Chapter 40

ELLA

For the rest of the day, Andrea was in a good mood.

As usual, I still did my best to avoid him, but when he came to find me in the garden in the early afternoon, the sinking sensation in my heart wasn’t as extreme. Think expensive yacht rather than the ~Titanic~.

“I’m leaving for a few days,” he told me as he sat beside me on the lawn and joined me in staring up at the golden rays of the afternoon sun.

“Am I going to?” I asked, curling my fingers around some blades of grass and plucking them from the earth.

“Not this time, Blanca,” he replied. “You’ve already done your bit to help me with this.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “What?”

He turned to me with a glimmer in his eye before he turned back to the sky.

“Don’t you worry,” he said. “I’ll see you in two days.”

As promised, two uneventful days later, he returned. Despite moving in the interim, I was in the exact spot in the garden that he left me, lying on the lawn on my back, staring up into the sky.

I didn’t look up at him or even move as he approached, and he stood by me for a few moments before speaking.

“Come with me.”

“Why?” I asked immediately.

“Don’t question, just come,” he said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me to my feet.

He led me back into the house, and when we reached the kitchen, I suddenly froze. A sly smile slipped onto Andrea’s face, and he tugged me farther.

“No,” I whispered, after swallowing the shock lodged in my throat. “Whose scent is that?”

It drifted from his office, its tentacles wrapping slowly around my chest. Squeezing, trapping, seizing.

With every memory it triggered, the tighter it gripped and the less I could breathe until I found myself physically unable to.

“I think you know who,” he replied. “So come on. Let’s go and have a family reunion.”

***

As we neared the door to the office, I tried my best to free myself from Andrea.

“What, Blanca?” he asked. “You’re afraid of him?”

“Andrea, please—” I began.

“Don’t bother,” he said with a short laugh, before opening the door and pushing me in.

I had hoped I was going insane. But my eyes were met with exactly what I had dreaded. Maybe I’m hallucinating now?

“It’s not possible,” I whispered as I scanned his body. It seemed very real and extremely alive. “You’re dead.”

The man stifled a laugh and turned the swivel chair he was sitting comfortably in a few degrees to the left. “Is that what your alpha told you?”

“He killed you,” I said surely.

“Yet here I am.” He shrugged, a sly smile tugging at his lips.

He then stood up and stepped forward slowly until he was a mere few centimeters from me. He examined me and picked up a strand of my hair and felt it between his fingers before dropping it back down.

His hand found its way to my chin. Using the tips of his fingers, he lifted my head, so I had no choice but to look him in the eye.

“Nice to see you again, my dear little cousin,” he said. “It’s been a while.”

“Luciano,” I said, his name filling me with more hatred and loathing than you could imagine.

He smiled in that cold, emotionless way before turning my head to the side.

“Yikes,” he said, running his finger along my cheek, which was still bruised from when Andrea hit me a couple of days prior. “That’s gotta hurt.”

I couldn’t bring myself to give him the satisfaction of a response, so I just kept my mouth shut.

“I see Martinez is finally giving you the treatment you deserve,” he replied. “Because Alpha dearest is out of the picture? I also hear you’re not quite so brave without the threat of him around?”

I scowled, which only amused him more.

“How are you still alive?” I asked, my curiosity itching like a nasty rash.

He sat back down and put his hands behind his neck. “Do you want to tell her, or should I?” he said to Andrea.

“The honor is yours,” Andrea said with a grin.

“Your alpha lied to you, sweetheart,” Luciano said. “He let me live.”

“After everything you did, why would he do that?” I asked, refusing to believe it.

“Looks like you aren’t the only one Leonardo has a soft spot for,” Andrea replied.

“Even Alpha Leonardo Loren couldn’t bring himself to murder his childhood bestie, so we came to an agreement,” Luciano replied, picking up a pen from the desk and twirling it in his fingers.

“He let me live so long as I went back to the Italian Mafia, spied on them, fed information back to him, and most importantly, stayed the fuck away from his luna and family.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“Because I don’t keep my promises. You know that better than most,” he replied. “So when Andrea Martinez showed up in the doorway to my house offering me a deal that interested me far more, what do you think I did?”

“You see, Blanca,” Andrea said. “All that information you gave me on ‘a dead man’ was all I needed to find the best weapon against your alpha of all time.”

I looked back to Luciano, panic taking hold.

“Leonardo is as good as dead,” Luciano said, his lips curling up at the sides. “All I have to do is get him to trust me again and then lure him to his death like a puppy on a leash.”

“He will never trust you again,” I spat.

“Watch your tone, my love,” he warned. “He’s not here to protect you anymore.”

“He will not trust you,” I repeated, this time much quieter.

“Oh, he will. By now he’s probably so desperate to get you back that he’d recruit the devil himself for help.

“And besides, let’s not forget that time and time again he makes the mistake of thinking he can trust me. It’s his fatal flaw.”

“I should have requested to kill you myself,” I hissed.

At that, I felt Andrea seize my arm. “Ella, that’s no way to speak to our guest,” he snarled in my ear. “Apologize.”

I stared into Luciano’s eyes, longing to rip the smirk from his lips.

When I didn’t reply, Andrea wrapped his hand around my throat and repeated his order, “Do it.”

Despite being unable to breathe, my stubbornness didn’t allow me to apologize to such a piece of shit.

“No,” I croaked.

Andrea let out a short sigh and turned to Luciano. “Would you please give us a moment?”

“Take all the time you need,” Luciano replied in an amused tone before Andrea dragged me out of the office.

The first thing Andrea did was hit me…again.

“Do as you are fucking told,” he hissed.

“He doesn’t deserve an apology,” I replied, trying to get my wrist out of his hand. “I don’t see him trying to say sorry for all the shit he’s put me through. I have never done anything wrong to him. He hates me for no reason.”

“I don’t give a shit about your little family feud,” Andrea replied. “You will go in there, and you will apologize for disrespecting him. Your alpha is no longer in charge, I am, and I will not tolerate this.”

“Fuck. You,” I replied, pushing him away from me.

“Fuck me?” he asked with a sly smile, totally unfazed by my efforts to hurt him. “That can be arranged for tonight, but first, you are going to make up with your cousin.”

I fought against him as he dragged me back to the office. His ability to manhandle was as good as ever, but this time I had the fuel from a seven-year feud to fight with.

Somehow, I was able to free my leg and kick him hard right where it hurt the most.

His knees buckled, and he collapsed to the floor, grimacing in pain. In doing so, he lost his grip entirely on me, and I was able to race back down the hall.

I was not sure where I was going except for away from him. The kitchen was empty, Chico was nowhere to be seen, and the back door was wide open, leaving the vast jungle in my grasp.

Without hesitation, I legged it out into the backyard and across the terrace. As I sprinted over the grass toward the jungle, I heard Andrea thunder out of the house.

I was sure that if I could get into the dense vegetation, I stood a chance of losing him. I was small and agile, while he was fast but big and would certainly get tangled in the branches and vines.

It was just a matter of getting there before he could stop me. My lungs burned, not really from exercise, the lawn was only about two hundred meters long, but from adrenaline and pure terror.

Andrea’s footsteps were nearing me quicker than the forest fringe was.

I soon felt my feet wipe out from underneath me and my back come into contact with the solid ground. My entire body pounded as the fear shot through me in paralyzing pulses.

“Thought you could escape me, huh?” Andrea growled, pinning my arms to the ground as he straddled me.

He was breathing heavily and shaking with fury. His fingers curled around my wrist were cutting off the blood supply, and I struggled to breathe under his weight.

“Huh?” he asked, bringing his lips to my ear.

“No, but it was worth a try,” I replied. “Anything is worth a try.”

A smile crept onto his lips as he looked down at me struggling.

“Oh, Blanca,” he said maliciously, stroking my hair. “You have no idea. I wasn’t even going to let him hurt you. Becoming my wife earned you privileges,” he continued, pulling me to my feet. “Privileges that you just lost.”

I closed my eyes, preparing for him to hit me, and I wasn’t disappointed. I felt a searing pain across my cheek and a warm trickle from my nose.

He then pulled me to my feet and began dragging me back to the house.

“You have disobeyed my orders, embarrassed me in earshot of our guest, tried to escape from me, and killed my future children. You know that I don’t tolerate disrespect, and frankly, this is humiliating.

“Ordinarily, I would kill a person for causing me so much trouble, but unfortunately, I need you alive. However, I am not going to fucking let this slip, Blanca. I will not be shown up by a woman…”

He then suddenly ground to a halt and pulled my ear to his mouth.

“So as your husband, I see it as my duty to show you the consequences of pulling stunts like this and ensure that you get in line.

“I can assure you that you will think twice next time,” he whispered sinisterly, before continuing to drag me.

I couldn’t actually think of anything he could do that he hadn’t already done, so I just let him drag me, expecting him to lead me into the office back to Luciano.

But he didn’t. He dragged me past and through the door that led to the basement.

He flicked on the light to reveal two figures. Chico, who I had been wondering the location of, was one. He was sitting on a hard stool intently watching another figure that was sitting tied to a chair with a sack over his head.

I recognized the second’s scent, but I couldn’t remember what from. It had been so long since I left this house, and my nose was not in tune.

“Now, I believe you know this man,” Andrea said, forcing me into the cold basement. “Chico, remove the hood.”

Chico stood up and briefly made eye contact with me before pulling the sack off the man’s head.

He squinted at the brightness of the light, and his face was sad and drained, but I could still recognize his kind eyes and gentle features. Alessio.

His eyes looked me up and down. At the bruise on my cheek, the cut above my eye, the tears rolling down my cheeks.

“He is just one of many Stella soldiers in our captivity, all of which are of no use to us. I don’t like to compliment him, but your alpha trains them well, they don’t give up a single word…

“Not even the most gruesome of torture,” Andrea said, gripping my arm. “So in other words, they are very disposable and ideal for teaching disobedient little bitches a lesson.”

“Andrea, no,” I protested, looking at the soldier with a pained expression as I tried to hold back the tears. “Don’t do this.”

“See, Blanca. You should have thought about this before you decided to anger me again. Beating you doesn’t seem to do the trick anymore, so you leave me very little choice.”

The soldier looked back at me with eyes that remained sympathetic to me despite his own situation. I hadn’t known him well, but it was clear within minutes that he had empathy beyond most.

“I’ll do anything, please,” I begged. “I’ll apologize to Luciano. I’ll get on my knees and apologize.”

“Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t,” Andrea ordered as Chico removed a knife from his pocket.

“He has a mate and young children,” I said quickly. “A little boy born only a month or so ago.”

Alessio smiled meekly at me and gave me a silent reassuring nod as if to say it was okay. As if to say that he was happy to have done his duty.

Andrea stifled a laugh.

“Not good enough, babes,” he said as Chico brought the knife to Alessio’s throat.

“No!” I screeched, lurching forward only to be caught by Andrea’s huge hands that brought me back to his side as he laughed as if he was deriving some kind of sadistic pleasure from this.

“Luna, please turn away,” Alessio said in a hoarse but courageous voice.

Chico nodded to me, too, the knife in his hand.

“I am so so sorry,” I sobbed, before Andrea gestured to Chico, and I watched as blood poured from his throat.

I let out a howl of pain as I pressed my head into Andrea’s side, the image still flashing across my mind.

“Look at the consequences of your actions, Blanca,” Andrea said coldly as he seized my hair and lifted my head to look at Alessio’s body.

“A young, healthy life wasted because you didn’t feel like cooperating today. Don’t think that I will not do this again and again until you learn because I will. Do you understand me?”

I nodded as my eyes brimmed with water.

“So now you have a choice. Do anything like this again and I will kill another. So are you going to submit to me?”

I looked up, hoping to see even a glint of remorse, but there was nothing. Just hard, cold, emotionless eyes.

“I’ll submit.”

“Good decision,” he replied, throwing me over his shoulder and carrying me out of the basement.

I tried not to watch Chico drag Alessio’s body across the floor, and I tried not to heed the puddle of pooling blood, but it was hard to avoid.

He was dead because of me. His mate alone. His children fatherless. All because of me.

I was soon back in the office in front of Luciano, who grinned at my state. I could hardly stop my tears long enough to speak, but I managed to choke out a sorry.

“Apology accepted,” he said, wiping my cheek with his thumb. “Perhaps we can put our history behind us.”

I looked up at him and saw that his face was even more insincere than expected. He smirked down at me and raised an eyebrow. “So?”

I glanced over to Andrea who stood with his arms folded with a pissed-off expression still on his face before I nodded slowly.

“Brilliant,” Luciano chirped. “Give me a hug, cuz.”

His face looked so much like my other cousin, Max’s. The features were the same—his hair, the color of his eyes. Even his height and body.

But his temperament was dark, and as he wrapped his arms around me, instead of comfort, I felt trapped.

He rested his head in the crook of my neck and took in my scent before kissing my cheek and finally letting me go.

“Good girl,” Andrea said with an approving nod. “Now go upstairs while I discuss the finer details of our partnership with your cousin. I will be up in the evening.”

Relieved to get away from Luciano, I headed toward the door immediately. I felt Luciano’s glare on me until I was out of sight, and only then did I allow myself to crumble.

I ran upstairs, tears streaming again, until I got to the bedroom where I slid down the wall into a crying heap on the floor.

Life had once again thrown more hell at me, just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse. Alessio was dead, Luciano was back in my life, and Leo was in danger. What could possibly be next?

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. It was quiet and gentle, but I quickly wiped my tears a few seconds before Chico appeared.

“I shouldn’t be here,” he said. “But I wanted to check on you.”

“I’m fine,” I replied, unable to look him in the eye. “Just leave me alone.”

I couldn’t blame him for Alessio’s death. He was as much trapped in the situation as I was, and if he had resisted Andrea’s orders, they both probably would have ended up dead.

“Everything is worse alone,” he said.

I tilted my head back and screwed up my eyes as another wave of tears came my way. Without hesitation, Chico slipped next to me and put a gentle hand on my knee.

I looked at him for a moment, taken aback by his action, before I couldn’t keep the tears away any longer and rested my head on his shoulder.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and simply did what he did best and sat quietly with me. It provided comfort. Comfort in a primitive form but comfort all the same, and I was grateful for at least any attempt.

It was more than what anyone else was doing.