Tainted Vows | Book 1 'Til Death Do Us Part Duet | Mafia Romance | 18+

Chapter 23

Liliana 

Murdered.
Killed.
Maimed.
The flight to Italy was long.
I wanted to portal myself.
Needed to see it by myself. Needed to believe it.

After fainting I remember waking up with screams. Dominic had to restrain me. I had a splitting headache. Victoria gave me some painkillers. But following that, I don't remember how I got on the plane or who dressed me up for the funeral. I remember her lying lifelessly in the coffin. Everything is a blur. Albeit, her death is real.

The associates, friends and family are present. Yet, they all seem strangers to me. Somehow they always have. My only family included him, Amara and my adopted family. But destiny has other plans for me. She snatches the happiest and liveliest people from my life.

Aunt Gabriella hasn't stopped crying. Her cries now morphed into soft sobs as Caterina embraced her. Dominic is beside me his hand resting at the base of my back. Soft yet firm. If it wasn't for his support I could have crashed any second. I lean in his touch. 

Whispers of De Luca's doom hover in the air. They don't voice it but I sense it in their demeanor. With Dad almost stepping down the throne the vultures are eyeing the crown. He didn't officially announce Giovanni's rule. But Gio has to be more vigilant now than earlier.

Dominic's fingers dig into my hip reverting me to the present. I glance at him watching me a shadow looming on his face, the dark of his eyebrows creased, and the question in his eyes is evident. I shake my head lowering. He sighs drawing small circles on my back. It doesn't help to soothe the pain yet I'm grateful. The hat I'm wearing masks my eyes shielding from the prying ones. I don't want to deal with people.
Hell! I want to be alone. Better yet, I want to deal with the killer.

Thinking about him makes my blood boil. I push the tears back into their sockets retaining every bit of energy.
My heart shatters as they lower the coffin to the ground. I'll never see her again or feel her warm embrace. She's lying beside her husband in the De Luca cemetery.

After the ceremony I excused myself. I walk the all too familiar path. Although I was not allowed in this part of the villa I was lost once when I was new.

The bodyguards outside the cell block my path. I stand grounded in my spot.

"Move," my voice is so frigid I can't recognize it.
The bodyguards flinch. After a moment they shift letting me in. I take purposeful strides not rushing. I don't want to. I don't speculate about the questions I want to interrogate. My mind is a blank slate.

One of the bodyguards follows suit. The dampness extends leading me inside the dark tunnel. The temperature drops. Mouse scurrying away. It was specially built for the prisoners. Two bulbs flicker down the tunnel as my heels click on the cold ground. It's dark despite the light illuminating. I don't feel scared. Darkness doesn't scare me anymore.

I halt at the prison where they are holding him. The bodyguard moves past me opening the prison door. It cracks like those of the haunted movies. The bulb above his head lights up dangling from the ceiling. I stop at the entrance. The foul smell of blood fills my nostrils. I want to throw up but I swallow the bitter pill.

He is chained. Both hands are shackled to the wall. His bloodied knees don't touch the ground. He's hanging, clothes tattered. His head is bent low nearly touching his chest. Blood has dried sticking to the floor. It doesn't finish there. They tortured him. I take a generous glimpse at his hands. His nails are missing the remnants of dried blood are the evidence. One of the fingers is crooked. One thumb is missing. My gaze drops to notice it lying on the cold ground. I assume it was Gio's doing. As much as my brother is soft-hearted towards me he isn't with the world outside. He was beaten. Whipped. Long, angry slashes drape his body. Blood has dried on his clothes clinging to the wounds.
He is camouflaged in blood. Unrecognisable.