NICK

After dreaming of makinglove to Kinsley for years, I see the scar and instantly bells start going off in my head. The conversation Norah and I had back in college stuck out. She threatened to harm women who flirted with me and those I fucked. Her exact words, "I'll cut them open."

She had believed the women would threaten her position on the Pitucco throne. I had ordered her to stand down. Did she listen?

Sitting on the sofa in my office, my head hangs low as I twist my fingers while I watch Kinsley and Natalia talk in the research lab. They're probably talking about the Donna position. It's good Kinsley's adjusting to her role.

Kinsley steps in front of Natalia and lifts her dress, revealing the scar. The same one she had tried hiding from me. I hit the volume button. Yes, I'm eavesdropping.

My mind is racing as I listen to my sister tell Kinsley how she found her on the yacht covered in semen. No, no, that couldn't be what she said. Fists clenched; I sit here, stunned.

Natalia paid Kinsley's hospital bill and a full ride to Yale.

Torrance gave the order for Norah to kill Kinsley. I'll plan out his death. I don't give a fuck that he's untouchable. I had sat back, following my father's orders not to kill Torrance because he had planned to have his daughter kill me. Since she died. Dad said handle business.

I did.

"Nick wasn't supposed to contact you ever again. That was the agreement my father and Torrance agreed upon. We're on high alert. The second Torrance finds out Nick married you, he will place a hit on you," Natalia tells her.

I tap the intercom button labeled lab. "I've heard enough. Both of you in my office now," I roar.

My once perfectly styled hair stands on end. Stepping to the bar, I pour whiskey to the rim and sip.

As my wife and sister enter the room, I glare at them. "Have a seat."

I pace the room. Kinsley's eyes are glued to the carpet.

Moving to where she sits, I place my index finger under her chin. "Mrs. Pitucco, hold your head high."

"Nick...I..."

"You can, Kinsley."

"So Natalia, you followed Norah because she and her father were plotting to kill me."

I'm not really asking a question. I'm more so lining up the facts. "You witnessed Kinsley being carried onto a yacht. By the time you got to Kinsley." I turn away and inhale. I'm ready to explode. I'm fucking holding on by a thread.

"I can't believe she went after Kinsley after I warned her not to harm anyone." I shake my head.

I glance at Natalia. "How did she find out about Kinsley?"

"She blackmailed Axe into telling her you two were meeting."

"And you told me he was working with the Aiellos', so of course I fucking killed him. He had already disobeyed a direct order by showing up at the lake house."

Kinsley arches a brow. She believes if he hadn't come to the lake house, she wouldn't have learned I was in the mafia. It was impossible to leave her alone. She should've been mine.

"Good, that traitor Axe deserved to die," I snarl before sipping the amber liquid.

"Thanks again, Natalia, for killing Norah. That plastic bitch needed to go up in a ball of flames."

Gripping the whiskey glass so tightly that my knuckles turn white, I press it against my forehead in a desperate attempt to cool the inferno of rage inside me. My stomach churns with dread as I steel myself to ask Kinsley the next question.

I sit across from Kinsley and lock eyes with her. "Was there semen on your body?"

Her body convulses with uncontrollable tremors, and she nods, tears streaming down her face. "Yes...six of them...they raped me."

My sister isn"t going anywhere. She stays, she listens, and together we"ll forge a plan. Those who hurt Kinsley will die.

Six men savagely raped my Kinsley, treating her like trash, under Norah's sick orders.

Kinsley swallows hard and meets my gaze. "The doctor said, due to the amount of blood loss, they couldn't save our...baby." Tears cascade down her cheeks.

Her words steal the breath from my lungs. My rage turns into gut-wrenching grief. Nothing could have prepared me for what Kinsley reveals.

"What?" I bellow, leaping from the chair and hurling the whiskey glass across the room. It shatters into a thousand shards, skittering down the wall and clattering to the floor.

I stumble back behind my desk, gripping onto the edge for support as I swing my oversized leather office chair out the window in a fit of blind fury. Broken glass explodes outward, raining down to the ground. "Fuck!" I roar, collapsing to my knees, feeling completely helpless and filled with rage all at once.

Kinsley steps beside me and wraps her arms around my head. I bury my face in her stomach.

"She killed our baby," I croak.

"This is what my life did to you. Brought you so much hurt and pain," I admit.

"Yes," she murmurs.

"Nick," Ezra yells from the other side of the desk.

I meet his gaze.

Chest heaving, he glares at me with worry etched on his face, gripping his Glock at his side. "The bodyguards patrolling the grounds said a chair was thrown from the window. They're on high alert."

He glances around the room. "What happened?" he asks.

I stand to my feet and pull Kinsley into my chest. "I found out some horrible information. Tell the men everyone is safe."

He taps his earbud and returns order to the grounds.

Now we'll plan to track down the men who raped my wife.

"Ezra, please take a seat," I say, motioning towards a nearby chair as I assist Kinsley to the sofa.

I return to my seat across from Kinsley.

I furrow my brow. "Eleven years ago, Norah had told six men to rape Kinsley."

"She specifically asked Josh to organize the assault. He recruited his fraternity brothers to carry out her sick command," Kinsley explains.

Ezra"s eyebrows shoot up and he clenches his fist over his mouth. "What the hell?"

"I am so sorry, Kinsley," Ezra says with sincerity in his voice.

"Would anyone like a drink?" Natalia offers as she walks over to the bar.

"I"ll have a vodka cranberry," Kinsley responds.

"Whiskey for Ezra and me," I reply.

"We need to find Josh and the other men involved." I run my fingers through my hair.

"All of them were wearing masks except for Josh. It was hard for me to identify them," Kinsley sighs. "Luckily, my friend Faye is wealthy and hired a private investigator to track Josh down."

Natalia hands out the drinks.

Kinsley takes a large gulp from her glass and gives me a knowing look.

"And?" I prod, eager for the answer.

"My rapist parents helped him escape. I waited for Josh in his cabin and confronted him. He attempted to shoot me. He didn't know I removed the bullets from his gun." She smiles like she's reminiscing on a pleasant memory.

"To make a long story short, he"s dead now. I made sure his body will never be found," she says nonchalantly.

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. "Did you hire a hit man?"

Kinsley chuckles. "No, my friends and I took matters into our own hands. We hunted him down with nail guns. Then I cut off his limbs and dissolved his body in acid. Like I said, He"ll never be found." She smiles sweetly.

She mentioned earlier feeling a switch flip during the rape and wanting revenge. But I had no idea she actually went through with it.

The smile on her face is twisted and disturbing. This is the new Kinsley. No do-gooder insight.

"Then you certainly got rid of him. I still want to know where the barrels are being stored. Ezra has a man who can handle that," I confirm.

"Ezra, you'll need to get men to question the fraternity president. I want the names of those men," I demand.

Ezra nods.

Natalia interrupts before I can continue. "Actually, my guard Mooch was able to retrieve footage from the night of the attack and eventually identified the men involved. You see, they had gone underground with the help of their rich daddies like Josh. Mooch and my other guard Beauvo, found the men."

Kinsley"s eyes widen as she looks at Natalia. "Did you kill them?"

"No," she smirks. "But I've punished them for ten years."

I sip my whiskey. "Where are they?"

"They're Raulo's bitches in a maximum-security prison." Natalia brings her whiskey to her lips.

"They confessed?" Kinsley asks eagerly.

"They did confess to me after the first time Raulo had his way with them. They thought I'd end the torture." A dark chuckle rumbles in my sister's chest.

"Their confession only fueled my anger," Natalia says.

"They"re actually at the prison as a favor to me. There"s a section reserved for ghost inmates who need special "attention." People who have wronged the Pituccos end up in my special wing of the prison. Raulo and his cellmates have been having their way with your rapists on a regular basis. I only looked at your medical records to find out about the rape. And when I saw the extent of the anal tearing, I felt it was only right that they experience some sort of payback themselves."

Kinsley runs to Natalia and hugs her tightly. "Thank you."

"It"s the least I could do," Natalia whispers.

"You killed Norah, paid for my surgery, and my education. You also made sure I was safe, and now this. You"re a badass, Natalia," Kinsley says with admiration.

"Kinsley, I"m just grateful that I found you," Natalia sighs.