Chapter 52

MATTEO

The second I knew Donna was safe in Elio’s care, it was time to deal with the other issue. I turned my attention to Luca.

My anger blinded me to reason as my gaze fixed on Luca and the girl on his lap.

~No going back now.~

Once I was in front of the bed, I grabbed the girl and threw her to the ground. She went tumbling, letting out a screech as her bare legs scraped against the hardwood floor.

I couldn’t bring myself to feel guilty for using my strength. Not after seeing the look on Donna’s face.

Besides, this woman knew she was betraying her Donna and, therefore, the family.

“Get out of here,” I said, grabbing her clothes pooled on the ground and tossing them at her. “Go!”

I was about to turn back to Luca, ready to fight, when I noticed her eyes. Her irises were glazed over, almost as if she were asleep. Then I watched, dumbfounded, as they snapped back into focus. She frowned as her eyes cleared and scanned the room.

She looked down at the clothes I’d thrown at her, as if she’d only just realized she was naked.

Her face went pale and she hugged the clothing to her body, trying to cover as much as she could. She looked at Luca, who was still on the bed in only his boxers.

“What…?” She didn’t finish.

With tangible confusion and embarrassment in the air, she sprinted out of the room. The image of her eyes burned in my mind as I turned back to Luca. I didn’t have time to consider what this all meant.

Perhaps she was drugged?

Lying back on the bed, Luca glared at me.

“You’ve ruined my fun,” he said sternly. “I thought Attesos were supposed to help their Dons. You just threw out an opportunity at claiming more power, to claim a ~destino~.”

He had been my Don for several years now. I had been lucky enough to watch him grow as a leader, developing the skills to make hard decisions and the compassion to guide his people no matter the circumstance.

In this moment, staring at a man I no longer recognized, who couldn’t possibly be my Don, I realized the things that I had idolized him for had all been an act. All performed to obtain and retain power. My anger surged forward and took control over my mind and actions. I could only focus on one thing.

Avenging my Donna and getting revenge.

My fist went flying before I could fully comprehend my actions. Fueled by raw anger, it connected with Luca’s face with more force than I knew I had in me, resulting in a satisfying crunch. Luca let out a sound of surprise as his head flew to the side.

A hissing noise I had never heard him make before came from his throat.

I didn’t give him time to react as I repositioned my arm for another punch, hoping to break his nose with this one. But then Luca grabbed my fist, halting my movements.

All of a sudden, I felt a sharp jab in my other arm.

Luca had stabbed me with a syringe, emptying its content into my blood.

I felt myself slip out of my body, like I was losing control.

“Stop,” he said calmly.

His jarring tone reached my ears and, like magic, immediately caused my body to freeze.

I grunted in discomfort and shock—it was as if I were made of ice, frozen and cold, shivers running down my spine. I couldn’t move no matter how hard I tried.

I wanted to charge forward and bang on my skull so that he could get out. But I was completely frozen.

Panic encased me. How had Luca done this? How was this possible?

He wasn’t looking at me.

“What the fuck did you do to me?” I seethed. “What did you inject into me?”

I tried once again to move my body, but I was stuck in the same position, fist raised.

Luca rubbed at his jaw.

“You carry a mean punch. I can see why he wanted you to be his Destro.”

I was barely listening, too focused on moving my body. “Let me move!” I yelled.

He shook his head, his eyes finally meeting mine.

That’s when it hit me.

“Mind control serum,” I whispered, “that’s how you got that girl to sleep with you. You were controlling her.”

He chuckled quietly but didn’t respond. I didn’t need verbal confirmation. I knew I was right.

Luca stood from the bed and walked past me until I could no longer see him.

“Your little outburst has to do with that little brunette girl, doesn’t it?” he said from behind me.

~Little brunette girl.~ I knew he hadn’t forgotten her name. He was toying with me, trying to rile me up. I gritted my teeth.

“Freya,” I said, “the girl you were about to kill by binding yourself with someone else. ~Your~ Donna.”

“Ah, see, that’s where you’re wrong, my boy,” Luca said.

I could hear ruffling behind me, as well as the opening and closing of drawers. He was putting on clothes.

“That girl would have never been my Donna. She was never worthy of being my ~destino~. Small and weak.” Disgust laced his tone. “We weren’t meant to be together. Even she knew that. It was why she ran away. It was why I chose another to bind myself with.”

“She didn’t ~run~ away, you fucker,” I spat. “You chased her away.”

Luca was in front of me in a second, now fully clothed in jeans and a shirt. I blinked in surprise.

“How…” I began to ask, but was silenced by a hard slap to the face. Pain spread across my cheek.

“Remember who you are speaking to,” Luca said, deathly calm. “You are lucky to still be alive.”

His harsh expression dropped as he watched me with interest, looking at my from my canines to my fist. I was still ready to strike the moment I was set free from this fucking mind control. He sighed.

“Stand down”—he waving his hand dismissively and walked away—“you’re making me nervous.”

The tension in my body released in an instant. My arms moved to my sides and my legs stepped together. I was standing in a straight position and facing Luca as if I were a part of the army. Luca faced me as well. I couldn’t move, but my muscles weren’t taut in preparation for a fight.

He sighed in frustration and crossed his arms over his chest, watching me closely.

“Your loyalty to the Donna is impressive. It shows your bravery.” He scowled. “Your loyalty to ~me~ is not. You have willingly defied me and doubted my decision to take another ~destino~. My belief was that the family had blind devotion to their Dons. This little stunt of yours proved me wrong.”

He rubbed the forming bruise on his chin, looking me up and down, assessing my body.

“Be grateful that I am willing to let this go. You are one of the stronger members of the family and a good Atteso. You would be no good to me dead. But be aware that I let you live with faith in the assumption that you will not defy me again.”

I opened my mouth to swear at him, to tell him that he was no longer my Don.

I studied Luca: his dark expression, hissing mouth, the way he could somehow control me with only his words. What did he inject me with? Was that why he could control me?

I had never seen him do any of those things before this moment; I hadn’t known he was capable of it. I had never heard a Don with powers of that kind.

But then I remembered a rumor that had spread through the family years ago. It was about a Rossi invention. Antonio Rossi himself was said to have manufactured it. A mind control serum.

At the time, I dismissed the idea as an intimidation tactic.

But standing in front of the Don now, I realized that I was mistaken.

Luca was under Antonio Rossi’s control by injecting him with mind control serum, the very same one that Luca has now injected me with.

“You’re not yourself, Luca,” I pleaded with him, hoping that the version of Luca I knew was still in there somewhere. “You’re being controlled.”

“Well,” he said casually, tilting his head to each side and cracking his neck, “good for you. I was beginning to wonder if anyone was going to figure it out.” He laughed and rolled his shoulders. “A pity, really. I was having so much fun,” another voice said from behind Luca.

We weren’t alone anymore.

There was another man in the room with us.

And not just any man.

Antonio Rossi.