Page 146 of Thorns of Death

She glanced over her shoulder. “Giulio, turn the camera on.”

Click.

Sofia produced a knife—a butcher knife—and handed it to Donatella. An unhealthy, dark glimmer shone in both of their eyes and suddenly fear gripped my throat, choking me. With a flat glare, Sofia watched as Donatella sliced through my skin. My shoulder burned as hot blood trickled down.

I bit my lip, refusing to let her hear my cries. I refused to give her any sound at all.

Another gash followed. The blade dragged across my shoulders. Down my bicep. She had to feel my birth control implant there. Her blade stilled over it, her eyes lighting up with unhealthy excitement.

“What did you find?” Sofia asked, her voice sending chills to my soul.

“Little slut has a birth control implant.” Donatella pushed the blade into my flesh, and I bit into my lip.Slash. Slash.“If only her mother was that smart. It’s probably why Illias shot her.”

The back of my eyes burned. My breaths came out choppy and hot liquid soon covered my entire arm.

“Want to see the video?” Sofia asked casually as if she were offering me choices of blockbusters. “Tatiana’s ex-husband shared a few recordings with me. I learned something interesting from every one of those videos.”

“Fuck. You.” I wouldn’t play into her hand. She could go to hell and rot there.

She chuckled. “What? Don’t you want to know who your husband really is?” I pressed my lips together, refusing to answer. The lump in my throat grew. “But then, I can tell by the expression on your face you already know.” And so did Sofia. She knew my husband’s secret. She turned to Donatella. “Slice her up.”

Then the pain started. It dragged on and on, and I found a corner in my mind to retreat to.

I wouldn’t cry. I wouldn’t cry. I refused to fucking cry.

FIFTY-ONE

ENRICO

Two fucking days.

I hadn’t eaten. I hadn’t showered. I hadn’t even slept. Time dragged on, and my heart shattered each time it beat without her.

My mind kept envisioning every scenario. What they were doing to her. Would they break her spirit? Her mind? Her strength that I loved so much?

“The underground tunnels,” Manuel said, drawing Illias’s, Kian’s, and my attention. “That’s how they snuck into the house undetected.”

The dining room had been turned into a surveillance room. My office wasn’t big enough and we had been scouting the city inch by inch for any sign where Donatella might be hiding her.

I stood up from my chair, the legs of it scraping against the hardwood.

“Impossible.”

Manuel handed me the footage and I watched, holding my breath. It clawed at my chest, demanding I punish someone, anyone. Kingston was here too, hacking all the networks around Italy. I needed him to find Isla.

Just as Manuel claimed, Donatella and Giulio had snuck into the house via underground tunnels that only the Marchetti men knew about.Unless my brother shared it with Donatella. He wouldn’t have been so stupid. Would he have?

“I want that tunnel filled,” I barked.

Manuel issued the order as my own phone vibrated in my hand.Unknown number. I stopped breathing, the dread in the pit of my stomach expanding.

I slid the message open and my heart stopped. I fucking froze.

My wife was chained to a chair, her body bruised and bloodied. Tears streamed down her face as Donatella sliced her, laughing at the camera with each slash she bestowed. The terror in Isla’s gaze gutted me, but she didn’t let out a sound.

Her lip was split open.

“Where in the fuck are they?” I roared. “It shouldn’t be this hard to track them down. I want Giulio’s and Donatella’s heads on spikes.” My hands trembled, my eyes locked on the frozen screen showing my wife’s bloodied state. “We need to find her.”