Page 95 of Captive Promise

All my attention is focused on the traitor in front of me. I roll up my sleeves with deliberate motions, letting Caruso watch every movement.

“Eleven years, Caruso.” My voice is a low growl, tight with fury. “Eleven fucking years, and this is how you repay me? Dino’s dead because of you. Carved up and dumped in the river like garbage.”

“No, no, I swear it wasn’t me!” Caruso babbles, straining against his bonds. “I’m being set up, I wouldn’t betray you like this, I⁠—”

“Then who did?” I snap, slamming my hand down on the back of his chair. He flinches violently. “Give me a name, Caruso. Right now.”

But he just keeps shaking his head and stammering out the same weak denials.

I’ve heard it all before, from every gutless rat who thought they could double-cross me and walk away.

The rage is building in me with every word out of his mouth.

Eleven years this bastard worked for me and promised me his loyalty, but it was all a lie.

He betrayed us to Russo. He’s the reason Dino is dead.

I signal to the guards, and they yank Caruso up straight in the chair, gripping his arms to hold him in place. Luca watches silently from the corner, his face expressionless.

He knows what’s coming. We’ve done this dance before.

I don’t enjoy what comes next. I want that on record, even if it’s only in my own mind, even if no one in this room would ever believe it. But Caruso made his choice.

He betrayed the family. And now he’s going to give me what I need to know, one way or another.

I start with his hands.

One quick, brutal motion and the crack of breaking bone echoes off the cellar walls, nearly drowned out by Caruso’s agonized scream.

It’s the most efficient way to start by inflicting serious pain without causing any permanent damage. Yet.

“Let’s try this again,” I say coldly. “Tell me what you told Russo. Tell me how deep this goes. And maybe, just maybe, you walk out of here alive.”

But in my heart, I know he won’t. He sealed his fate the second he betrayed me.

Before this is over, I’ll carve the truth out of him piece by piece and then I’ll burn Russo and everyone else involved to ashes.

No one betrays Nico Barone and lives. No one.

The room reeks of blood, sweat, shit and fear by the time Caruso finally starts to crack. His breathing comes in ragged gasps, his head lolling until Luca jerks it back up by the hair, forcing him to meet my gaze.

I can tell he’s close to breaking. I’ve been in enough rooms like this to know the signs.

And then, right on the edge, he says something I never expected.

“It wasn’t me,” he chokes out, his voice a ruined mess. “I just passed on what I was told. It wasn’t me who⁠—”

“Who told you?” I demand, leaning in close.

He’s sobbing now, barely coherent. I grab his jaw, wrenching his face up into the harsh light.

“Who?”

“Luca.” The name falls from his split lips like a plea. “Luca’s the one…feeding Russo. I swear on my mother, I swear to God, it’s Luca…”

The silence that follows is deafening. I feel Luca go still as a statue behind me, not even drawing breath.

For one fraction of a second, something inside me plummets through my feet. But only for a second. I turn to look at Luca.