Page 32 of Corrupt Crown
Because he owns her.
Elodie’s soft voice breaks through my thoughts, cementing what I’ve just realized as a powerful surge of protectiveness flows through me.
“I know who I belong to, Nico. I know my place now. And I’ll never do anything so stupid as disobeying you ever again. Just please don’t…”
She trails off and swallows roughly before uttering one final broken word. “Please.”
Triumph blooms across his features as his eyes leave Elodie to meet mine. I force everything inside of me to remain calm externally, to not let him see the force of my rage.
“Now, Aurelia, Conti. Show me my sister.”
Conti smiles as he regards me for a long beat before he tilts his head to the side. “I haven’t seen you since the last Congress, but you look even more like that old bastard than I remembered.” His tone is taunting, and I will myself not to take the bait as he grins maliciously. “He told me to go fuck myself before I blew his brains out. Gotta admire that level of fearlessness.”
I blink slowly, giving him nothing as he taunts me. “And as for Alessio, talk about going out in a blaze of glory.” He whistles through his teeth, before dropping his voice to a stage-whisper. “Heard you didn’t even have a body to bury.Sheesh, that’s gottaburn.”
He chuckles at his choice of words, making my teeth hurt from how tightly I’m clenching my jaw, and I barely manage to grit out, “Where the hell is my sister?”
He nods at someone behind the camera and, a moment later, my sister comes into view. She’s wearing a knee-length T-shirt and nothing else. Her long, black hair is mussed, and there’s a gag in her mouth, the sight of it turning my stomach. But despite that, her shoulders are squared, and when she faces the camera, I can see that familiar fire in her eyes.
Eyes that are surrounded by deep yellow bruises.
“What the fuck happened to her?”
My pulse hammers as I flick my vicious gaze back to Conti. He shrugs as he inspects his fingernails. “When I discovered you’d takenmia piccola puttana, someone had to take the brunt of my anger, Caruso.”
I stiffen as fury and misery swell and crash inside me. When I open my mouth to retort, Aurelia steps forward, thrusting her chest out as she shakes her head. Her eyes scream at me to stop, softening when they see the change in me, and I’m filledwith bone-deep pride as I hold her gaze. “You’re coming home,Principessa. That Ipromiseyou.”
My sister’s nostrils flare as she holds in her emotions until Nico chuckles darkly, drawing our attention once more. “I’ll be in touch with the particulars, Caruso,si?”
I nod sharply as Aurelia is led off-screen, my eyes hardening as I regard the piece of shit before me. The same piece of shit Iwilldecimate one way or another.
He turns his focus to Elodie. “And I’ll keep your dirty little secret so long as you keep that mouth, and those pretty legs of yours closed,capisti?” He shoots her a wink. “See you really soon. And this time, I won’t just break youin, baby girl. I’ll break you ineveryway.”
The screen goes blank at the same time Elodie falls to the floor beside me, her palms covering her face as she murmurs over and over again, “Oh God, oh God, oh God.”
I sink to the floor beside her, pulling her into my arms, even though I know I shouldn’t be letting myself get close. She’s too dangerous to me.
But even as that thought enters my mind once again, I know it’s too late. I’m already in too deep. It’s as though she’s somehow gotten underneath my skin. Into my very bloodstream.
She’s been seeping into my very being since the first time we met.
Her body trembles beneath the force of her emotions before she raises scared eyes to mine. “I need to get homenow. Take me home,please, Rafe.Please. I’ll do anything. I need to…I need to see?—”
She stops suddenly, and her nostrils flare as she fights for control.
“I can’t send you back yet,Stellina.” My voice is low as I tuck her hair behind her ears, cupping her cheeks in my palms. “He’s not your lover, is he?”
She shakes her head slowly, her breaths stuttering as she tries to calm them. Her eyes seem hazy, as though she’s remembering when she speaks softly. “My father gave me to Nico to settle a disagreement of sorts. I had no choice in the matter.”
My jaw clenches as I mentally add her piece-of-shit father to my hit list.
“Tell me why.”
Her eyebrows draw together, and she reaches between us to loosely grip my wrists. “Why what?”
“Why do Domenico Conti and your father hold such power over you?” Her bottom lip wobbles, and she draws it between her teeth to stop it. “Where are those magnificent claws I witnessed in Lazise? The ones from the music room, and the kitchen earlier today, hmm?”
Indecision flickers on her face before her eyes fill with tears. One crests her lashes and streaks down her face, splashing onto my thumb. I gently brush away the moisture, my eyes shifting back and forth between hers as she wages an internal war. I can see it play out behind those beautiful navy-blue eyes.