Page 88 of The Mafia and His Obsession Part 2 (Tainted Hearts 5)

I had been forced to choose.

They see your eyes, but sweet Valerie, I see your soul. I hear your melody; the beat of your heart silences the chaos of mine. Some will say I am a man in love; I would say I am a mad mad man who is completely obsessed with you. Your name, your life…you are fucking carved on my flesh, ingrained deep inside me, and I’m not letting you go. Fuck anyone who tries to take you away from me. My gun will kiss their fucking face and I’ll have them see hell.

This was my choice.

“Sorry, brother.”

My finger feathered over the trigger. The Devil appeared on my shoulder once again. His shock barreled through me and he howled in my ears.

NO.

For the first time, the Devil wasn’t laughing, wasn’t mocking.

He was screaming.

He cried.

I laughed.

Tick…tock.

With a faint, popping sound, it was over. I wrote The End in the color of red.

I waited for the searing agony, the ocean of grief, none came. Numb, I stared at my gun. Then my gaze found Alessio.

He hadn’t flinched.

He didn’t even beg me to think again.

He had been without any words.

Alessio had just sat there, like he owned the room. He fucking sat there and smirked.

A King never bows.

And now, I watched his body sag against the seat, blooding pouring through the wound that I put there, the hole where my bullet had gone through.

His heart.

His fucking heart.

One shot. One bullet. It was all I needed. One precise hit.

I wasn’t a twelve year old, a young boy scared of failure, scared of disappointing the men he admired.

No.

I was a thirty-year-old man, heartless and ruthless, a man with a motive. A man with the full intention of winning this game.

Beat. Thump. Beat. Thump.

Alessio’s eyes were closed.

Sorry, brother. Fucking sorry.

The room became eerily silent.

“You did it,” Valentin said. His voice was low, choked. “Holy shit. You fucking did it,” he said louder. He seemed shocked.

His chair screeched back as he stood up. My eyes never left Alessio’s stilled figure. His skin was pale. His blood continued to pour onto the white carpet. I had never seen him like this…weak.

A once strong beating heart. Now, a cold body with no heartbeat.

My arm fell back down, still holding onto the gun tightly. My body shook with the adrenaline coursing through my veins. Each thud of my heart was followed with the roar of blood pumping furiously through me.

I heard Valentin walking around his desk as he came to stand behind me. “He is dead.”

His words shook the foundation of my world. “I kept my promise,” I muttered. “You got what you wanted.”

My stomach churned, but Valentin didn’t seem to care. He was laughing like a fucking hyena.

The world swirled, and my mind brought me back to that night, the very same night Valentin fucked with my heart and left my Valerie a broken mess.

When he had told me he wanted to discuss something in his office, it was no simple discussion. No, it had all been planned bait.

I stayed standing. “Whatever you have to say, hurry the fuck up. I’ve got better things to do, Valentin.”

He shrugged. “Why are you so grumpy? Was tonight not enough for you?”

I seethed at his words, feeling my blood boil, and I fought against myself.

He chuckled. “Son, take a seat and let’s have a drink.”

Realizing that I had to play this game his way, I took a seat. Not before snatching a bottle of scotch. I pulled the cap off and then brought the drink to my mouth, taking a huge gulp.

Fucking perfect.

“What is it?” The sooner we get down to business, the faster I could get out of his presence.

It was eating me alive. Sitting across him and not being able to do anything.

Weak. So, fucking weak and useless.

I looked down at the bottle of alcohol. Not for long, though.

Soon, this empire will turn into ashes. I’d make sure of it. With my own bare hands.

And then, I’d happily take my Valerie out of this hellhole.

Valentin regarded me silently, his head cocked to the side. Then his lips curved upward in the slightest way. “You seem smitten with my wife.”

My heart skipped a beat at his words. My muscles locked and I seemed to freeze. Masking my expression, I only shrugged and huffed.

Lounging back, I sent him a smirk of my own. “Let’s just say…her pussy seems to have me under a spell. Fascinated is the word we are looking for.”

Valentin threw his head back, and he let out a booming laugh. “And to think you were refusing my act of kindness.”

Letting me fuck his wife was an act of kindness?

The thought was enough to enrage me. Valerie was not a commodity to be passed around. Except that was exactly what she was to him. A commodity. A pet. A prized possession.