Twenty Eight

Damian

I stand in my office doorway like an idiot, staring at the elevators. She initiated contact, and she kissed me. Fuck yes! Hopefully, that is a good sign. I meant every word I said. I love her more than life itself, and would give her the world.

I snap out of my daze and head down to the basement to meet some of my men—my father and father-in-law. I know he told Sofia he was heading home, which he is, so it's not a lie, really, he just has some business to attend to with us first, before he can head back to Victoria, who is currently with a guard at the local hospital.

Stefano called early this morning to inform me that she attempted suicide last night.

Thankfully, he managed to get her to the hospital to have her stomach pumped before she succeeded. He's struggling with the guilt of not noticing how bad she had gotten over the years. Apparently, he kicked his mistress out of the hotel and his life, and now he gets to take out his anger and get revenge on the people who drugged him and made him watch his niece, who, granted, is a whore, get tongue fucked by a woman. He obviously thought it was a horrible nightmare, either that or he blocked it out, for which I can't really blame him. Candice and her father are in a world of shit.

Once I got to the basement, two of my men let me into the soundproof room we built to torture people. My father chained Konstantin, his brigadier—the Russian name for a capo—to the ceiling, arms high above his head, while his daughter is tied to a chair, sobbing. When they hear the door open, all eyes turn to me, and I smile. Candice starts crying louder, the wails were sounds of relief, as if I was there to save her ass.

"Damian, baby, I knew you would come and get me. Your father and Stefano made a mistake taking me; you love me and our unborn baby."

All men turn to face me. My father is scowling at me, Stefano looks ready to kill me, and Konstantin is smirking at me. I roll my eyes hard. Fucking hell.

"I haven't fucking gone near that whore in three years—two days before my wedding, to be exact. Even then, all my cum was in her mouth! And before that, I hadn't even fucked her pussy in years after she tried baby trapping me the first time. So get those looks off your fucking faces," I growled. My father nods while Stefano narrows his eyes, clearly regretting the day he told me to take mistresses, thinking I wouldn't do it. Yeah, I'm a fucking idiot. We've already established that. Konstantin scowls at me while Candice starts sobbing louder.

Fuck sake, can we gag her?

"Well, isn't this a party?" We all turn to the door to see Sergi standing there, arms across his chest, smirking. I tense, and he notices, then walks into the room as the door shuts behind him.

"Did you know, Damian, that Mila can sing seven nursery rhymes in Italian and Russian? I swear, that girl is fucking impressive. I thought I managed to get the best uncle role, until your brother came back to the house with a fucking pony pulling in behind him. The dick is fucking bribing her." I melt and smile a little, my father and Stefano tense, knowing they can't meet her yet.

Then, what he just said hits me. "What the fuck do you mean, a pony? He did not get her a fucking pony. They only left an hour ago, so how the fuck did he get her one so fast?"

"Oh yeah. It’s pure white. She thought it was a unicorn. She named her Printsessa, and everything. There are men currently building a stable for her. I think he was arranging it when you traveled back from Texas. I honestly thought Sofia was going to kill Al," he says with a smirk.

I hang my head and mumble, "I wanted to get her a pony first; she's my fucking kid." At that, Candice screeches out, obviously not believing Sofia earlier.

"No, you didn't have a kid with her! I swear, I'm going to fucking kill that bitch and her brat."

I see red and stalk over to her, grabbing her face hard. "Don't threaten my fucking family, bitch." She pales while her father shouts at me to leave her alone. Sergi whistles, causing us to all look at him.

"Your wife asks one thing."

I raise a brow.

"Make the bitch hurt." Both brows go high while Stefano chuckles, clearly liking this new side of his daughter, and my father shakes his head with a smile. I turn around and smirk at Candice.

"Well, normally I don't like hurting women, but you heard him, what my wife wants, she gets," I say, smirking. She screeches again when I go to her with a blow torch. I can hear her father shouting to leave her alone, begging us. What sort of brigadier begs like a pussy?

After an hour of constantly burning her flesh, the room stinks. She's passed out, and her breathing is shallow. Konstantin is crying. I get my pistol and fire one shot in between her eyes. She was a shitty lay, too.

"That's what you call love for your wife, brother." Sergi laughs, and I smirk at him, then look at Konstantin.

He opens his mouth and says, "You’re dead, Damian, fucking dead."

I laugh, then look at my father and Stefano, and announce, "He's all yours." I smile, then stand back against the wall with Sergi. I look at him and ask, as if I hadn't burned a woman to death, "A fucking pony, really?"

He bursts out laughing and nods.

"Fucking, Alexandr," I grumble.

He repeats, "Fucking, Alexandr." I shake my head, then watch the show.

"You thought you could get your daughter to drug me, let me watch my fucking bitch of a niece for that slut, and not have any repercussions. You thought you could try and take over my family?" With each question he asks, he stabs Konstantin in the stomach, deep enough for it to hurt but not deep enough to kill him. I love watching Stefano and my father play.

My father goes toward him with the blow torch and says, "Fifteen years, that’s how long you have served as my brigadier and right-hand man. I even turned a blind eye when you tried to get your daughter to chase after my son, because I knew he'd never fall for it."

What the fuck, Dad? I raise both my brows at him, and he just fucking shrugs at me.

Seriously?

"You had to make your own mistakes, son. Now you're learning from them."

The dick turns back to his victim. "But you are a traitor, going behind my back, going after what is rightfully my son's to take, so now you must pay. Pity really, shame your greed took over; it's gotten your daughter tortured to death, and now you. Good thing your wife ran away with a soldier last week." My father mocks Konstantin, making the man go feral and struggle against the chains. My father turns the blow torch on and places it on Konstantin’s Bratva tattoo. The man screams as the flesh burns. Over the next two hours, they cut off his flesh, his fingers, and his tongue, before they finally slice his throat. By the time they're done, they're covered in blood.

Sergi breaks the ice, pouting. "I didn't even get to have any fun." We all chuckle at him, then head to the showers in the next room, where we’ll burn our clothes in the attached incinerators. The best thing about the torture chambers is that they set themselves on fire once they're done and burn the bodies inside. Once they're ash, the sprinkler system comes on, and a mix of bleach and soap rains down, cleaning the room. The best fucking invention we ever came up with!

Once showered and dressed, my father heads home to my mother. Stefano returns to the hospital to see if his wife will forgive him. Still, he asks me not to tell Sofia about her mother just yet. Sergi and I head to my house, where I'm hoping my wife is still up. I look at my watch. 10:30 PM. Fuck, the torture took longer than I thought it would.

Twenty minutes later, we're pulling up to the front door. We get out of the car and head in. Sergi says good night, then heads to his room on the second floor. I couldn't buy a house without room for him and my brother. They both have rooms on the second floor until they decide to get married and move into their own homes. Alexandr will marry first; he's in an arranged marriage already, though he keeps saying he'll still have a room here because his future bride will love my girls. The third room is ready for Mila for when she's a bit older, and hopefully, if I have my way, the room across from ours will be a nursery for our next child. I just have to convince my wife to give us another chance. I head deeper into the house and notice the dining room lights on. I head that way, expecting my brother, but instead, I find my beautiful wife. She's in my t-shirt she clearly stole from our closet, making me smile.

I go over to her and sit down at the other end of the table, waiting to see what she will say. Finally, after what seems like hours, when it is only a few minutes, she looks at me and speaks.

"Here's what's going to happen, and you are not going to complain, especially when I have just turned my whole life upside down for you when you don't deserve it."

I nod and let her continue because she's right; she didn't have to agree to come back with me, but she did, and I'm grateful because I really didn't want to have to drug her.

"I'm going to stay with Mila in her room."

I go to interrupt because I want her with me, but she lifts her hand to stop me. Fuck, why do I find that a turn-on? My dick’s finally waking up after three years of not playing ball because all I've wanted is my wife, and I can't even do anything about it.

"For the next two months, we will get to know each other again; we will go to counseling, and if I'm not happy and I feel like I can't trust you, you are to let me go. I'm here trying for Mila, you, and us, even though you don't deserve it. You have been the only person I have ever loved, so I am willing to try because I am bound to you. I have been since I was eight years old. But you must keep your word and let me go if I feel we won't make it. It doesn't matter that you are my heart, it doesn't matter that you are all I've ever known, I won't be in a faithless and unhappy marriage. I won't go down a spiral like my mother, and bring my daughter down as she did." I want to reject her conditions outright. I want to tie her to our bed and never let her out of my sight, but I nod.

"I'm willing to do everything I can so I don't lose you, malyshka, you and our daughter. You are my whole world, the reason I breathe. I promise I'll make up for everything I put you through."

She nods. "You can't make up for all the hurt, Damian, all you can do is improve."

She stands, walks over to me, places a peck on my lips, and then states, "I'm heading to bed. Our first counseling session is tomorrow." She heads upstairs, leaving me sitting here dumbfounded and staring after her.

Fuck.