Mafia Betrayal

Chapter Seven

Luca

"Luca, this is between you and me. Let Marco go. Please." Charlotte begged, her voice hoarse and weepy.

The way she jumped to his defense was amusing. They always had a soft spot for each other; I should have guessed he was involved. He wasn't the only one, though. Thanks to Layla, I knew Grant was involved, but he wasn't smart enough, and Macro wasn't connected enough to pull this off. They were working with someone else, and I was about to find out who.

"See? That's what you're not understanding. This isn't just about you and me anymore. You made it that way. You don't get to pull shit like that and walk away without another thought." I was enjoying the look of terror on her face. For a fleeting second, I wondered if I was going too far, but then I remembered how content she had been to hide Layla from me forever.

Bending down in front of her, I lifted her chin, forcing her to look at me. She squeezed her eyes shut, tears tricking down her cheek. "You're going to tell me everything I want to know."

Charlotte flinched, trembling at my touch. "Please..."

"Think about what you're doing, Luca. You don't want to hurt her." Marco pled her case. There was nothing either of them could say that would change my mind.

"I won't hurt her, and Charlotte knows that." I seethed, coming up from behind Marco and gripping his blood-matted hair. I yanked his head back so he was staring up at me. "You, on the other hand... I'm not making any promises about."

"Charlotte's got to learn that her choices affect other people. So each time she gives me an answer, I don't like..." I nodded towards Parker, and he slammed a fist into Marco's ribs.

"Fuck!" Marco hissed, nearly doubling over in pain.

"Luca, stop!" Charlotte sobbed. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

"That's my girl." I snarled, letting go of Marco and walking around behind her.

Marco winced. "Char, don't. I'm fine."

"I wouldn't listen to him if I were you," I chided. "He's already lost a lot of blood."

"He's not going to kill me, Charlotte." Marco continued, clearly ignoring me. "You don't have to do this."

"Parker, can you shut him up?" I sneered. Marco was right, of course. I wasn't going to kill him, but I needed Charlotte to believe I was.

Marco was a small player, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to suffer, especially if he kept this shit up. He was like a brother to me, and one of the best man I had. He just needed a little refresher about where his loyalty should lie. And he knew nothing about Layla. I was sure of that. He never would have gone through with this if he did.

Parker slapped a piece of duct tape over Marco's mouth, and Charlotte cringed.

"Let's start from the beginning," I grinned at Charlotte. She didn't answer, but I continued anyway. "When did you find out you were pregnant?"

Marco's bulging eyes confirmed my suspicion—he knew nothing about Layla. He thought he was just helping Charlotte disappear.

She bit her lip, dropping her head into her hands. I gave her a minute, but when she didn't respond, I nodded to Parker. "You're not starting off well, Charlotte."

He slugged Marco right in the gut, sending him into a coughing fit.

"It wasn't until I was gone." Charlotte said frantically. "I wanted to tell you. I planned to. But then... you told me you didn't want kids, Luca. You told me you'd never leave, and I didn't want her to grow up here."