Vengeance.
It's something I've been taught as the son of a cruel mafia don; something I've comforted myself with for years.
When the one thing that kept me grounded is yanked away so ruthlessly, it's only in my nature to strike out in the only way...
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I'd endured a substantial amount of pain in the past; physically and emotionally. I was familiar with torture as well. Nothing could possibly hurt more than my uncle's mental torture, I thought.
Wrong.
I sat still in the backseat of my car as a visceral burn spread across my chest, squeezing painfully tight, leaving nothing but excruciating pain behind.
It was foreign.
I could feel my heart physically shattering at my feet. It hurt more than any torture session in Silvio's 'playroom'. My lungs were burning with every breath I took. I dug my fingers into the leather seat, steeling myself as another wave of excruciating pain swept through my body.
"Niko?" Adriano called from the driver's seat.
"Drop it," I hissed, looking out of the window. I was not in the mood to talk or socialize. "Get some men back there, and have them search for her."
She was a smart woman. She had to have gotten out of there.
Adriano made a sound at the back of his throat, but he said nothing.
I scowled at him. "What?"
He chanced me a look through the rearview mirror. "We both saw the house burn, Niko."
My jaw flexed as anger danced its way through my blood. Or was it denial? I scattered the thought immediately. She was still alive. "I know, and I'm telling you she wasn't in there."
"Lachlan was in there."
I inhaled sharply, like I'd been sucker punched. Guilt ate its way through me. I hadn't given him a single thought since the house blew up. If he'd died in that explosion, it was all my fault. I brought him here, after all. He was...
A shrill ringtone filled the car, cutting me off mid-thought. Adriano retrieved my phone from the cupholder. How he'd gotten it out of my hand was beyond me, but now wasn't the time to think about that.
Adriano frowned, staring at the screen briefly before he held out the phone to me. "It's Lachlan."
I snatched the device out of his hand, newfound hope surging through me. Maybe he'd found her before the explosion, and he was calling to let me know.
"Lachlan..."
"No, you fucking idiot. You're alive!" She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
The relief that slammed into my chest was immense and immediate. It felt as though the load on my chest had been eased, and I could finally breathe again.
"Where the fuck are you, dolcezza, and why are you with Lachlan's phone?"
***
"You're alive!"
I fell back a step as Giselle's body slammed into mine with all the force her tiny body could muster. I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around her body, cradling her against my chest as I inhaled her scent I feared I wouldn't ever be able to smell again.
