Blackmailed to the Altar (Caputo Crime Family #2)

15. Chapter Fifteen

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

R iccardo

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the quiet. Not the usual morning stillness, but a heavy, suffocating silence that clung to the air like a bad omen. I blinked, letting the dim light seep into my consciousness, and realized I wasn’t alone. Sebastian was still there, lingering at the edge of my mind, his presence simmering just beneath the surface. And he was furious. Anger unlike I’d ever felt came from Sebastian, and roused me from a deep sleep. When we were aware, I could see everything he saw. I would feel everything he felt.

I sat up, running a gloved hand through my hair, as I tried to shake off the fog of sleep. The room felt colder than usual. I could feel him. His anger radiated like a hot coal pressed against my skin. And right now, he was listening to my little firecracker break in front of him, over some insignificant serial killer. I would not stand by and allow Sebastian to fuck it up, so as soon as he walked out of the office, I shoved his subconscious into that inky black pit and took over.

My footsteps echoed through the villa as I made my way to the basement. I knew what had to be done, even if it meant swallowing a bit of my pride. Silas had been down there long enough, and his usefulness outweighed the satisfaction of keeping him locked up. I took the key out of the secret compartment in my wallet that Sebastian had never seen. I unlocked the padlock, tossing it aside, opened the door and descended the stairs, the scent of damp concrete and stale sweat hitting me like a wave.

Silas was slumped against the wall, his once neat suit now a wrinkled mess, his eyes hollow and bloodshot. I leaned against the wall, watching him with a mix of annoyance and indifference. “Rise and shine, little brother,” I drawled, my voice echoing in the cold space. “Time’s up.”

Silas slowly looked up, his eyes narrowing as he tried to gauge whether I was here to torment him further, or let him go. I watched the flicker of hope and resentment on his face. “Are you here to gloat? Or have you finally come to your senses, fratello?”

I ignored his dramatics. “Silas, get up here, your woman is in danger.” I walked back out and waited.

It wasn’t long after that he dragged himself up. I pointed to the guest room off the side of the kitchen.

“Shower. You stink.” His grimy clothes were soiled, and he sluggishly made his way to the bathroom without a word. “Don’t let the men see you like this.”

I made a plate of leftovers and some water. He wouldn’t be able to eat it all, but a few bites would perk him right up. An hour later, Silas wobbled on shaky legs to the table, and sat in front of me.

His wet hair dripped, and he had a beard growing, which made him look a bit unhinged. Perfect. He looked at the food, but didn’t move to take a bite. I placed a straw in his water cup.

I wasn’t sure how he wasn’t more dehydrated. Maybe he drank his piss down there. I didn’t know, and I didn’t care. Silas ate a bit of applesauce on his spoon, and I watched as he slowly swallowed.

He breathed out a sigh of relief. “What happened?” His voice cracked from the use.

“Your girl’s not as safe as we thought. Apparently, her good old uncle is getting out, and since he’s obsessed with your woman, I figured it didn’t matter if she was in another country. He could come for her. We need to act fast before he pays her a visit.”

Silas nodded slowly, tearing off the tiniest bit of bacon before placing it on his tongue and savoring the flavor. “Why would they let him out after all the evidence they had on him?”

I ducked my head. “Well, that’s kind of my fault.”

Silas glared at me. “Explain.”

I stabbed the knife on the table between his fingers and snarled, “Need I remind you that you aren’t in charge. You don’t make demands of me, little brother.”

Silas nodded, and I let go of the knife. I wasn’t afraid that he was going to stab me. I almost hoped he tried. It’d been a long time since I put Silas in his place.

I fixed my suit jacket and crossed my legs. “Now, apparently the nice little psychiatrist I kidnapped put in a good word for your dear old uncle-in-law.”

“What?” Silas tried to rise, but his legs wouldn’t hold him.

“Yes, I know. She’s sorry. You need to recover your strength, so we can kill that motherfucker before he tries to come for your wife.”

Silas was nodding, trying to eat more food. “He will come for her. He’s so sick and twisted in the head. Do you think she had therapy sessions with him?”

I nodded. “There’s no doubt in my mind.”

“We’ll start by getting into his home. He’s got a place in the States, some quiet neighborhood where he thinks no one will bother him. We’ll get what we need there, make sure he knows Eden’s off-limits.”

We started to plan over breakfast, until Silas was too exhausted to go on. I called our family doctor, and cousin, Antonio. I helped Silas into one of the guest rooms on the bottom floor. I wasn’t sure he could walk up steps.

Antonio arrived and looked over my little brother. I waited in the hall. When my cousin came out, he was drying his hands on a cloth towel.

“It should take a few days, but he will recover in no time. I’ve got him on antibiotics and an IV drip. I also splinted his left wrist, which was broken from the fall down the stairs.”

I nodded, unsurprised by Silas’ injuries. “Anything else broken?”

Antonio shook his head. “Thankfully, everything else was bruised. I am concerned that he may have a concussion. There’s a large contusion on the back of his head.”

I shrugged. “Maybe he fell backwards at some point. I didn’t make it a point to check on him during his time down there.”

Antonio said no more on that matter. He knew I was in charge. “I’ll check Eden while I’m here. Walk with me?”

I didn’t want to deal with Silas’ obsession, but I couldn’t deny my cousin. He was the baby of the family and wicked smart. That’s why he went to medical school. But I tainted that, by forcing him into the family business.

At least that’s what he said to me all those years ago.

Now, he only answered me if there was an emergency, and we were no longer as close as we used to be. I held back a sigh. Sebastian’s emotions were leaking into me again. His softness for family was a travesty.

If he could let go of them all, he would be the most powerful man in the world.

“When was the last time you had a checkup?” Antonio looked away from me.

I shrugged. “I’ve been busy.”

Antonio scoffed. “That’s no excuse, cugino .”

My shoulders slumped. It’d been a long time since Antonio recognized us as kin. Him calling me cousin was a relief. Maybe he was letting go of his resentment toward me, for forcing him into the business at such a young age.

But war never cared much about how old someone was.

We made it the rest of the way in silence. As we entered the wing, I could hear Eden singing. It brought back nostalgic memories. A time where Sebastian was happy, and didn’t think of war or violence.

Antonio led the way, having been here plenty of times, taking care of the famiglia.

Eden looked up in surprise at the interruption. “Oh, I didn’t hear you all come in.” She flushed, embarrassed at being caught singing.

“I’ve come to look you and the baby over, since I was already here for business. Do you have a second?” Antonio asked.

I held back a scoff. The old Antonio would’ve shoved Eden onto his table, strapped her down, and done whatever he wanted to do with her body. But when a young girl died under anesthesia, I came to clean up the mess, and roped Antonio into the family business for good.

At least the girls were all over the age of consent. That was probably the only courtesy he gave them.

Antonio motioned to the door, and I went to leave, when Nonna came bustling in.

“Tony!” My Nonna cut off the sing-songy way she said his name, and threw her arms around my cousin. “It’s been so long.” She kissed both his cheeks in exuberance.

Then she looked around my cousin, and noticed me standing by the bedroom door. She looked me up and down, the warmth in her gaze disappearing. “Riccardo,” my Nonna said tonelessly.

Nonna’s gaze lingered on me, heavy with unspoken words. She knew. She always knew. And it was only a matter of time before everyone else did, too. I had done a damn good job of keeping my presence under wraps, but the cracks were starting to show. Nonna’s knowing look made it clear that she was fully aware of my struggles; the split in my mind, the war I was fighting just to stay in control, but she never said it out loud. Not in front of the men. Even though she should love both of us, because I was the same as Sebastian, she hated me down to my core.

“Don’t you mean, Sebastian, nonna?” Antonio laughed, like my grandmother was going senile.

She never took her eyes off mine. “No, I say exactly what I mean, Tony.”

I backed away, knowing it wasn’t the time to face her. “I’ve got some business to attend to.”

“Run away, boy, that’s what you’re good at,” she hissed at me before cackling loudly. “You can’t run forever, bambino.”

I left the room as Antonio tried to calm Nonna down. My heart was racing. She shouldn’t affect me like this. I’d thrown away any affection toward my family long ago.

I was running out of time. The walls were closing in, and every day it was getting harder to keep the two sides of me separate. Sebastian’s anger, my violence; it was all bleeding together, threatening to consume us both. And if Nonna could see it, how long before the others did, too? Before they realized their leader was teetering on the edge of madness, clinging to a self-diagnosis that even I wasn’t sure how to fix?

I shoved the thoughts away, focusing on the task at hand. We had a plan to execute, and Eden’s life depended on it. Whatever was happening inside my head could wait. For now, I had a job to do, and the world didn’t stop just because I was losing my mind.

Nonna never let me forget that I was a monster, and I would never see eye to eye with the crotchety old woman. She wasn’t my grandma, that was for certain.