Chapter 42

LUCA

“You’re a Rossi?” I said.

Angelina smiled brightly and took a step back. “Congrats, Don,” she said. Then the smile suddenly fell from her face. “You’re not as stupid as you look.”

That was the final straw. No family member of mine would speak to me like that—Rossi or not. I was her ~Don~!

I lurched the top half of my body forward, planning on sticking the tip of my gun against her rib cage and not moving it until she begged for mercy. But, right as I moved—before I could even touch her—she stopped me with a single word:

“Pain.”

My body immediately fell to the forest floor as an anguishing pain shot through it. I yelled out, clutching at my chest and head, trying to find any sort of relief. It felt as if each bone in my body was breaking while thousands of knives were stabbing into me.

I was sure I was going to die. This was what it had to feel like.

“Stop,” Angelina’s voice said.

The pain suddenly stopped. I gasped and groaned as air finally entered my lungs.

Angelina crouched down next to me and smoothed my hair away from my face. I was too weak to move or stop her. The buzzing in my mind grew stronger. I now truly understood the severity of this situation. I was worried for our family and my ~destino~.

“I’m not a bad person, Luca,” Angelina said calmly as she studied my face. “The only time I ever used mind control on you was to be appointed as Destra. I wanted to be accepted into your family in a place of power, but I didn’t want to spend months kissing up to you.

“I knew I deserved it and would do a good job, so I used mind control to convince you of it as well. That’s why you don’t remember the day,” she laughed bitterly.

A strained gurgle emitted from my throat, interrupting her.

“I never planned on controlling your mind again after that. In fact, I never planned on doing it ever again. I didn’t like having that control over people. It felt wrong. No one should get to play God.” She paused. “But that all changed when you murdered my father.”

I tried sitting up, fighting against the extreme exhaustion that had suddenly replaced the pain. “I never meant to kill your father, Angelina,” I groaned. “He wasn’t supposed to die.”

“Lie back down. Don’t move,” she snapped. My body immediately followed her orders. “I don’t care about what you ~meant~ to happen. What matters is what did happen.” She snarled then, her dark side coming to the surface. “You should’ve seen what your men did to him. He wasn’t even recognizable when we buried him,” she said.

“I’m sorry, Angelina,” I whispered. “I’m truly sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter now. The damage is done.” She stood. “And you’re going to pay.”

She whistled as if she was signaling something, then looked back at me. “My father and grandfather had a falling out a few years back and hadn’t spoken since then. I never had the opportunity to meet my grandfather because of that. “See, he’s not the nicest man. A little power-hungry. Some might even call him corrupt. It’s why the family was taken away from him.”

I felt the blood drain from my face at her words. She couldn’t be talking about who I thought she was…

“But I disagree,” she continued. “Especially not after I had the chance to meet him at my father’s funeral. We got along very well. We felt the same way about some very important topics.”

She grabbed my chin tightly, her nails digging into my skin, and turned my head so that I was looking right at her.

“For instance, we both agreed that you should no longer lead this family. And if that means the Rossis taking control and the merging of our families, then”—she shrugged—“so be it.”

The sound of rustling leaves and breaking twigs came from behind us.

Angelina lifted her head. “Ah, right on time.” She looked back at me. “Luca, I would like you to meet my grandfather.”

A figure emerged from the trees, tall and dark, wearing all black.

He had long black hair and nearly black eyes. His family crest shined off his lapel. His top lip was pulled into a sinister smirk.

It was Antonio Rossi, the former Rossi Don.

He approached the two of us slowly, looking at me with a pleased expression on his face. I gritted my teeth, trying desperately to move my body.

But it was no use. Angelina had me paralyzed on the ground.

“Well done, Angelina,” he said. “I have to say, I almost didn’t think you had it in you. I am very happy that I was wrong.”

Angelina smiled in return and took a step back.

“Stand,” Antonio said to me.

My body moved of its own accord, bringing me to my feet but, other than that, remaining completely frozen. Antonio looked me up and down, and I couldn’t do anything other than watch as his smile grew.

“My God, you are huge. I can see why you are the Don of the strongest family in America,” he said.

This was strange coming from him, as he was almost as large as me—though leaner, less brawn.

“It will be extremely interesting to control your body,” he said.

“What the fuck did you just say?” I asked.

Bruzzatore, was as close to the surface as he could be without taking over my body, releasing loud, vicious groans nonstop. They were so loud, they echoed into the night.

“Quiet!” Antonio said.

My jaw snapped shut in an instant, the same way that it had when Angelina had told me to be quiet earlier. The anger in my chest stopped, too, as Bruzzatore was also silenced.

“Angelina, didn’t you say that he wasn’t fully bound yet?”

“Yes,” Angelina said. “He hasn’t completed the ceremony with his ~destino~ yet.” He continued to look at me, circling me slowly.

At the mention of Freya, Bruzzatore began to pound at the inside of my mind, trying to get free.

And with every pound, my body shook. Antonio watched me intently, obviously knowing what was going on.

“If this is how powerful he is when he doesn’t even have a ~destino~ by his side, I can only imagine how powerful he will be when he’s fully bound to her,” he said.

My body continued to shake.

“Was that girl I saw you entering with earlier your ~destino~?” he asked menacingly.

That was it. I was going to rip this man’s head clean off his body—after I was finished torturing him until he begged for mercy.

He wasn’t going to touch Freya.

He wasn’t even going to get close.

Antonio chuckled. “Enough messing around. I have a throne to win back. And your family is going to help me get it.”

In an instant, he was directly in front of me, moving more quickly than I had ever seen anyone move. I noticed a needle in his hand, a dark liquid within it.

“The second dose of the serum should do the trick to fully subdue you,” he taunted.

Then suddenly the needle was deep in my throat, and I was groaning in pain.

I felt my consciousness begin to drift away, only to be replaced by something else. Something dark and evil was slowly taking control over my mind and body.

I could no longer move. I could barely even think.

I fought it for as long as I could, but eventually, my body got tired of fighting and everything went black.

~“This is going to be fun,”~ Antonio said.