Page 33 of Caruso

Matteo’s voice causes me to shiver as he addresses me and not my stepfather. “Is this him?”

“Yes.” My voice trembles as I face the man I have tried so hard to forget.

I am strong in so many ways, but now, faced with the biggest demon in my life, I almost can’t breathe as the memories come back to bite me—hard.

Chapter Fourteen

Matteo

Fuck, this place is worse than I thought. Images of Taylor living here with this monster are playing on repeat in my mind. I can’t begin to imagine the horror of her childhood, and it’s no wonder she will agree to just about anything to deal with this scum once and for all.

Make it hurt.

I don’t need a written invitation for that to be on the agenda. Tommaso catches my eye, and the pure rage burning in his tells me he is on the same page as me.

“Anything you want to say to him, Taylor?”

She appears so small, fragile and defenseless, but this is her moment. Her revenge — and it must count for something.

She steps forward and stands before him, her expression blank, her eyes glittering with rage.

“You will die here today.”

His eyes bulge from his sockets as she speaks in a soft voice, husky and deliberate.

“You ruined my mother’s life and fed her drugs, causing her to overdose.”

He gurgles as Giorgio offers him no way to speak. He doesn’t have that right.

He will never speak to her again.

“You beat me, threatened me and assaulted me when I was a child, and it began when I was five years old.”

As she stands there, she appears fragile but stands tall. Defiant and powerful. The heels were chosen to give her a sense of power. To tower over her victim, to show she is a confident woman now. The catsuit was designed to express her femininity, her power as a woman, with no apologies for that. She is a warrior with an army from hell, and right now, in this moment, she is our queen.

“I donotforgive you.”

She inches closer, standing beside Giorgio, who is holding her stepfather in an iron grip. Carl’s eyes are bulging and he is turning red through lack of oxygen and Giorgio relaxes his hold, just enough to allow Carl to drag in a deep breath, before replacing his grip so he can’t talk.

“I have a question to ask you.”

Fuck, why does she want him to speak?

“What happened to Jason?”

I hold my breath as I process who the fuck Jason is.

Giorgio releases his hold just enough to allow the monster to squeak. Instead, he glares at her with a triumphant leer and shakes his head. It appears that I’m not the only one who doesn’t want him to speak.

“You never killed Jason. You don’t have it in you.”

Her voice is hard, critical and dismissive, causing his rage to bubble under the surface.

“He–” His voice is rough, slurred and edgy, and I’m guessing his only friend is the bottle right now.

“Squealed like a pig when I slit his throat.”

“You’re lying.”