I looked up at him. “Tell me, were you wire-tapping my phone? Did you have recording devices placed in this penthouse? Because I’d really like to know how many hours’ worth of footage you had to comb through to come up with that fifteen-second piece of shit.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re going back to your uncle. Your death warrant just needs to be signed. And once I hand you over, everything can go back to normal.”
I shook my head. “Doesn’t shock me that you’re working with Pava, you know.”
He made a comic sad face. “It’s time for you to come with me.”
“I beg your pardon?”
He gripped my arm. “You’re coming with me. Israel’s going to want you out of his place immediately.”
I fought against him. “I’m not going anywhere until he comes down here and tells me to get out himself.”
“Get up, you stupid bitch.”
“Israel,” I called. He couldn’t really be so upset that’d let his brother take me away to be murdered. Help!”
“I said, get up!”
When he wrenched me out of my seat, I yelled at the top of my lungs. Hoping and praying, that Israel would come to my rescue, that he would come to his senses. That he helped me instead of throwing me to the damn dogs as he’d always done. But no matter how hard I screamed and no matter how hard I fought, Giovanni got me into the elevator.
I wouldn’t let him take me down, though. I wouldn't let his asshole come in and destroy something I had worked so hard to obtain.
I won’t let you down again, Israel. I promise.
And the second those elevator doors opened, I punched Giovanni straight in the dick.
23
Israel
“Bonnie!”
I yelled for her as I came down the staircase after taking some time to think.
“Bonnie, we need to talk!”
I got into the living room just as the elevator doors opened, and I watched my brother step into my place. Again. He had a slight limp he hadn’t had before, and I felt a chill work its way up my spine.
“Where’s Bonnie?”
“She’s not here,” Giovanni said with a tired sigh.
I paused. “Where is she?”
He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “I did you a solid and sent her back to her uncle.”
I clenched my fists. “You did what?”
“Hold on. Sorry, Iz. I’m just a bit—”
I charged my brother and grabbed his jacket. He groaned as I shoved him against the wall, listening to the elevator doors close. I picked him up off his feet. I saw him roll his eyes as I pulled him back, slamming him against the wall.
“What. The fuck. Did you do?” I asked, with each body slam.
He sighed. “Damn it, Iz. Why can’t you just do things that are good for you in the first place?”
“What did you do?”
I slammed him against the wall again before dropping him from my hands.
He crumbled at my feet.
“Tell me the truth,” I demanded.
He shook his head. “I’ve already done—mmph!”
I kicked him in his gut. “Tell me the truth, goddamn it, or I’ll kill you myself.”
He looked up at me. “You’d really kill your own brother over some pointless bitch?”
I leaned down. “Is she right?”
“What?” He looked thoroughly confused.
“Was that voice recording you played for me edited?”
He snickered. “Not like you’ll believe anything I tell yo—aaahh!”
I grabbed a fist full of his hair, raking my nails along his scalp. “Squeal like the pig you know you are and tell me the truth, Gio.”
When his lower lip started quivering, I shoved him to the ground. I kicked him one more time in the ribs just to make myself feel better before I reached for my things. My brother wanted to ruin my life on purpose. Bonnie had known that from the moment she’d heard that recording.
I should’ve listened.
“She’s already dead, you know.” Giovanni called spat a mouthful of blood onto my pristine marble floors, and that alone was enough to warrant the taking of his life.
“I’ll send my clean-up crew for you,” I jammed my hand onto the elevator button, summoning the doors to open and ready to go after Bonnie.
The person I should’ve trusted in the first place.
24
Bonnie
My eye hurt. My stomach turned over onto itself. It felt like I’d broken one of my knuckles, and the scratches down my legs had clotted over with scabs. The car I rode in the back of pulled up to my uncle’s estate. I gazed up at it, wondering what other tortures I might face before my death.
You were born into a dangerous life. You always knew that.
The car came to a stop, and my eyes danced along the pressure-washed facade of the house. I reflected on the way I had lived my life up until this point. Quiet. Meek. Mild. Never one to anger people or raise my voice. I had been born into a dangerous life, and instead of owning that, I’d decided to play it safe. I’d become weak. Naive. Acting as if this world didn’t exist, when it really did.
But now, I felt something else blossoming inside me, felt something else taking hold of my soul. The darkness that had always draped me entered through every orifice in my body, filling me from my toes to my nose.
It’s time to get back to Israel.
However, the second my uncle stepped onto the grand front porch, all of my strength dissipated. The wild grin on his face and his growing eyes told me I was about to endure tortures I didn’t even understand to exist. He walked closer to the car, and I slid to the other side. Trying my best to get away from him. My body was sore from last night, but the scratches and the bruises had Giovanni left behind were only an appetizer to what Pava would do to me.
After all, I was privy to his techniques. I’d heard the screams from our sound-proof basement, even as a child. I knew what happened down there. I knew what Pava did once he got his hands on someone he wanted to eliminate.
So, when he opened the door, I expected him to yank me out. I expected him to beat me senseless before tossing me over his shoulder.
But instead, he smiled at me and offered his hand. “Come. It looks like you could use a hot bath and a nice meal.”
As memories of my parent’s death crossed my mind, I shook my head. Because even though he was playing nice, I knew he wouldn’t be that way for long. I knew he’d play the psychological game with me until I begged for death.
Time to get back to Israel, Bonnie.
I just didn’t know how to make that happen.
I didn’t know how to make anything happen anymore.
25
Israel
I had this feeling I couldn't shake, a feeling that changed the course of everything happening. I walked up to my father’s residence intent on straightening this out once and for all. I was getting Bonnie back.
“Dad!” I slammed the car door closed as I marched up to his front door. “Dad! Open this door now!”
I banged my fist against his front door before it fell open, and I found my father standing on the other side.
“We need to talk.” I didn’t give him time to usher me in before I brushed past him.
“What is it, son? What’s going on?” he asked, closing the door behind me.
I whipped around. “Don’t act like you give a shit about me right now.”
“Care to inform me where this attitude is coming from, then?”
I narrowed my eyes. “A hitman attacked Bonnie in the grocery store.”
“Oh, my word.” His eyes rounded, but he didn’t look sincere. “That sounds horrible. But does it really shock you?”
“I recognized him as one of the men who’d broken into my home and tried to kill Bonnie and me while we were in bed a few weeks back. He was the guy who dragged Bonnie out of bed and down the hallway.”
“That sounds terrible. But again, does it really shock y
ou?”
I took a step toward him. “I only caught two of the intruders that night. The third one got away. And while the two I interrogated admitted that they worked for Pava Moretti, I never did find the third one.”
“Sounds like you’re slipping, Israel.”
“Dad, did you hire that third hitman that night? The one who came after us in the grocery store?”
He blinked. “Is this a serious question, or…”
“It’s as serious as it gets, Dad.”
He sighed. “Why in the world can’t you just let that woman go? Can’t you see she’s causing you more heartache than she’s worth?”
“Answering a question with another question isn’t good, Dad.”
“And neither is accusing your father of trying to murder some woman and the heir to his throne! But you’re here doing it.”
“Just answer the question.”
“Let me ask you this, son. Why are you so stuck on this woman? She provides nothing for you. We didn’t get an alliance of any sort out of the deal. We didn’t get money or protection. We got a war out of her, Israel. Why can’t you see that?”
I hovered above him. “I could still have Pava’s empire through her.”
He chuckled. “Is that really what you think?”
My eyes danced between his. “I think it takes some serious balls to try and kill your own damn son.”
He snickered. “I’ve never done anything of the sort.”
“And yet, here I am. Inclined to trust Bonnie more than my own father.”
“You’ve been inclined to trust her from the beginning. She was raised by Pava, and we know how strong his psychological game is.”
“What reason other than that do you have for not trusting her?”
He held his chin high. “I see what a mangled mess she’s made of your mind. Of your confidence. That’s why I don’t trust her. And through it all, I’m wondering what this has done to you. I’m wondering whether or not you’re really fit to run this empire.”
There it was. “Did Giovanni hire that hitman?”
“What?”
“Answer me, old man. Did Giovanni—”
He pointed up at me. “Don’t you dare come into my home and use that kind of language around me. I gave you everything, Israel!”
“And now my own family’s trying to kill me off because of the woman I chose to have at my side!”
My father’s face reddened with anger. “What did you just say?”
As I stood there, arguing with my father, it clicked. All of it clicked. The choices I’d made up until this point had all been manipulated and pre-established by my father. I’d never been the leader in this situation. Not since he’d approached me about marrying the Moretti girl in the first place. I’d been nothing but my father’s pawn.
And as fury filled my gut, I made myself a solemn vow.
I will become my own man with my own empire.
“Israel? Is that you?”
I blinked and turned to the woman who’d broken my heart so many years before. “Alice?”
Dad smiled. “I’m glad you dropped by, though. Alice and I were having a wonderful talk. Why don’t you come in and have a drink with us?”
“I’ll deal with you later.” I turned away from him to face Alice. “What are you doing here?”
She smiled sheepishly. “Your father seems to be under the impression that we could have a second chance together. And I’m inclined to agree, you know. After the anniversary party?”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Alice. But whatever conclusions you drew from—”
Dad interjected. “What he means to say is—”
I put my hand in my father’s face. “What I mean to say is there’s no second chance for us. I’m sorry for whatever my father’s dragged you into, but—”
He smacked my hand away. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll listen to what she has to say.”
Alice walked toward me. “We could make every other family jealous whenever we go out. They see you on my arm, see me on yours. We’d be two unstoppable families, and no one would mess with us. Ever.”
How many times could I be played? “So, you only want me for the power my family could give to yours.”
She furrowed her brow. “What?”
“Because with what you’re saying—after everything we’ve been through—it only sounds like you want this team-up for your own benefit and not mine.”
Dad piped up. “You’d get something out of it, too. Just like you were supposed to get from that Moretti girl.”
Alice frowned through a smile. “And I could love you, Israel.”
Could? “What?”
“I could love you. We could both love one another again if we simply gave it time.”
I couldn’t believe I was standing here listening to this. “You’d be shunned by your family. You’d lose everything if you hitched yourself to my wagon. There’s too much—”
She closed the distance between us. “Israel, I don’t care about what they’re talking about out there. Or what they say about your family. I love you. I’ve always loved you.”
A moment before she’d said she could love me.
“And the only thing I want is a bit of your time to prove to you that you could love me again, too. No secrets. No lies. I’ll be upfront with who I am, and there will be no more hurtful anything between us. You have my word.”
She’d said something similar the last time. I took a step back. “Dad, I have t—”
He pressed his hand against my back. “Talk to the girl, Israel. The least you can do is that.”
Alice looked up at me with puppy dog eyes. “I know you’d never be so weak as to roll over and lose everything. You’re too proud of a man for that. You’re too strong for something like that to happen. And I don’t know what’s going on with you and your father or your brother, but I want to help. I want to aid you, Israel. Not hurt you. Not like it sounds like this other girl is doing.”
I slowly turned around. “What have you told her, Dad?”
He held his hands up. “Nothing she wasn’t already privy to. When she says people are talking, Israel, she means it. Everyone knows what’s going on right now.”
Alice placed her hand on my shoulder. “Let me give you a clean slate. Let’s get each other a clean slate and try this again, yeah? For once, Israel, go after what you want.”
My eyes locked with the wall. “You know what, you’re right.”
Dad chuckled. “I knew you’d see it our way.”
I turned around to face Alice. “I have to go after what I want.”
She smiled up at me. “Then, go get it. Because it’s right here, waiting for you.”
I grinned. “You have my word that I’ll get exactly what I want out of this entire situation. No matter who it crushes in the long-run. And that includes you, Dad.”
“What?”
I slowly turned around to face him. “Mark my words, I will get what I want. I will prevail over all of this. Even if I have to crush you in my wake.”
Then, I moved past the man and headed for the front door.
Carrying with me all the answers I needed to make the clearest decision I’d ever made in my life.
26
Israel
Alice yelled after me. “Israel, wait!”
My father’s voice bellowed over the parking lot. “If you leave this house in this condition, boy, you’re in for a world of hurt!”
I brushed off his threat and kept trucking towards the car until I dropped down against the seat.
“Where to, sir?” my driver asked.
I drew in a sobering breath. “Just drive around. I need to figure out where Bonnie is before we go anywhere.”
“Of course, sir.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Bonnie’s number. No one picked up. I knew I had just stepped into some pretty deep shit with my father, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what my brother was up to now. I
had to track Bonnie down. I had to get to her before her uncle sank his claws into her.
“Come on, pick up,” I murmured.
And as my driver eased down my father’s winding driveway, the phone call picked up.
Another voice answered. “You know, I was wondering how long it would take you before you called her,” Pava said.
My back stiffened. “Where’s Bonnie?”
“She’s with me. She’s fine. For now.”
I growled. “What do you want?”
“I want to have a meeting with you. Man to man.”
“I know you’ve sent plenty of your men to try and kill Bonnie. And if you harm her--.”
“All right. If your mouth doesn’t want to talk, then maybe your wallet will.”
I shook my head. “Money, Pava? Really? Is that all you can think about? You have no sanctity for the idea of family?”
“Israel!” Bonnie exclaimed.
A chill rushed down my spine. “For every mark you leave on her, I’ll slaughter a person in your family. For every bruise, I’ll execute them in front of you. And for every drop of her blood that spills—”
“You really are into theatrics, aren’t you?”
I put my hand over the receiver of my cell. “To Pava Moretti’s house. As quickly as you can get there.”
“Yes, sir,” my driver whispered.
Then, I removed my hand. “I’ll pay whatever you want for her. But if she’s harmed—”
“Fifty grand,” Pava said.
That seemed a little light. “Done.”
He chuckled. “For every piece of her body.”
That sounded more like Pava.
“Israel, no! Don’t do it,” Bonnie shrieked.
There wasn’t a word in the English language to describe the sheer and utter fury that rushed through my veins.
“So, let’s see. She’s got two arms, two legs. Hmmm, two hands, and two feet. Two ears—”
“Don’t you dare hurt you.”
I heard him counting on the other end of the line. “Ah, let’s make it a cool million, and we’ll be finished here.”
Mob Princess: An Arranged Dark Mafia Romance (Cruel King Book 2) Page 14
