Chapter 10

DAMIEN

I was in a nightmare again. The same one I had for all these years. The smoke had gotten into my lungs and I could barely breathe as I had woken up to the screams of my little sister Guilia. The entire house was filled with smoke and even as I pulled the edge of my t-shirt over my head, I still couldn't breathe.

My chest grew heavy from all the inhalation and I started choking as I navigated my way out into the narrow hallway. We stayed in a tiny house near the markets. The house was the best a poor person could afford and it wasn't hard to find my sister's room. The door was jammed, but I kicked it open with my foot and when I did, blazing flames licked the doorframe. The entire room was engulfed in hot flames.

"Guilia!" I screamed as I watched one of her big pink teddy bears fall over into the raging flames. "Guilia!"

"Damien!" I recognized my mother's voice from outside the house.

I glance back into Guilia's room one last time, my eyes desperately searching for my little sister, but I couldn't see anything.

Panic spread throughout my body as I moved through the house. The front door was already open and when I stepped out into the cobbled street, I immediately knew something was wrong. A group of men, maybe twenty of them, stood in a circle with mammá and Papa on their knees in the middle Guilia was nowhere to be seen.

A man was standing behind my parents. He was tall and when he glanced at me, the cold, blackness in his eyes reminded me of the Devil. I knew this man. Papá worked for him on occasions. I'd seen him before. But his name wasn't coming to mind, because I stood there still, my body rigid with fear.

"You know what I do to thieves?" the man asked me as he walked over to where I stood.

Without warning, he grabbed me by my shoulders and dug his fingers into my skin as he held me close.

"I kill them. And do you know why? Because I'm Carlo Trovato and no one steals from me and my family. You never forget that name!"

My eyes flew open and I sat up, weak light filtered into the bedroom. It was just the nightmare again. I choked out a cough as if I was still trapped in that dream world, inhaling the smoke, and preparing to watch my parents die all over again.

Carlo Trovato. He got one thing right. I never fucking forgot his name. It was burned into my mind, branded on me forever. I remembered everything from the helpless look on my parent's faces, moments before they were killed to his empty black eyes.

Turning around, I was face to face with her.

Magdalena. She slept peacefully. Of course, she would, nothing could haunt her dreams, because she was sheltered from the world. I didn't blame her for that, because that was her lifestyle before she married me. We were worlds apart from each other. I'd let myself give in to her earlier when she wet the towel and tried to clean the blood. The concern in her eyes for me made me see her differently for a second.

And then she kissed me. Her lips were warm and soft and she tasted as sweet as I thought she would. When she moaned, my cock hardened with need and I wanted to take her then and bury myself inside of her and then we would both get what we needed, craved.

I haven't been with a woman in months. When revenge was all you could think about, there was no time left for anything else.

I wanted to wrap my arms around her narrow waist, I wanted to take off that dress of hers and taste the rest of her. A part of me wanted to watch as her body surrendered to my lips and touch. If kissing her felt so good, I doubted I would be dissatisfied with the rest of her.

But I couldn't have her.

My heart and mind were both fighting a war that conflicted with me. I couldn't have distractions and I also couldn't allow myself to cave into temptation when it came to her, because this was not what I wanted. I thought I would be stronger than this and more resilient.

Magdalena breathed in softly beside me. Her dark locks had fallen into her face, so I carefully reached out and locked my fingers around her soft, silky hair, before moving it away from her face as gently as I could.

Her full, rosy lips parted and she sighed, before moving closer to where I was. She was beautiful and innocent. Just like I was innocent once. The fact that her father was involved in the demise of my parents while forcing me to watch, was something that would always be inside my head.

Pushing the covers off my body, I got up from the bed and walked over to the window that overlooked the gardens. There was silence and peace. That's how I wanted to live for the rest of my life once I was done with my revenge plan.

I took a quick shower and then got dressed in a long-sleeve black t-shirt and tanned pants, my gun in the waistband, before heading downstairs. The Trovatos had a shipment coming in a few days and I needed to get to it first before them. So I was going to meet with one of the guys Rob said was sure to give the info I needed.

As I headed into the kitchen, I found Isabelle and Leonardo, one of my men that I'd ordered to go with Magdalena wherever she went, chatting and from the way Isabelle was giggling, there was no doubting that Leo was flirting.

When they both saw me, they both quickly drifted apart. Isabelle left the kitchen and I grabbed a dark brown mug, before pouring some coffee for myself.

"Boss, your wife is a feisty little one," Leo told me.

I took a sip of the hot coffee. "Why? What did she do?"

"She said she'd cut my fingers off one by one," Leo said.

I smiled at this, almost choking on my next mouthful of coffee, before raising my eyebrows at the big man before me. "And you are scared of her?"

Leo stood up straighter and cleared his throat. "No. I was just saying."

I nodded as if I believed him and then gulped down the rest of my coffee. "And Leo, don't fuck my cook. It makes things complicated."

Before he could reply, I discarded my mug on the countertop and left through the back door.

My phone buzzed as I got in my car, so I pulled it out and saw Rob's caller ID flash across my screen.

I answered the phone as I started the car, revving the engine as I pulled out of the drive.

"Tell me," I said.

"I've arranged for him to meet with you at Francesca's Club," Rob said. "He wouldn't meet with us at your place and wanted witnesses in case anything happened."

I could hear the sarcasm in his voice so I chuckled, as I pulled out on the quiet road.

"Testa di cazzo!" I swore as I pressed on the accelerator. "I'll kill him anyway whether there's witnesses or no witnesses.

"I'll meet you there," Rob said.

I cut the call and threw my phone into the passenger seat. If I didn't get what I wanted today, I knew I was going to lose my sanity.