Page 157 of The Fractured

“Except his new wife,” Lucia muttered.

Gabriele shrugged and straightened away from Lily. “We can deal with her. Like we did to his mother.”

“She didn’t see it coming if that makes you feel better,” Beatrice said to me. “The fire was meant for you, since you were next on our list of names who worked for our father. But we couldn’t help ourselves when we found her all alone at home in her chair… She was paralyzed after being shot while pregnant, yes? How sad,” Beatrice mocked.

I shut my eyes.

“Your addresses were so easy to find too. We barely even had to try.”

“I recognized Lily at the open house her mother was hosting,” Gabriele said, gripping Lily’s chin. “Her surname is the business name.”

“And then we had her followed, knowing eventually it would lead to you,” Beatrice continued. “Then all we did was have you followed. To work, home, Lily’s house. Anywhere.”

I was racking my brain, trying to remember if there were signs we were being watched.

“I think the best part was finding out you were going behind our father’s back and working with the police,” Gabriele grinned. “It would shatter his heart to know you betrayed him like that.”

The fucking delivery guy.

“We could’ve told our father this, but then we wouldn’t get the joy of ending you ourselves. It’s more fun this way,” Beatrice said.

Lucia smiled as she reached out to my face again, this time twirling a strand of my hair around her finger. “And I get more time with you now. Since you didn’t die in the fire.”

“Do you like the setting?” Gabriele asked, spreading his arms wide as he kept his unhinged stare on me. “A stage fit for a fighter’s death.” He took Lily forcefully by the chin again. “You’ll be collateral, though.”

I ripped at my restraints, jaw clenched as I cursed against the tape.

“I like him angry,” Lucia purred before taking a seat on my lap, resting against my chest. I refused to look at her. “Oh, please let me have one taste of him? At least while you’re dealing with the girlfriend.”

“If you get time with him, I’ll want time with her.” Gabriele stroked Lily’s hair. “Maybe then I can find out what makes her so important to him.”

The zip ties were beginning to cut into my skin as I breathed heavily against the tape.

Lucia chuckled in my lap while Gabriele leaned in close to Lily again. She pulled away as best she could.

Beatrice crossed her arms. “And what am I meant to do?”

“We could share.” Lucia stood, turned around, and climbed back onto me so she was straddling my thighs. She brought her face closer — inches closer — chewing her lip while she skimmed her hand to the front of my pants. “That would be fun—”

Her nose cracked under the impact of my forehead, and she toppled backwards off my lap.

Blood poured from her nose before she spat in Italian. “You bastard!”

Beatrice laughed, but helped her up. At the same time, Gabriele moved from behind Lily and strode toward me, smirking as he withdrew a switchblade.

“That wasn’t very nice,” he said.

He flipped the knife and stabbed it through the back of my right hand.

I roared against the tape, curling my body forward as Gabriele twisted the blade. The pain burned white hot, shooting through my nerves as blood pooled and flowed down the leg of the chair.

With manic in his eyes, Gabriele leaned closer. “I’m going to take great pleasure in cutting you up into small pieces and leaving them behind for our father to find.”

I groaned in pain, shaking. I could feel the knife against the bone in my hand.

He grabbed my hair, forcing my head back again. “The next fighter we divide into tiny pieces will be that friend of yours. What’s his name? Sebastian? My sources tell me he has a pretty girlfriend too.”

I dragged my eyes from him to Lily. She was crying behind the tape, pulling at her restraints. Her delicate wrists were red.