Page 49 of Sacred Vow

“You realize this is all about you,” Tano said. Others may find my surgeon brother dark and aloof, and he was with most people. But he was also a strategist both on the operating table and for our family. “They’re trying to lure you out and you’re letting them.” Murmurs of assent from the rest seated around the table.

“Those fuckers broke into my house and took my family. I will not be staying home. I will be the man making holes in the chests of men who betrayed me.” I stood, propelled to my feet by the anger thrumming through me. “Not even God will keep those fuckers safe from me!”

Chapter Sixteen

Vittoria

Groaning. I tried to open my eyes, but even the dim light was blinding, sparking waves of nausea.

Rolling onto my side, I vomited onto the moldy straw covering the cold concrete floor. I managed to get myself to a half seated position, and held my head in my hands until the room stopped spinning.

Deep breaths, Vittoria. Where am I?

The last thing I remembered was arguing with Leo and Carlo and then nothing. They must have taken me anyway, but why? I thought this was all about helping me escape Romeo and giving me a new lease on life, but nothing about this felt like rescue anymore.

Keeping my eyes partly lidded, I took note of the small space I was being held in that reeked of blood and fear. Gross! Maybe Leo and Carlo had never been working for the Vitales at all. Romeo had warned me that as his wife, I would become a target, but he’d also trusted the men who were hired to keep me safe. The only family I knew that had issues with the Vitales was mine, but we’d settled that when my father married me off.

A familiar scent punctuated the awful stench where I was being held.

“You’re finally awake. How are you doing, princess?” Leo stood at the entrance, but he was different. He’d always reminded me of a wound-up predator, barely contained within a taut, muscular frame. But now, leaning against the iron bars, arms crossed with a smirk on his face, all that tension was gone. He was still a dangerous predator, but not on the prowl. Now he was in his den, relaxed and in complete control.

“What’s going on, Leo? Why am I here?”

His eyes glittered dangerously. “Leonardo to you, princess.”

I hated the smug arrogance in his voice.

“Whatever, Leonardo!” I enunciated every letter, infusing them with sarcasm.

“Watch the tone, princess, or I may have to muzzle you.”

Arguing with him wasn’t getting me anywhere. “Can you please tell me what is going on.”

He walked closer to me. “What will you give me if I do?”

I immediately recoiled, then let out a moan as my head jostled and the world turned sideway for a moment.

Please don’t let him be the kind of monster I think he is.

“Don’t be a pig,” snapped a familiar voice. From the far wall, a shadow stepped into the murky light and took on the shape of my father.

“Papa? What are you doing here? What’s going on?”

Standing beside Leo, the resemblance finally clicked. The whiff of cologne that had been tickling my senses were the same as the one my father wore. How had I missed it? He and Leo stood the same way, smiled the same way, had the same eyes and chin… No. How could I not have noticed?

“Who is this man?” I stammered, but he didn’t have to answer, because in my heart I knew that whoever this man was, he planned on killing me and my father was going to let him.

“Leonardo is your brother, Colombina,” my father said, smirking at my expression of shock. “Yes, you have a brother.”

“You never told me!”

“And why would I? He is my son, my heir, my weapon to wield on the day when the Calogerà family would take back everything they lost to the Vitales. And what are you? A woman who spent her entire life proving she would never put the family first, only her own selfish interests.”

My mind raced. I had to get the hell out of here and warn Romeo. “Okay, I understand,” I said with a calmness I didn’t feel, “but what am I doing here now? If we’re getting out of here, then let’s go.”

My father and brother smirked at the same time, an old monster and his younger reflection. The identical arrogant lift at the corner of their mouths chilled me, a reminder of everything else they might have in common. The fine hairs on my arms stood up. A warning.

“Not so fast, daughter. Leo has informed me of your reluctance to leave your husband.” He spat out the last word like it was a bad taste.