My Masters' Nightmare, Season 1 / Episode 14 (7 page)

Christo stepped in front of
him. “Don’t react
to his taunts, you’ll get your vengeance soon
enough.”

“
I’m not taunting,” I
said, “I’m stating a fact. Angelica couldn’t bear
children.”

Guido pointed at
me
, his dark
eyes venomous. “You’re the sterile one. You couldn’t get my sister
pregnant, not the other way around.”

“
Considering I’m a father, I
disagree.”

“
You’re lying.”

I shook my head, my heart heavy. “When I
was fifteen, I got a slave pregnant without realizing it. My father
found out when her new master bragged to a mutual friend about
selling a D’Angelo heir. He tortured the slave owner to find out
who the buyer was, but they used an untraceable alias.”

Using his cane,
t
he Don
Rosso headed my way. “Good. I want you to suffer like you made me
suffer.”

“
I don’t understand why you’re
blaming me for Angelica’s death after all these years. You’ve never
asked for vengeance before, never even challenged me. You also
hugged me at the funeral.”

“
I didn’t know it was your fault
back then
.
Angelica’s maid came to me a week later with proof of what you’d
done to my daughter.”

“
What proof?”

“
She had a recording of you
saying the vilest of things to my sweet girl.”

“
It was probably because she
wouldn’t leave me alone. She was too stupid to listen, and a
recording isn’t enough to validate your claim.”

“
The maid spoke of other things
you did,
of
you bringing slaves into your bed.”

“
Only because your whiny
daughter made me soft.”

The Don reached
for his
gun.

“
No!” Christo yelled, putting
his hands out. “Don’t make this easy on him. If you shoot him, he
won’t suffer.”

“
Then start the fucking
torture!” the Don yelled, spit spraying from his mouth. He lifted
his cane and pointed it at me. “I want this Slavic scum to
suffer.”

“
I’m not a Slav,” I
said.

His eyes narrowed at me. “You
are. Your
puttana
of a mother got pregnant by her Croatian lover. You’re not
even full Italian, yet you think you can lead the five
famiglie
? That was never going to happen.”

I shook my head, not believing
him.
“My
father wouldn’t have treated me with such love if that was
true.”

Don Rosso
lifted his chin up, his
expression triumphant. “It
is
true. That’s why he murdered your mother, burying her alive
with the body of your real father.”

“
That means nothing. My mother
cheated. That’s why he killed her.”

“
Only partly, you’re the rest of
the reason
.”

“
Stop trying to mindfuck me, it
won’t work.”

“
Whether you believe me or not,
you still have Slavic blood flowing through your veins,
of which will be
spilt today.” He headed over to his chair, his son helping him into
it.

I turned to Christo. “Let’s get this over
with.”

Christo smiled.
“Oh, this isn’t
going to be quick; I can guarantee you that.”

“
Fine, just cut Rita
down.”

“
It’s Sophia, and she’s staying
there for now.” He pointed to a rope hanging several feet in front
of Rita. “You’re going to be tied up there so she can see
everything that happens to you. Now, strip.”

“
Guess you’re a
fenucca
like your brother,
after all.”

“
No,
clothes will just get in the way for
what I have planned.”

I unbuttoned and slipped my shirt off,
letting it fall to the ground, knowing I wouldn’t need it again. I
pushed my pants down along with my underwear, kicking everything
off. Once naked, I held my arms up to be tied to the
rope.

Christo shook his head at me.
“I’ve never
had someone so eager to be tortured.”

“
The sooner I die, the
sooner you set Ri … Sophia free.”

“
True. I just hope she loves you
enough to kill herself. You do have that affect on
females.”

I bit my tongue to stop from going
ballistic at him. A soldier walked behind me, stealing my attention
away from Christo. Grabbing my wrists, he tied the rope around
them, stretching my arms towards the ceiling.

Christo resumed talking, “And it’s
true about you being the son of your mother’s lover.”

I remained silent,
not believing the
lie.

He continued,
“Thierry told me.
He also told me about your real father’s torturous death. Because
of it, he didn’t care that Matteo shot your fake father. He thought
he was a monster like his real son Alberto.”

“
If that’s true, then he
wouldn’t have treated me so well. He would’ve thrown me
out.”

“
He kept you because you
embodied everything he wanted in a son, since his other one was
such a disappointment.”

“
You don’t have the
right to talk about
my brother!”

“
Such loyalty to someone who
betrayed you for a piece of ass. Why?”

“
Alberto still loved me, and I
loved him, no matter what happened between us.”

“
He
sold you out. That doesn’t show love
to me.”

“
That means nothing!
I loved him, yet I
still killed him.”

Christo’s eyebrows shot up.
“
You
killed
Alberto?”

“
Sì
,” I breathed out, what I did forever
staining my soul. “I warned him I would if he didn’t leave.
Instead, he stayed and brutalized Jagger. Now, kill me, so I can
see him again, because I deserve to die.”

“
You’ll be having
a family reunion
soon enough, Frano—with both your fathers, along with your mother
and brother. Only two D’Angelos will be left behind once you’re
gone.”

“
Leave Jagger and Thierry out of
this, you have me. That’s enough.”

“
I won’t hurt Jagger. I promised
my brother I’d let him live the rest of his life in peace, while
Thierry’s making my brother’s cock happy.”

“
Is Thierry with your
brother right now?”

His smile widened.
“
Sì
,
and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s being used by the Black Russian
too. He does like pretty D’Angelos, as he calls you
lot.”

“
You fucking
idiot.”

Anger flashed
across his face.
“Watch what you say to me!”

“
If you’re not an idiot,
t
hen why are
you standing here with me when Matteo and your twin are being used
by the Black Russian?”

“
He’s not using them; they’re
guests in his house. And how do you know Matteo’s with
him?”

“
Camila phoned your twin’s
number and got the Black Russian instead. The freak told her he
owns Matteo and your brother.” I smiled. “Which means your twin’s
going to get some
fucking
karma.”

“
You’re lying. Gregor wouldn’t
do that to me, he’s a friend.”

“
I’d say your friendship died
when your
famiglia
killed his guards and enslaved his lover.”

“
You’re speaking nonsense
now.”

“
Then ring him. And if that
prick lies, ring Camila. She was in a panic to get her sister back,
even begged me to help her.”

“
How do you know about
Andriena?” Christo asked, worry now clouding his
expression.

“
Again, the Black Russian told
Camila.”

Christo yanked
his phone out of
his pocket. A few seconds later, he was yelling into it, “Get me
Gregor!” He waited a moment, then resumed yelling, “You lied to me,
you fucking
bastardo!
” He clutched the phone tighter. “I had no knowledge of
that, so return my
famiglia
.” He cursed. “Then watch your back, because once I’m
finished with Frano, I’m coming after you. No, I will not swap
Frano for Andriena; I don’t give a fuck about her, but I’ll swap
him for my brother.”

The Rossos shouted from their
chairs.

Christo waved at them to be
quiet. “I have to backtrack.
How about I give you Frano’s cousin instead?” He
nodded rapidly. “
Sì
,
Jagger. You give my brother back, and I guarantee you’ll receive
that pretty
bastardo
wrapped in a bow.” He exhaled loudly. “As soon as Frano’s
dead I will… No, you can only have Jagger. Don Rosso has paid for
Frano’s death.” He paused, his face frustrated. “I know you would
kill Frano for him, but he wants to do it himself, so agree to just
Jagger. My brother can verify he’s a good fuck.” His left hand shot
up. “Finally! And you better not try to fuck me over again, you
cocksucker.” He grunted. “I’ll call you all the names under the
sun, because you looked me in the eye and lied to me. No! Don’t you
fucking dare blame me for your guards’ deaths. I wouldn’t have
entrusted you with my
famiglia
’s safety if I knew what happened. Fine! I’ll call
you back after Frano’s dead.” He hung up and yelled out, his face
furious.

Rita jerked awake, looking startled. Her
gaze moved to me, her eyes widening a second later. “Frano!” she
yelled, her expression horrified.

Christo
spun around.
“
Bene!
Now you’re awake we can finally torture your
lover.”

“
No!”
she yelled, yanking at the rope.
“This is about me, not him. Let him go. I didn’t agree to
this.”

“
Of course you didn’t, you’re
my
schiava
. You don’t have free will.”

I cut in,
“You promised to free her once
I’m dead.”

Rita’s eyes shot to me. “You’re not
dying!”

“
I don’t think I have a
choice.”

“
You’re not dying!” she
screamed. “I’m not losing you; I finally got you back.”

“
Again,
it’s not my choice.”

“
You shouldn’t have come
here.” She started crying. “Why did you come?”

“
Because I love
you.”

Christo started clapping. “Such heartfelt
love. This will only make the show better.”

“
You’re sick!” Rita screamed at
him. “You only bring death and misery! You ruined my fucking life,
you’re stealing Frano’s, and I’ll make you pay for it.”

“
Says the person who’s tied up
and naked.” Christo picked up the whip, his eyes going to the
Rossos. “Who wants to take the first strike?”

The Rosso heir
rose to his feet
and strode over to Christo. “I will, with pleasure,” Guido said,
taking the whip.

Rita started screaming at
him
to get
away from me. Ignoring her, he walked behind me, flicking the whip
out, testing it. The fear and anticipation of what was coming made
me tense up. A second later, the crack of the whip sounded. The
leather sliced across my flesh, sending pain lancing down my back.
I yelled out and jerked forward, my arms wrenching into an
unnatural position. The next strike made me yell out again. Rita
went crazy, yanking and pulling on her rope, screaming blue murder,
but all I could think about was the searing pain. I tightened my
body as the whip cracked again. A third strike hit my left shoulder
blade, finishing at my hip. Guido knew how to handle a whip, each
lash digging deep into my flesh. Then he struck again and again,
the strikes coming harder and faster, not letting up, the pain
excruciating.

“
That’s enough!” Christo
yelled.

Guido
stopped. My head slumped forward,
only the rope keeping me from collapsing. Rita sobbed out my name,
torturing me even more. I wanted to tell her everything was going
to be all right, but knew it was only going to get worse, death now
the least of my problems.

Christo grabbed my hair and wrenched my
head back, so I was looking directly at Rita. I closed my eyes, not
wanting to see the agony my whipping had caused her.

“
Look at
her, Frano,” Christo said, “or
Guido will whip her too.”

I opened my eyes
and looked across
at her. She was crying, breaking my heart. I felt guilty for even
questioning her love for me. Her escape from my house had nothing
to do with me, and everything to do with what had happened to her.
If I’d been hurt like she had all those years ago, nothing would’ve
stopped me from seeking out my abuser and putting a bullet in their
head.

“
Don’t cry,” I said.
“I deserve
this.”