Chapter 53

MATTEO

Antonio Rossi was one of the largest people I had ever seen in my life. He had long black hair and a neatly shaved beard.

I felt stupid.

How could I not? All the warning signs had been there just waiting for me to notice them.

They couldn’t have been clearer if they were biting me in the ass.

Luca wasn’t Luca at all—well, it was his body, but it wasn’t him controlling it.

It had been Antonio this whole time. Antonio laughed maniacally.

“Sleep,” he instructed Luca, who immediately fell to the ground, unconscious.

“You have no idea how good it feels to be out in the open.” He shook his head in disgust. “Having to do everything through Luca wasn’t quite satisfying enough. All those months hiding out in your abandoned underground bunker. It was enough to drive me mad.”

I bristled, clenching my jaw. “What did you do to him?” I looked down at Luca’s unconscious body. I was desperately pushing against the mind control that kept me from moving.

“Shh, shh, shh, little Atteso,” Antonio taunted me, stepping forward and patting my cheek.

“Is he alive?” I sneered.

“Don’t worry about your poor Don. He’s alive. But only because I still need him.”

Antonio chuckled in amusement.

“Your Don cares very much about your family and especially about his ~destino~. Maybe a little too much. It has made him weak and controlling his body easy. The price you pay for love, I suppose. What a costly price that is.”

I clenched my fists. “Let him go. You already have your rogue criminals coming to wage war. You already have all the information you need to succeed. Release your control on Don Luca and fight the battle you arranged for.”

Antonio looked only a little shocked at the revelation that I knew of his plans.

“So it was you rifling through my things yesterday.” He chuckled darkly. “You’re smarter than you look, young Atteso. I have underestimated you.”

“I only answer to one Don,” I replied hotly, “and you are not him.”

His expression turned into a mocking frown.

“Oh, boo. Here I was thinking I was doing such a good job acting as the powerful.” He sneered. “After all, I do have access to every single thought in his mind. All I have to do is ask him to tell me every single thing, every single secret.” He dropped his shoulders in feigned sadness. “Oh, well. I don’t need you to accept me. With my mind control serum, you’ll have no choice but to comply.”

My rage pushed forward. I could feel my expression darkening.

“Calm yourself,” Antonio said dismissively, “there’s no need for that. All of this will be over soon. I need your Don for a few more days, and then I promise you I will go. I will ensure that Don Luca dies in the most honorable way possible, but only after he tells his family to give their lives over to my faction and fight by their side for the throne.”

“They would never do that,” I snarled, “fight alongside your people.”

“It’s sad, really,” Antonio said as he circled me, completely ignoring my last claim. “You would have made a fantastic second-in-command for me. You have impressed me these last few months. But I can’t have you spilling my little secret, now, can I?”

He threw me to the ground in a single graceful motion. I was helpless as my body fell backward. Then Antonio was by my side on the ground with that evil smile.

“Let me move!” I yelled. “Stop being a coward and fight me without restraints!”

He laughed. “Oh, my boy. I am anything but a coward.”

His hands gripped my neck. I knew at that moment that I was going to die. I had no way of stopping him. It was hopeless.

I could only try to convince myself that I had done enough to keep my family safe from the battle coming tomorrow, that the Rossi Donking had received my message and was on his way to help. Little by little, I could feel my energy leave me as my body was deprived of oxygen.

I fought against the serum keeping me from moving, but it was no use—he was quickly losing strength too. I thought about screaming out to Elio. I wanted to tell him how much I loved him. Until now, I had been blocking thoughts of him from my mind, trying not to let myself be distracted from the matter at hand—making sure he didn’t feel what I had been feeling throughout the night.

But I couldn’t die, not without giving him an explanation.

He deserved to hear my voice one more time and to know that I loved him.

Maybe he could even be the one to save the family.

Dark clouds started to close in on my vision, and I reached for my phone. I wanted to speed dial Elio one last time. I wanted him to hear his voice one last time before I died.

Then Antonio was thrown off of me.