"Here I am."

He chuckled dryly from his seat. "You along with the Italian mob."

"Did you expect me to come alone?" I sat across from him placing my left ankle over my right knee, a big oak desk between us.

"Of course not. You're my daughter, you have my way of thinking." He smirked.

I kept my face blank, trying my best not to react to his words.

"I want you to join me. Take over like I did from my father, your grandfather." He stated, his eyes staring into mine.

I fucking hated having even the slightest resemblance of him. "Why would I do that?"

He shrugged and lit up a cigar. "If you don't, there's two very beautiful women and a young man, who'll pay for it."

I ignored the panic that swept through me, remembering I had them safe. He didn't know where they were because he would've known my mom was still alive.

"I don't do well with threats." I refused to break eye contact, this man strived off of fear.

"I may not know where they are right now, but I will find out. Then I'll make you watch just as I did all those years ago." He snarled. "You did see it, didn't you? I made you what you are now. I saw what you did to those men three years ago, not killing them but surely doing enough to leave an lasting impression." He spoke as though he was proud of me.

Part of my training included being put in the field. Marcus wanted to be sure I'd do whatever it took when it came down to it. He took me to a rescue mission, women stolen from their homes to be sold overseas. I never took a life, but I took down almost twenty men single handedly. Turns out channeling my darkest memories, tuning out the 'good' in me and focusing on the hell they brought into people's lives, brought forth a different me.

"I know everything about you, Valerius. When Hunter came crawling back to me, he spilled the beans and I made it my mission to find out every little detail there is to know. You played soccer, no?" He leaned back. "Smart kid in school, those geeky reading glasses you no longer wear. Geek turned saviour." He laughed out. "Harry Potter, right? You should thank me for making you better." He claimed.

I stared at the man, the more he spoke the more I felt the need to rip his throat out.

"Nothing to say? You went through all that trouble to get me back here, I'm here, daughter." He smiled a smile that made my blood crawl, then he looked me over. "You look so much like her. She chose wrong and paid for it." He said it so nonchalantly.

I gripped the arms of the chair, reining in my anger at the way he spoke about my mother. As casully as I could, I pressed the little device in my boot with the hand on my ankle.

Just a few more minutes.

"What kind of animal does the things you do?" I asked in genuine curiosity.

He laughed. "Says the one you left a man without both his hands."

"A man I found forcing himself on a twelve year child." I growled. "Now he spends the rest of his life suffering. That's justice if you ask me."

"You and aren't that different, Valerius." He leaned forward. "You are my child, capable of the same things I am. A beast under the surface."

'You are the daughter of Dante and Violetta Romano. Sister of Marcello Romano. That man is nothing to you. You are nothing like him.'

Her sweet voice in my mind calmed me down.

"I am nothing like you." I sneered.

"You are everything like me. You will join me and you will enjoy it. Or I will take everyone you care about and kill them right before your very eyes. By the time I'm done you'll wish you were dead. You'll beg me to take your life just so you find peace." His eyes gave away just how much he meant those words.

I rocked my head side to side. "Hmm, tempting offer. I'll have to decline."

He grinned as he stood up. "I like you." He walked around the desk to lean on it in front of me. "You'll make a good leader."

'I am not going anywhere.'

I listened to her voice in my head.

"I'm going to make you regret everything you ever did to all those innocent people." I stood up, he leaned off the desk as I did, and though he towered over me by atleast three inches I didn't cower. "You will be the one begging me to finish you off."

'You're everything to me too.'

She brought me peace.

"Game on, daughter." He stared me down.

I counted down in my head as we squared off. And just as I reached one, a loud explosion shook the building. We may have had less men but I spent years plotting this man's end. The only way he would leave, would be in a body bag.

"I guess I am your daughter after all." I smirked at the look on his face.

-E