Page 29 of Merciless Queen (Moretti Mafia #1)

Caterina

Harlow screamed, but the sound was muffled and distant.

The moment I knew something was wrong, I was by her side.

That ear-splitting shriek should’ve been tearing through my senses, but all I could hear was the thunderous beating of my own heart.

My fists clenched so tightly, my knuckles turned white, and my body tensed with fury.

The sound of my men storming into the foyer pulled me out of the mental haze.

Harlow caught my eye, her face ghostly pale, eyes glassed over as she looked trepidatiously at the remnants of Angel.

I needed to help her, but I was barely registering the cacophony of my own turmoil.

I’d be strong for her now, and then I could fall apart when I was alone.

“Get these fucking people out of my house, now!” I hissed through clenched teeth as my men and a few maids scurried back into the ballroom to direct everyone out.

Malachi stepped next to me, his focus on Harlow, waiting for me to do something, but I was still in disbelief.

I couldn’t protect her from her inner demons right now. “Get Elizabeth here, now!”

I grabbed the card on the outside of the box, now covered with blood from the tissue paper. Every muscle in my body was coiled tight, trembling with rage and on the brink of explosion.

I WANT WHAT BELONGS TO ME.

V.

Harlow’s painful sobs cracked my foundation as she finally fell apart, her eyes wide and teary as she looked at my trembling hand.

Fuck. I crumbled the card, roughly throwing it as Elizabeth stormed into the foyer, running to Harlow.

My mind was a chaotic whirlwind of rage and other emotions crashing together in a cyclonic storm.

I covered the box, unable to look at the eyes that were once filled with happiness and life. Angel was a bright soul in a dark world, and now she was gone because that waste of human life decided to retaliate.

I was going to fucking kill him.

“Cat!” Elizabeth yelled, snapping me from my frenzied thoughts. “What’s going on?”

“Get her upstairs. I’ll explain later.”

Harlow was paralyzed, frozen like a Greek statue even as Elizabeth soothed her with calming words.

Eventually, Luca picked her up and even then, she didn't panic or scream.

Wherever she was, she was gone, trapped in her mind with whatever horror she was reliving, but Elizabeth was going to have to help her at this moment.

“Malachi. My office with Alexi. Now.”

I grabbed my phone out of my thigh harness with Spencer on my tail as I scurried upstairs, my feet slamming against the wooden staircase, rage in every step.

Luca programmed Vincenzo’s number into my phone if I ever needed it for tracking reasons, and right fucking now I was glad to have it.

His blood would paint my fucking roses when I slit his goddamn throat.

The line rang once, and Vincenzo laughed as he answered. “I see you got my message.”

I bit back my anger. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Vincenzo.”

“An eye for an eye. It’s quite biblical, if you ask me.” It was silent for a moment. “I want Harlow. She is mine, after all. I own every part of her.”

My nails dug into my palm, leaving crescent shaped indentations. “She’s mine now.” I'd ask for forgiveness later for exploiting her. “Harlow is beautiful in my bed, screaming my name. There’s a difference between cries of pleasure and cries of agony, but you’ll never know that, will you?”

“I want my whore, or I will kill everyone you care about, bitch.”

“No. She belongs to me.” I disconnected the line, and screamed. He was going to die a very painful fucking death.

Once I calmed down enough, Malachi, Alexi, and three more of my men walked into my office. “Make arrangements for Angel. Closed casket. I don’t know what that pig did with her body. She deserves to be put to rest.” Malachi nodded. “He killed one of my people. This means war.”

“Boss,” Malachi started, “this is exactly what he wants. If you aren’t focused, he is going to strike. He wants you to be distracted and angry.”

I glared daggers into him. “I’ve been fucking angry since he raped and murdered my mother.”

“Focus. We’ll double protection on the girls. No private dances. We won’t let them get hurt.”

“Close the hotel. I can’t risk my girls. Fuck the loss of profit. We’ll use it to house victims of Vincenzo until he is fucking dead. I want men everywhere. His shipments. His men. No more playing these games.”

There was a soft knock on my office door before Tommaso opened the door, letting Harlow in.

Her eyes were red and puffy, and I could see tears still falling from her dark eyes.

Each breath she took was still heavy and ragged as she looked at me.

Blood was still staining her hands and chest where she frantically wiped the blood from her hands.

Everyone but Malachi and Alexi left the room, and I could see Harlow visibly deflate.

My men would never hurt a woman, and if they did, I would castrate them with a dull steak knife and leave them bleeding out before shooting them in the head.

They participated in rough sex and shared women from time to time, but they understood boundaries and consent.

“You can give me back to him,” she said softly. “I’m the one he wants. No one needs to die for me. I survived ten years, what’s a few more?”

“No,” I snapped, making her jump. “You’re mine.”

She looked at me with intensity in her eyes. “No, I’m not. This ring and your name are both a facade to help you.”

“It doesn’t matter. You aren’t going back to him.”

“Why do you care?” she yelled, her voice breaking. Malachi shifted uncomfortably. “I’m nothing to you. Not really. Going back to Vincenzo will be worth it if it means no one else dies because of me.”

“What about you? Huh?” I raised my voice, closing the space between us.

“The moment you’re back in Vincenzo’s grasp, you will die.

Do you really think Vincenzo will let you live?

That whore house you’re so fucking terrified of will be your new home.

” She flinched. “Then you’ll really be a whore.

Is that what you want? To die just like your mother did? !”

I regretted the words the moment they flew from my mouth, but instead of responding, Harlow lifted her hand, smacking me across my cheek, leaving a stinging sensation in its wake.

Fresh tears streamed from her eyes as she stormed out of my office, leaving me completely dumbfounded and my men, too.

I was stunned, but at the same time, I was extremely proud of her.

She was gaining her strength. The girl I took just weeks ago would have cowered in fear before standing up to someone stronger than her.

“That was a bit harsh,” Malachi piped up, closing the door after she disappeared down the hallway.

“Fuck off. She is not going back to him.”

I promised her I’d protect her from Vincenzo, and if that meant being the beast to her beauty and trapping her in my house, so fucking be it.