Vengeful Matrimony | ✔️

Chapter 55

NICHOLAS

"What was your plan here, Marcello? Surely, you can't be stupid enough to pull a dumb stunt like this. So, tell me. What were you hoping to achieve?"

Marcello barely acknowledged me. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and he had a busted lip. Blood soaked through his white shirt from whatever cuts Evander had made on his body, staining the once-clean material.

"Did you cut his tongue out?" I asked Evander when Marcello didn't say a word. I wouldn't put it past him to go overboard with the torture. This was pretty tame compared to his other torture sessions, and I knew that attributed to the fact that Matteo was here with him.

"Nah. The pussy is just being too stubborn. He doesn't want to speak. I can take his tongue out if you want me to?" Evander offered, a deviant glint in his eyes.

"Fucking psychopath," I mumbled under my breath. I shook my head at him, directing my attention back to Marcello. I crouched in front of him, pushing his hair out of his face to take a better look at him. "What was the deal you were going to propose had I not saved Giselle? Tell me and I'll make your death painless. Except you want another hour with our friend back there?"

Marcello's body convulsed. Evander had succeeded in breaking him as he did his other victims. This was why he was the Family's enforcer.

"You don't want that, do you? Trust me, I don't want that for you, too, buddy."

"I... don't know." Marcello's voice came out in a broken whisper.

"That doesn't sound like the truth to me."

"I'm telling the truth. I don't know. I was just following orders. Please, spare me."

That sounded interesting. "Orders from who?"

"My father. They planned all of this. I was just doing their bidding for my girl's safety. Please, let me go. I'll leave everything behind, I swear. She's pregnant with my child, and everything I did was to keep her safe. Wouldn't you do the same for Giselle if you were in my shoes?"

I'd do worse to keep her safe, but that was beside the point. He'd touched the wrong woman, and he had to pay for that. "See, the thing is, I can't trust you. You were going to marry her, weren't you?"

"No. I have a woman, and she's pregnant. Everything I said was what they wanted me to say. That was their plan."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Gregorio and my father. They're working hand in hand."

***

GISELLE

"Thanks for tagging along," Gemma said, looking at me over her shoulder with a grin.

I waved her off. "It's fine. I could use some friends."

"What? The mafia wives aren't accommodating?" She teased as she pushed the cart forward.

Gemma had moved into a new apartment a month ago, and she needed help to pick out a few items for her kitchen after putting it off for weeks. The only reason she was even shopping for kitchen utensils was because her mother was coming over and, according to her, her mother would chew her head off if she found out she'd been using paper plates and eating take-outs for weeks.

"You know Italian mothers," she'd said over the phone when she called me. "Mom is in for a rude awakening when she finds out I'm actually a shit cook."

"We're on the same boat here, honey."

She offered for me to tag along, and thrilled to have something to do other than sit at home, I hadn't hesitated. Maybe I should speak to Nicholas about opening an art studio.