Page 20 of Tortured Hearts (Marchesi Empire #2)

He draws his hand back and swings, sending my chin sailing across my shoulder. Pain explodes across my face, but I’m too angry to let it drag me under.

I turn back, licking the blood from my lips as I meet his eyes. “Did that make you feel more like a man?”

It’s the wrong thing to say.

I stumble backward, but he counters every move. One last step and my back hits the wall. “No,” I plead, but the word evaporates as he grips my throat and slams my head against the wall, pinning me in place. Tears pool at the corners of my eyes. “Please don’t do this.”

The words fall on deaf ears, and he drags his other hand down the length of my body to my thigh. “I hear your cunt makes criminals walk the line. I think I’ll find out for myself.”

“Mine. Becca. Only mine.”

No. I’m his.

“Mine.”

His.

The word repeats over and over in my head as I fight with everything I have. For a moment, I think I have the upper hand, then Henry shoves his fingers under the hem of my dress, forcing a scream from my throat.

The smile on his face turns diabolical. “Let’s see how loud you can get.”

There’s a part of me that still believes he’s going to stop. That a man who swore to uphold the law isn’t capable of an act so vile. But when he tugs the zipper down on his pants, that part dies a painful death.

When he moves to force my legs apart, I see my last chance closing in.

Planting my foot against the wall behind me, I drive my knee into his balls with all the strength I have left.

Henry’s eyes widen, and then he releases his hold on my throat and doubles over as if sucking in his last breath.

I try to run, but I stumble and hit the floor.

I rush to stand, but Henry recovers first.

“Fucking bitch!” He rams the toe of his shoe into my ribcage, then grabs me by my hair and jerks me to my knees.

Brutality has always been part of my life, so when his closed-fisted punch comes, I don’t scream or flinch.

I simply absorb the blow, accepting the temporary physical pain as a trade-off for what would’ve been a permanent emotional one.

He draws his arm back to hit me again when the door slams behind him.

“You coglione ! I told you to control our guest, not fuck her. Put your dick away and get out of my sight before I blow your head off.”

All the color drains from Henry’s ruddy cheeks. Lowering his fist, he quickly shoves himself back into his jeans as an older bald man descends the stairs, one hand tucked in his pocket, the other holding a gun by his side. I know who he is in an instant.

Marcello Marchesi.

Everything about him is dangerously familiar, from his blank stare to his lethal smile. He’s not here to save me. Still, I can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief as he fires a warning shot at Henry’s feet, causing him to leap halfway across the basement.

“Was I unclear the first time?”

Henry doesn’t offer a glance back at me before taking the stairs at a hurried pace, the door slamming behind him.

Gianni’s father stares at me with disgust. “Little Rebecca Reese.”

Swallowing my panic, I lift my chin. “It’s Dr. Brennan.”

His low laugh echoes throughout the empty room. “Saying something doesn’t make it true, tesoro mio . Gianni could’ve told you a name is something you can never outrun.”

I had every intention of not succumbing to this family’s mind games, but the moment I open my mouth, the same bitter accusation drips off my tongue. “You killed my mother.”

“Not personally. I don’t get my hands dirty, Rebecca. I’m a fixture that shines when needed. However, leaving you alive appears to have been a mistake.”

“Then why did you?”

“The Irish prefer a slow death to a quick one. Of course, I don’t have to tell you that, do I?”

The man is evil incarnate. There’s no humanity in his eyes, only hate.

“Is that why you branded me with the mark of my mother’s killer … some sick idea of entertainment?”

“My dear, everything I do is based on profit, not pleasure.”

“Go to hell.”

A low chuckle rumbles in his throat. “Gianni was right. You truly are Eve.”

How does he know Gianni called me that?

“A temptation for all men,” he explains. “As for how I know my son made the comparison…?” He smiles at the contempt I know is burning my face. “I have cameras in every corner of my house, tesora .” Pursing his lips, he gives me a bored shrug. “I have trust issues.”

I bite back nausea. Cameras mean he saw what happened between Gianni and me as well. Everything that happened. “Some would call that paranoid.”

“You say that as if it’s an insult. After all, my so-called ‘paranoia’ just saved your ass, didn’t it? That wasn’t my intent, of course. I have you under surveillance for a specific purpose.”

I glare up at him. “Because you’re a psychopath?”

A shiver skates down my spine as his smile widens. “Because you’ve dedicated your life to the art of manipulation. You’re a master of twisting minds and bending them to your will. You did it to my son. I’d be a fool to think you wouldn’t attempt the same with my men.”

“You don’t know a damn thing about me or what I do. I didn’t twist Gianni’s mind. I helped heal the damage you did to it. Unlike you, I care about him.”

There’s a pause. A beat. A whisper of silence that chills me to my core.

“Tell me, Rebecca, will you still ‘care’ about him after learning about his fiancée ?”

Shock paralyzes all four limbs. I try to speak, but the words refuse to take flight.

“ Mmmm , speechless. I can’t say I’m surprised.

My son has an unfortunate history of putting a ring on one woman and his dick in another.

” Marcello drops to his haunches, and I cringe as he brushes a lock of hair off my forehead.

“I’d say I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but after all the trouble you’ve caused me, that’d be a lie.

So, I’ll be brutally honest; you psychiatrists prefer that, no? ”

I bat his hand away, his taunt jerking me out of my haze. “Just say it.”

“Gianni was engaged before meeting you, my dear. Whatever lies he told you were simply to get between your legs. However, that’s all over now that he’s back.”

I sit grasping at the floor as if, somehow, it’ll ground me. But the harder I grasp, the more everything seems to slip away. No. He’s wrong. I know about Victoria. She’s dead. I read the news article. Gianni wouldn’t lie to my face again. Not here. Not now. “I don’t believe you.”

“Frankly, I don’t care what you believe. I told you out of sheer entertainment, not courtesy. I have big plans, Doctor. I don’t need some bitch getting in my way.”

My nails scrape the concrete as I clench my fist. “Then maybe you should monitor the help a little closer.”

“Insubordination that’ll be dealt with accordingly.” His frown gives me a small measure of satisfaction before he turns and walks toward the door. At the top of the stairs, he pauses and stares down at me. “Do you know what happened to Eve?”

Curling into the fetal position, I hug my knees to my chest and close my eyes.

“She became the Devil’s whore,” he says, slamming the door behind him.