Bound by Hatred (Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles #3)(15)

“Something that will calm her down,” Matteo said.

“Get out of the f*cking way.” Luca brushed past me, knelt beside my sister who was still struggling against Matteo’s hold, and pushed the needle into her arm. It didn’t take long for her to grow quiet and stop struggling. Matteo released her wrists and sat up. Lily whimpered before curling into herself and starting to cry silently.

“I hope you all burn in hell,” I whispered harshly as I knelt beside her and stroked her hair. Matteo watched me with unreadable dark eyes. There were a few specks of blood on his throat; they seemed to be all I could see.

One of the Russians started to laugh. For a second I considered punching him in the face. I wasn’t even sure how he was still capable of any sound the way he looked.

Matteo shot to his feet and got right into his face. “Shut the f*ck up, or I swear I’ll cut your dick into pieces while you watch.”

“Romero take Liliana into her room and tell the Doc to check on her,” Luca ordered, his voice already back to business.

Romero lifted Lily into his arms, and she actually pressed her face into his chest and sobbed. He was the last person she should seek out for comfort. He was one of the f*cking reasons why she’d freaked out in the first place. Maybe she didn’t even realize who held her.

I stood as well to follow after them. I wouldn’t leave my sister alone with any of them. Luca gripped my wrist. “I want to have a word with you first.”

“Let me go!” I snarled but he didn’t budge.

Matteo grasped Luca’s forearm. “Let her go.”

Luca and he stared at each other for a moment, then I was finally free but now Matteo was blocking the stairs. I still couldn’t look at his face. I glared at Luca instead. “I need to go to Lily. Maybe you didn’t notice but she had a breakdown because of you sick f*cks.”

“She’ll get over it,” Luca said dismissively.

“Do you hear yourself? You make me sick. Lily won’t ever get over what she saw today. She’ll probably have f*cking nightmares for years, only because of you.”

Luca smiled coldly. “If you want to blame someone, blame yourself, because I have a feeling she was only down here because she followed you.”

“Luca,” Matteo said in warning. “It wasn’t Gianna’s fault.”

It was my fault, at least partly, but I would never admit it in front of them. If it weren’t for their sick business, nothing of this would have happened. I decided to switch to attack-mode. “I wonder what Aria will say when she finds out what happened.”

Luca narrowed his eyes. “You won’t tell her.”

“Oh, I won’t?” I asked. I had absolutely no intention of telling her. She didn’t need the extra baggage, but Luca didn’t need to know that. Matteo stepped between his brother and me, and touched my arms. I jerked back as if he’d burnt me. “Don’t touch me ever again.”

“I really don’t get what you see in her,” Luca said.

“Luca, stop provoking her,” Matteo hissed, then he turned his dark eyes on me. “You can’t tell Aria. It won’t serve any purpose, only make her miserable.”

“Maybe she’ll decide to leave him.” I nodded toward Luca.

“Aria won’t ever leave me,” Luca said quietly. “She took a f*cking bullet for me today. I almost lost her. I won’t ever lose her again. And I won’t let you ruin things between us.”

The worst thing was that I knew he was right when he said Aria wouldn’t leave him, not even when I told her what I’d seen today. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know what kind of man Luca was and what kind of things his men did on his orders. He’d killed and tortured for her before, and she still loved him. Somehow she could forget the monster and only see the man when she was with Luca. I was pretty sure I couldn’t do it. I could hardly meet Matteo’s gaze.

“I won’t tell her,” I said eventually. “But not for you. I’m doing it for her. I want to see her happy.” And for some f*cked up reason Luca was making her happy, happier than I’d ever seen her. For her sake, I would pretend.

Luca turned to Matteo. “Take her to her room and make sure she stays there until Scuderi comes to pick them up. I don’t want her to make another scene.”

I bit back a snarky comment. “I want to see Aria. She needs me.”

I could tell that Luca wanted to tell me ‘no’ but he surprised me when he said, “You can stay with her when I’m not around.”

“It’s not like I’m eager to be in a room with you.”

“Come on, Gianna,” Matteo gripped my arm and didn’t even release me when I protested. He led me up the basement stairs, then along the long hallway and up the stairs. We didn’t speak until we reached my room and I jerked free of his grip.

My eyes darted to his pink hands and blood-covered shirt. Matteo followed my gaze, grimacing. “I’ll go change.”

“Don’t bother. I won’t ever forget what I saw.”

Matteo walked up to me and I stood my ground, despite my body’s desire to flee. “You are clever Gianna. Don’t tell me you didn’t know what we were doing behind closed doors. Believe me, the Outfit doesn’t handle enemies with kid gloves either.”