Page 71 of The Serpent's Bride
The old bastard wasn’t scared enough. That realization sent a cold pulse through my chest. Lorenzo smiled wider despite the bruising fingerprints darkening his neck.
“You think I gave her to you because I was afraid?” he wheezed. I said nothing. Because every instinct I had was screaming.
Wrong. Something was very fucking wrong.
“You were supposed to ruin her,” Lorenzo continued softly. “That was the plan.”
My grip tightened hard enough to nearly crush his throat. “What plan?”
The twins stayed silent now. Watching. Studying. Enjoying this. Lorenzo’s small dark eyes glittered with something foul and triumphant. “I knew all along Chiara was untouched.”
The words slammed into me harder than a bullet. For one rare second, genuine shock cracked through my control. Lorenzo saw it. And smiled wider.
“And now,” he whispered. “Now you understand.”
Rage detonated through my chest so violently I nearly snapped his neck on instinct. “You lying piece of shit.”
“No.” Lorenzo coughed painfully. “I knew exactly what she was. Sweet little virgin daughter. Innocent. Untouched.” His eyes sharpened on mine. “And I knew exactly what you were too.”
The warehouse lights buzzed overhead. Rain thundered against metal. My pulse slowed into something deadly.
“You wanted her from the moment she walked into that party. Thinking no one knew. Of course I knew. I wanted you to meet her,” Lorenzo hissed. “I know how beautiful my daughter is. I knew you’d want her.”
No. No he fucking didn’t. Because I hadn’t wanted Chiara then. I’d wanted control. Possession. A convenient bride. That was all. Wasn’t it?
Lorenzo laughed softly at whatever he saw on my face. “So I let you take her.”
Something cold and vicious opened beneath my ribs. The twins exchanged another glance. Sergio’s gun remained perfectly steady.
“You sold your daughter deliberately?” Sergio asked flatly.
Lorenzo shrugged as much as my grip allowed. “She was useful.”
I almost killed him right there. My hand tightened enough for his face to darken red-purple while panic finally flashed throughhis tiny pig eyes. But then he said the one thing that stopped me cold.
“You kill me…” Lorenzo rasped, choking harder now, “…and Chiara will never forgive you.”
My fingers froze. The bastard smiled again despite barely breathing. Because he knew. He fucking knew. He saw straight through me now.
“You’re attached,” he whispered.
The word hit like poison. Attached.
No. Absolutely fucking not.
“She cries,” Lorenzo continued, voice rough with strain, “and you soften.”
His smile widened. “She looks at you with those big blue eyes and the great Leonardo Moretti forgets how monsters are supposed to behave.”
“Careful,” I said softly. But Lorenzo wouldn’t stop now. Not after smelling weakness.
“I watched you,” he continued. His beady eyes glittered maliciously. “You’re already obsessed with her.”
Santino snorted quietly under his breath. That sound nearly made me pull the trigger myself.
“You think she’s yours?” Lorenzo whispered. “No. She’s still mine.”
Pure rage surged through me so violently my vision blurred red at the edges. Mine. Chiara was mine. The possessiveness rose. Primal. Brutal. Absolute. And judging by the smug satisfaction on Lorenzo’s face…
