My Masters' Nightmare, Season 1 / Episode 14 (5 page)

A
female scream pierced the
line.

“
You
bastardo
!” I yelled. “Don’t hurt
her!”

“
I will
only stop if you answer my question
correctly,” he said over the screams. “Will you give up your life
for her?”

“
Sì
,
sì
, just don’t hurt her.”

The screams ceased.
“
Molto bene
,” he said. “Now, do you have any questions for
me?”

“
I will only come if you
set her free.”

“
Once you’re dead, I’ll be happy
to. I want her to live with the knowledge she’s the reason why you
suffered a horrible death.”

“
You’ll be the reason, not
her.”

“
She won’t see it that way, and
I must say I’m disappointed in you, Frano. Your father wouldn’t
have sacrificed himself for a woman. What he did to your mother was
spectacular. He was a real man, unlike you gallant bastards who
fall over yourselves to save
figa
. Pathetic.”

“
Where do I meet the ride?” I
said, ignoring his derision.

“
How about the
little cottage you
and Sophia used to fuck in, or possibly the river where you fucked
behind a bush. You two were very entertaining.”

I gritted my teeth, disgusted that he’d
watched us.

He continued, “Let’s
make it the
cottage. Again, come alone.”

“
I have a driver,” I said,
wondering how I was going to ditch the Landi soldier.

“
He can drop you off, but must
leave straight afterwards. I will have someone watching you from
afar, so if he tries to follow, I’ll slice your woman’s throat open
before you even get where I am. Then I’ll torture you, leaving the
Rossos to finish you off. By the way, Don Rosso ordered your hit a
long time ago, but my older brother had made a deal with Alberto,
so he refused. He also threatened to slaughter the Rossos
if you died. But
since your
famiglia
killed him—”

“
He died of a heart
attack.”

“
Because your
sister-in-law poisoned his son!”

“
That had nothing to do with me,
and I don’t believe anything you’re saying about the Rossos. You’re
trying to pit allies against each other through lies.”

“
I’m not lying.”

“
I’ve had enough of this
conversation. Just tell me the time to meet your men.”

“
Nine o’clock tomorrow morning.
Get a good night’s sleep; I know I will … once I put a load into
your woman’s
culo.
” He hung up, my yell startling Lucan. Rita’s brother
started crying.

I handed the radio to Georgio.
“
Don’t tell
the Santini about what Christo said about the Rossos.”

He frowned.
“They need to know just in case
it’s true.”

“
It’s not. If Don Rosso blamed
me for Angelica’s death, he wouldn’t have hugged me at her funeral.
Plus, him and my father remained friends afterwards. Christo’s
nothing but a manipulator, hell bent on destroying our
alliances.”

“
Okay, I’
ll keep it from them for now,
but if I hear anything else that suggests the Rossos are traitors,
I won’t hesitate in telling my Don.”

“
That’s fine.
Now, take care of
the Donatelli soldier.” I headed out of the house, a gunshot going
off behind me.

***

I woke up the next morning
to
a girl’s
face in front of mine. Georgio’s sixteen-year-old daughter had
snuck into the guest bedroom I’d been given for the night. She was
a pretty girl, with a long mane of thick brown hair and the most
stunning blue-green eyes.

“
Cool, you’re awake,”
Nina
said.

“
Not surprising, considering you
were tapping my forehead.” I sat up, making sure the sheet was
covering my lower half, since I only had briefs on. “Leave the
room, you shouldn’t be in here.”

“
Not until you say I can
come with you.”

“
Where?” I asked, still half
asleep.

“
To save the Salvi lady.
My
papà
’s getting his soldiers ready and I want to go
too.”

“
No one’
s coming with me, I’m doing this
alone.”

“
But my
papà
said—”

“
I don’t care what your father
said. I outrank him. So leave my room before I give you an anatomy
lesson.”

“
An anatomy lesson?”

“
I’m not wearing
anything.”

Her mouth formed into an O. She pushed up
and ran for the door, closing it behind her.

Shaking my head, I
got out of bed and
grabbed my pants, pulling them on. I slipped on my shirt next,
quickly buttoning it as I stuffed my feet into my shoes. Once
finished, I headed out of the guest room, knowing there was a high
chance I wouldn’t be breathing tomorrow.

I descended the staircase, spotting
Georgio cutting across the lounge. It was sparsely decorated,
almost Spartan. I wondered how his wife put up with Georgio’s taste
in bland furnishings, not to mention his austere character,
especially with the way he barked orders at her.

He stopped at the bottom
of the staircase,
his green eyes narrowing in on me. “Nina told me that you refuse to
accept my help.”

“
Christo will know if I’m
followed.”

“
If you don’t have backup,
you’ll be walking to your death.”

“
I don’t have a
choice.”

“
Then
at least wear a tracking device so we
can come in from a different angle.”

“
You won’t be able to sneak up
on them without being noticed. All it’ll take to get my woman
killed is one of their guards seeing you. So,
grazie
for your offer; it’s just unfortunate
I have to turn it down.”

“
Again, you’ll be walking to
your death. You must
at least have a plan.”

I shook my head, not wanting to endanger
Rita’s life. “I will do this my way.”

“
At least have breakfast before
you leave.”

Nodding, I
followed him to the dining
room. After a full breakfast, we headed out of the house, stopping
in the front courtyard.

He placed his hands on my arms.
“
I
understand why you’re going in alone; I would for my wife too. I
wish you the best, Don. I will be praying for you.”

“
Grazie
,” I said. “And if I die today, pass
on the message to Jagger to take refuge with the Santini. They will
protect him from the Black Russian and anyone else. Whatever I own
goes to him, unless his brother’s found, then they can share
it.”

“
I won’t need to tell them
anything, because you’ll be returning with your woman.” He smiled,
although it appeared strained. Despite his encouraging words, the
man probably knew I was a dead man walking.

After we said our
farewells,
I
headed to my car. I climbed in, the Orsini having left the Landi
soldier cuffed to the wheel all night.

He grunted in relief when I
uncuffed him. “I didn’t mind being left here for an hour, but not
the whole night,” he said, stretching his arms. “The
bastardi
could’ve at least
brought me a blanket. I was freezing.”

“
It’s considerably better than
what
they
wanted to do to you.”

“
True,” he said, probably
realizing that meant a bullet in the head. “Though, we haven’t
attacked the Orsini—or even the Santini, so they shouldn’t be
violent towards me. They have no affiliations to the
Rosso.”

“
The Santini
have, hence why they were
careful with you, plus Valentino Pirelli’s car was bombed and he’s
a half-brother of the Santini.”

“
I had nothing to do with the
bombing.”

“
So, Pedro
was
responsible?”

“
Whether he was or wasn’t, is
unimportant right now. We need to find your woman. What’s your plan
for the day?”

“
You’re dropping me off at a
cottage I went to yesterday.”

“
I have to stay with you,”
he said, starting the engine.

“
Unless you want the Donatelli
to kill you, that’s not advisable.”

He
grimaced. “No,
they
will end up dying.”

“
You can’t touch them or my
woman will be killed. I’m exchanging my life for hers.”

“
Are you crazy? No woman is
worth dying for.”

I smiled sadly. “This one
is.”

He reversed the car onto the road. “So,
you’re going in without any backup?” he said, sounding
surprised.

“
Sì
.”

“
No disrespect intended,
but that’s foolhardy.”

“
If anyone follows me, my
woman
will
be killed.”

Th
e soldier shook his head. “You’re
still mad.”

“
No,
not mad—just in love.”

4

RITA

I lay on the ground, bound
like
an
animal, the rope so tight it cut into my flesh. After Christo had
whipped my back yesterday, the muscular soldier had pulled me down.
I’d tried to stay awake, but had fallen asleep, exhaustion finally
getting the better of me.

The sound of footsteps grabbed my
attention. The muscular soldier was walking towards me with Christo
shadowing him like the Grim Reaper, the psycho dressed in black.
The soldier bent down and cut away my rope. I still had the small
blade in my hand, the tape keeping it stuck to my palm. I just
hadn’t had the opportunity to use it, since I’d been wrapped up
tighter than a caterpillar in a cocoon.

The soldier lifted me up, ordering me to
stand. Once I was on my feet, he tied my wrists to the rope hanging
from the rafter, leaving the rest of me unbound.

Christo barked an order at him, “Hurry,
our guests will be arriving soon.”

My eyes moved to the three chairs by the
horse stalls, which hadn’t been there last night.

“
One for me, the others for Don
Luigi Rosso and his eldest son Guido,” Christo said, probably
noticing me looking at them. “They’re coming to watch your lover
die. They’ve waited a long time to see Frano pay for what he did to
Angelica.”

“
I’ve told you enough times it
wasn’t Frano’s fault.”

“
Saying it doesn’t make it true.
He killed her by treating her like vermin. Her father said she
loved Frano and couldn’t live with his hatred.”

“
That’
s what happens when people are forced
into marriage.”

“
My oldest brother had an
arranged marriage, and he never mistreated his wife even though she
was a vicious
troia
. In comparison, Angelica Rosso was a nice woman. She may
have been dumb as
merda
, but nonetheless, she was harmless. She didn’t deserve to
be verbally abused by Frano. He even brought slaves into their bed,
fucking them where she slept. He did everything to make her life
hell, and because of that she committed suicide. When those two
married, they were meant to make their
famiglie
stronger, but instead it turned the
Rossos against the D’Angelos. And unlike other
famiglie
, the Rossos are very patient
and cunning. They can wait for years before exacting revenge
without letting anyone know what they’re up to. They can lie to
your face and you wouldn’t even suspect a thing, until you’re dying
from the knife they stuck in your back.”

“
You’re criticizing Frano after
what you did to my parents?! You’re a fucking hypocrite, you
psychotic bastard!”

He smiled. “That’s very true; though the
psychotic side of me doesn’t care that I’m a hypocrite. I do as I
please, and really, right now I don’t care what happens to anyone
but my brother and nephew. I don’t even care what happens to
me.”

“
Then untie me, so I can torture
and murder you.”

“
No, I’d prefer to make
you
watch
Frano’s demise. I also want to torment him through you. Today’s
going to be very enjoyable.”

“
I will fucking come back from
the dead and haunt you.”

“
Such passion. I do like
you, Sophia.”

“
It’s Rita;
you killed the girl in
me.”

“
But I’ll let the woman live—as
long as Frano sticks to his word. Now, I have to arrange for his
painful death.” He turned and headed outside.