Vendetta del Cuore

by Leigh Kenzie

  My worst fear is realized when he tugs me out of the room. There’s Marcus, Ignacio, and Antonio all standing in a row and all very clearly heard what was going on. Ignacio’s face is impassive, but the other two make their feelings well known. Marcus tosses a calculating look at me, making me cower, but it’s Antonio’s expression that suffocates me. It’s a level of hatred I’ve never seen.

  “I thought you belonged to Il Padrone. Guess it doesn’t take long for you to move on. Maybe next time at least try to get your dick sucked,” Antonio sneers.

  Luca doesn’t respond to Antonio, and I allow myself to be pulled along to the dining room, each boy following behind us. My cum is cooling, and my pants are sticking to me, but I don’t say a word. I want to get this fucking day over with at this point. I’m not sure why I thought this was a good idea, and I chastise myself for letting my hormones get the better of me.

  I go to take my seat at the table, and I note that Luca is going to sit in Master’s chair. It seems wrong, but I keep my mouth shut. It’s his right. Currently, he is the boss. Antonio, however, doesn’t keep his mouth shut, and while I can’t make out what he says, I’m sure it’s not complimentary.

  “Lio. What did Il Padrone tell you if anything happened to him? And even before that.”

  “Master said you were in charge of me, Sir, and if anything were to happen to him, I was to treat you with the same obedience I give him.”

  “That’s right. And I know he told all of you that I’m in charge if he’s incapacitated or if anything happens. As such, I think I need to address something,” Luca pauses and waves the guards forward. “Take him to the room and don’t let him go.”

  I smother a gasp as Antonio is grabbed. It doesn’t stop him from shouting, though. It’s unnecessary to ask what Luca means by the room—we’re all aware of the torture room. I peek at the other boys and see they both look completely serious now. There’s no humor, no glances of personality, just full obedience.

  “Since that’s been taken care of for now, let’s eat,” Luca says as he gestures for the servants to start bringing forward food. I carefully sit and avoid everyone’s eyes. I don’t want to know what’s going to happen.

  After finishing my dinner, I glance over at Luca. I can tell he’s been studying me carefully throughout dinner. I take a deep breath and straighten my shoulders before asking, “May I be excused?”

  Luca’s lips compress, and I worry he won’t let me go. Finally, he gives me a nod, and I quickly scramble back. I do make sure to bow to him, but then I rush out of the dining room, only pausing once.

  “Remember not to shower until I tell you to or until bed,” Luca calls out. I can barely breathe, but I nod an affirmative before rushing to my bedroom. I sink to the carpeted floor and let the tears drip down. Shame, humiliation, fear, and even a twisted sense of being cherished by Luca bombards my system, and I’m helpless to do anything but cry it out. By the time it ends, I’m wrung out and just watching the clock. I don’t know what he’s doing but as soon as it hits an acceptable time, I jump in the shower and head to bed. This day needs to be over.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Three Days Later

  “I hope you can hear me, Master. I know Dr. Conti isn’t sure, and I think he’s skeptical. Please fight. Please come back to me—to all of us,” I plead quietly. I take his hand in mine, needing to feel grounded.

  “Luca is doing the best he can. He’s been strong. I think you’d be proud of him. I’ve done the best I can to help. I don’t think it’s much. I try to offer him the same submission I give you, but I don’t think I’m as successful at it. It feels so very wrong. I can handle him being my Sir, but you’re my Master, and I need you to come back.”

  I sigh in frustration, not knowing if this is doing any good. “We need your ruthlessness back. We need your ability to know what to do. We have Eamon taking over the O’Connel Family. Antonio went too far with Luca, and I haven’t seen him since. I’m not kept in the loop much on what’s going on, and I hate being useless. And of course, I end up being a target as well in this. Radcliff’s former best friend seems to be obsessed with me. So yeah, that’s fun.”

  I sit in silence as my mind goes back through everything that’s happened since I’ve been here. It feels surreal to be sitting next to him, asking him to fight. After all the horror I went through. My hand reflexively squeezes his hand a bit too hard before releasing it. Tension is humming through my body.

  “You know. I’ve had too much time to think lately. Time to think about my brother, who, shockingly, wasn’t as evil as I thought. At least if Peter is to be believed. And most of all, time to think about you. From when you forced me in that room as a toy all the way to me becoming your boy and then advisor.”

  Part of me wants to escape right out that door now that everyone’s distracted. My mind never completely let go of the idea of escaping. But now, I have yet another psychopath after me. It's like I stand here going ‘please, let the most deranged people on the earth want to twist me into what they want’. This time the tears increase in frequency. I run my hand over the collar he placed on me. With one last touch to my heart, I try to put my thoughts into words.

  “I can’t forgive you for what you did to me. And I certainly don’t love you. You and I? We don’t love. The other boys feel like I love you. They see my dedication and submission as a sign of it. You and I know better, though. I adapt. I’m strong enough to do that. So no. I don’t forgive you. I don’t love you. But I do thank you. I thank you for showing me that I don’t have to be afraid of the darkness. Most of all, I thank you for letting me reach for vengeance. That’s also why I can’t leave. Vengeance? It’s addictive. It’s hooked me right in my soul, and now I follow it, and you, down whatever path it leads.”

  As I stand, I take in the machines keeping my master alive. I look around the sterile room and feel sick. It’s nothing like his sanctuary with the colors and deep cherry wood. This is nothing more than a holding cell that people come and go from as they recover from the dangers of this life. If only Dr. Conti could figure out how to fix this. I know I can’t spend all day in here, no matter how much I want to stay by his side.

  I lean over and brush a kiss over Master’s lips. They’re chapped, and it feels wrong to have him so passive. I give him one a kiss on the forehead, and as I straighten, I whisper to him, “Get up. Get up and show me true vengeance. Let me be by your side as you take it.”

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  “Lio seems to think you need company, even though all you do is lie there,” I say calmly. “He says to talk to you. The thing is...I know you don’t want to hear from me. It’s never easy to hear about your successor. It’s an interesting job. I’ve watched you do it for years. I wondered if I’d handle it as well as you did or not. I think I’ve held my own, but it’s certainly been a challenge.” I chuckle, but it doesn’t sound humorous.

  I listen to the beeps fill the room. The steady sound of his heart and the hum of the machines. My own heart beats much more rapidly as I stand over him. The man I looked up to, who owned me for so long, looks weak, and it’s hard to reconcile that.

  “I’ve already had to put Antonio through correction. I remember exactly how you’d do it to boys who challenged you. Lio carefully doesn’t ask if Antonio is still alive. Nor does he ask any other pesky question. You did a very good job training him. I didn’t know what to think when you took him. I was against it, I know, but even then, something drew me to that nineteen-year-old kid. His innocence...it’s intoxicating. Even now as he embraces his darker side, there’s something fresh about him. Maybe it’s his willingness to let go and give complete submission. I can see why you thought he was special. Why you began to put him first.”

  I stop myself before continuing. I don’t want my anger to lead me, and it wants to spew out. I sit down next to his bedside and bow my head, working to bring my feelings back in before I look at him again.

  “You always called yourself the pup
pet master. Il Padrone. The Master of us all. I believed it. Fuck. I cherished my spot under you—and I mean that in all connotations. The problem is you began to focus on only one thing. Lio. Easy enough to understand, but that left cracks, didn’t it? I almost wish you were awake so we could talk about this all.”

  I hear a knock at the door and call for whoever it is to enter. I watch as Dr. Conti comes in with yet another shot. He won’t look me in the eyes, but he injects medication into the IV. He gives a silent nod of acknowledgment to me as he leaves the room quietly. The soft click of the door confirms we’re alone again.

  “You fucked up by going with Dr. Conti. He was easy to get to. That medication he keeps giving you? Yeah, that’s what keeps you in the coma. They call it a medically induced coma. Right now, I hold all the power. Perhaps I’ll keep you in the coma, and then thanks to the miracle of medicine, you’ll take a turn for the worse. I have to give the boys time to adjust to me being in control first, though. It’s why you’re still here, giving them the possibility of coming back. Or who knows? Maybe I’ll let you out of the coma when I’m fully in power. If you remember this talk, your accusations will be written off as your brain too far damaged by the trauma.”

  I let the silence envelope the room again. There’s nothing here for me. I can talk until I’m blue in the face, and it doesn’t matter. I don’t need his forgiveness.

  “In case you’re wondering, I didn’t engineer this. I simply took advantage of the situation by asking Dr. Conti to save us all. The man has such a hero complex. Now...the attempt on Lio’s life when he took that bullet? Yeah. That was me. I was tired of all of a sudden being pushed to the side. I didn’t quite understand him, though, or what he brings to my life. Now, I have your life. And soon, I’ll have Lio’s true submission, and he’ll be in my bed—never to be shared. Really, I’m doing everyone a favor here. Looking at you there...you’re no Il Padrone. You’re a broken man that forgot what power meant and how to keep it.”

  Finally, I stand up and give him a small kiss on his forehead. “I still love you. Love, fury, hatred, vengeance? Those all live so close to each other. Right now, though? Right now, I’m the real puppet master.”

  Chapter Fifty

  Fury races through my veins, but it’s unable to outrace the medication wearing me down. Does Luca think he can take me down so easily? My most trusted boy? Nobody will forget why I’m called Il Padrone. Nobody.

  Vendetta. Una parola. Un significato. Tante possibilità…

  [Vengeance. One word. One meaning. So many possibilities…]

  ***

  The End…for now

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to thank every reader who has stayed with me in this series. I hope you are enjoying it. Thank you to the bloggers who have helped promote it. To everyone who has left a review, it is so appreciated.

  I’ve been honored with an entire tribe to help me reach my dreams. This section always intimidates me the most because I worry I’ll forget to list someone. Please know if I’ve forgotten to name you, it doesn’t make you any less important to me.

  Thank you to Ashley and Wendy. Whether it’s being terrifying alphas, jumping in with PA work, or in general trying to keep me in line, you both are amazing. I’m so glad to have you in my life.

  To my betas, Abrianna and Renata, thank you for taking the time to read this and offer your suggestions. It really makes a difference. Renata, thank you especially for your medical knowledge. Abrianna, just remember to listen to Shaggy. You both are incredible.

  Thank you to Claire for listening to me vent and helping me come up with the title. You’re always there and I am so grateful for that. Also, thank you for being the friend who always says no you can be more evil when I’m playing with characters.

  A very special thank you to Clarice for all the assistance with Italian and being an amazing fan. You make my day regularly.

  Thank you to Quirah at Temptation Creations for yet another beautiful cover. I’m excited for when all the covers are out. Thank you so much to my extremely detail-oriented editor, Elli at Clock Tower Editing. I may find you a bit evil, but only in the best ways. I’m pretty sure I’ve used all alloted commas though. Thank you to Ally for proofreading and somehow finding even more commas. I appreciate how you really looked at everything. I just love red markups. Really, I do, so thank you Ally and Elli very much.

  Drac, as always, thank you for formatting and for the series title. Most of all thank you for just being one of the best I know. I can always count on you when I need something, or even just to talk. It’s rare to have that type of friend – thank you for being one to me.

  As always, thank you to Michele B. for believing in me.

  About the Author

  Leigh is a dark M/M romance author from Texas with two needy terrors of terriers and a chaotic family. She considers coffee a major food group and her family fears broken coffeemakers. She writes in her spare time, forced to the keyboard by characters entirely too vocal in her opinion and often falls victim to plot monkeys. In between creating mayhem with her characters and friends, her hope is to transport readers to fictional places and provide darkness with a twist.