Page 26 of Beautiful Torment (Empire of Kings #1)

ABELLA

I n the rush of getting into my dress, I start to feel claustrophobic, and I have to actively fight the urge to tear it off. My thoughts bounce between who sabotaged my wedding to how I can harness the power of invisibility and make myself disappear.

“Abella,” Gabi whispers. “You’re breaking out in hives.”

I stare down at my chest, half-dazed and barely able to register how problematic this is.

“I have an antihistamine,” Lucia says. “Hang on.”

A moment later, I’m swallowing the pill while my sister hovers near the door, trying to explain the situation to my father. True to his nature, this development only enrages him, and he clears the room despite all protests, ordering his guard to drag the bridesmaids out by force.

Once we’re alone, his hostile gaze settles on my face, and I barely have time to draw a breath before he lays into me.

“You think I don’t know what you’re doing?” He stabs a finger at me, trembling with the urge to unleash.

“I have done everything you’ve ever asked of me,” I answer.

“I’ve spent my entire life trying to earn your approval, believing if I could just be perfect, it would make you care.

But it’s never enough, is it? You can’t possibly love me.

If you did, you wouldn’t sentence me to the same fate as Mamma. ”

He barks out a hollow laugh, shaking his head in disgust. “Your mother was business. Do you think I wanted to marry her? No, but I did it for the good of the family.”

I shouldn’t have expected him to have a kind word to say about her. But there was still a part of me that secretly hoped his drinking and rage-fueled outbursts were grief, rather than him finally showing us who he always was.

“We all have a duty in life,” he tells me.

“Your mother was weak-spirited and couldn’t fulfill even the most basic obligation of bearing a son for me.

Do you truly think I could love someone so fucking useless?

That car accident freed me from the shackles of our marriage as she shriveled up and withered away.

The only peace I ever had in my life was when she could no longer communicate with me. ”

Every word cuts deeper than the next, twisting the blade until all the agony and rage I’ve buried bleeds out. And this time, there is no bandaging it.

“You couldn’t communicate with her because you couldn’t be bothered to learn!” I yell at him. “You wouldn’t even give her the bare minimum?—”

The back of his hand explodes across my face, rattling my teeth as my head whips to the side.

I stumble back, the taste of blood coating my mouth.

A glance at his fingers confirms he’s wearing a ring, and it must have cut my lip.

But that’s the least of my concerns when he starts taking items from the bar cart and hurtling them at me.

A glass. A corkscrew. An empty champagne bottle.

I manage to dodge them all before he grabs a bottle of wine and smashes it against the cart.

Shards of glass rain down on the floor, leaving only the jagged bottleneck in his hand as he stalks toward me.

As I’m trying to skirt around him, he reaches out and grabs me by the back of the neck, shaking me so hard I’m afraid he might break it.

A short reprieve comes when he shoves me so hard I bounce off the wall and crumple to the floor. But then he kneels beside me, pressing the jagged bottleneck to my throat.

“I gave you life!” he roars. “Mark my words, Abella, if you embarrass me again, I will take it from you. You have one fucking purpose, and you will fulfill your obligation. Do you understand me?”

When I don’t answer, another wave of fury flashes through his eyes as the jagged edge of the wine bottle bites into my skin. For a moment, I wonder if this is it. Is this how my life will actually end?

As I’m considering it, the service door opens behind me, and I feel a rush of air move past me as someone boots my father in the gut.

The momentum sends him skidding across the floor, sputtering in shock as the wine bottle flies from his grasp. I blink up at Nicky as he glances down to check on me, and a deadly calm settles over his face.

Words fail me as I watch him stalk toward my father and stomp on his ribs with so much brutality, I swear I hear bones crunching.

“You motherfucker!” my father heaves, clutching his side in agony as he curls into a ball.

Nicky kneels beside him and wrenches his head back, pressing the barrel of his gun beneath my father’s chin.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t splatter your brains all over this room right now.”

“I’ll have you killed for this!” my father snarls. “You traitorous fucking?—”

Nicky pistol-whips him, sending blood and fragments of teeth spraying across the floor.

The sight of it makes me nauseous, but I can’t muster up an ounce of sympathy as Nicky smashes the butt of his gun into my father’s face and breaks his nose.

A moment later, he reaches for his radio, all business as he calls for another guard. The man enters the room and grabs my father by the collar of his suit, dragging him through the service door with a trail of blood in their wake.

“Abella!” My sister pounds on the main entry door. “What’s going on in there?”

I glance at Nicky and shake my head, a silent plea not to let them in.

He nods and walks to the door, opening it a crack to tell them everything is okay and the wedding will start a few minutes late.

He repeats the same thing on the radio to someone else before he comes back and hoists me off the floor, propping me up on the vanity chair.

I stare at my reflection, completely numb as Nicky moves around the beverage cart, filling a bag of ice and getting a cloth to clean the blood off my lip. I look a mess, but I can’t be bothered to care right now.

“He’ll have you killed, you know,” I tell Nicky as he hands me the ice, and I press it to my cheek.

“He can certainly try.” The ghost of a smile curves his face.

His body language suggests he’s not the slightest bit worried, and it takes me a moment to register that’s because he works for Angelo—the new Don . That means, Nicky, by default, has power too.

“Any chance you’ve changed your mind about helping me escape?” I ask wryly.

“Everything’ll be okay. You’ll see.”

“Men like to tell me that.” I turn toward the mirror and dab at the blood around my lip.

“Well, I believe everything happens for a reason. Besides, you’re strong. You’ve already made it through the worst of it.”

“You don’t know that.” My voice hitches. “Nobody knows what the future holds.”

“Maybe not,” he says. “But I know it sure as hell won’t be anything like the way you’ve been living.”

I set the ice aside and apply more makeup to mask some of the redness on my cheek.

“I don’t suppose there’s any way you’ll keep this between us, is there?”

“No can do,” he says, softening his tone. “Why would you want to protect that piece of shit anyway?”

“It’s not about protecting him,” I counter. “I just don’t want Angelo to know.”

Nicky considers that for a moment, then asks, “Why do you care what he thinks?”

I finish retouching my makeup, unwilling to verbalize the answer to that.

I shouldn’t.

Nicky escorts me to the assembly area for the wedding party. It’s a private garden, out of view from the guests. The groomsmen and bridesmaids are all mingling amongst each other, along with two of the Vitale cousins, one of whom is Alessio, and Nino, the ring bearer.

From here, the procession will pass through the gate to the central walkway and then down the aisle to the wedding pavilion.

Set against the dramatic backdrop of rolling green hills, rows of cypress trees, and Tuscany at golden hour, it will be as picturesque as it gets.

Everything about this place is beautiful, and if it weren’t for the fact that I didn’t choose the groom, this is exactly what I would have wanted.

A heavy silence falls over the wedding party when they notice my presence, and one by one, they all turn to face me.

Tension ripples through the group as they steal glances at the marks on my face, most of my bridesmaids barely holding back their tears.

The exception is Mariella, who appears to be plotting my father’s murder.

If there weren’t so many witnesses around, I don’t doubt she’d go for it. The Vitale blood runs hot in her.

Likewise, there’s a noticeable charge in the air as all four of her brothers sharpen their gazes, shifting from casual to terrifying in the blink of an eye.

They’re a wall of black suits—strapping, formidable, sharp jaws, and dark hair.

There’s no question that the men are from the same bloodline.

Throughout the years, Michele, Rafe, Cristian, and Romeo have been a steady presence in my life—the protectors of the island and the older brothers I never had.

Right now, they’re the thing of nightmares, and I can’t help but shiver as the question cracks through the air cold, flat, and deadly.

“Who?”

Everyone’s attention turns to Romeo, and one of the bridesmaids inhales sharply behind me.

Out of all the Vitale brothers, he’s the most reserved and also the deadliest. Tall, scarred, heavily tattooed, and emotionally volatile—he’s known as the unpredictable one in the family.

He spent years in and out of institutions after a lightning strike stopped his heart, leaving him with long-lasting neurological, psychological, and physical damage.

He spends most of his time alone and speaks only when he has something worth saying. That’s why it comes as a shock to all of us that he’s the first to ask me what everyone else is thinking.

Fortunately for me, Nicky saves me from answering the question.

“I’ll fill everyone in after the ceremony.”

Alessio meets his gaze, something silent passing between them as they share a nod. It makes me wonder what else is happening behind the scenes that I’m not aware of.

“You have five minutes,” Nicky says. “Let’s wrap this up.”