Chapter 575: It Is Such A Rush

The arms holding her down were rock solid. She tried to scream. Only a muffled, broken sound escaped.

Her lungs burned. The darkness behind her eyes began to spin, turning thick and violent, full of sparks that were the body’s final stupid protest. Her hands weakened. She could not breathe. God, she could not breathe.

No.

No, no, no.

Her mind began throwing images at her. Matteo asleep in his crib, tiny fist near his cheek. Marco smiling. Vee laughing with her. She thought of every precious thing she had tried to protect.

Her baby.

Her husband.

Her sister.

The pillow pressed harder. Her body arched. A terrible, animal sound lodged in her throat. The darkness deepened.

Her hands slipped from the attacker’s wrist. Her body began to betray her, the fight draining out of her limbs as her lungs emptied. A strange heaviness moved through her, peaceful in its horror. The last of her breath left her body in a silent, useless rush against the pillow.

Just as she was about to give in, the pillow was snatched away. Air slammed back into her. Valentina gulped it greedily, choking as she dragged breath after breath into her burning lungs. She rolled to the side, one hand clutching at her throat, the other gripping the sheets. Tears streamed from her eyes.

The room swam around her. She was in her bedroom. She blinked through tears, her vision adjusting slowly, until the shape standing over her became clear.

Luca.

He stood beside the bed, the pillow hanging from one hand. She pushed herself back against the headboard, one hand still pressed to her chest.

"Luca..." she rasped.

Luca lifted the pillow slightly, as if reminding her how close he had just allowed death to come. Valentina shook, dragging air into bruised lungs, staring up at him through tears. "Damn," Luca said, dragging in a breath like a man who had just come up from deep water. "It has been so long since I did that."

He gave a sharp little yelp, delighted, then stepped away from the bed. "Whoo." Luca shook out one hand, rolled his shoulders, and moved towards the sofa.

Then he sat as if he had come over for a drink.

"It is such a rush," he said, leaning back. "I missed that."

Val’s body was too busy remembering how to live. Air scraped through her throat. Tears blurred her vision. Her heart hammered so violently she thought it might split her ribs. "Are you crazy?" she finally found her voice.

"To feel the breath just drain," he said softly. "Expire slowly. That desperation..." He closed his eyes for a moment, as if reliving it.

Val’s stomach turned.

"People should not call me the devil," His eyes opened. "They should call me God, because I decide whether one should live or die."

Valentina swallowed, and pain flashed through her throat.

"I wanted you to see just how easy it will be for me to kill you. They’d never find your body."

"You wouldn’t dare," she whispered.

"Wouldn’t I?" He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. "I watched my brother, my friend, fall apart tonight because of your treachery."

"What did you do?" she rasped.

Luca reached behind him and pulled out his gun.

"You told him," she breathed with panic splitting through the pain, "You told him, you son of a bitch."

"You underestimated your own husband. He found out exactly the same way I did."

Valentina shook her head. "No."

"He set a trap for you. And you took the bait. And guess who asked him to dig?" Luca added.

"No," she whispered.

Luca’s eyes held hers.

"No... no... no..." Val cried, pushing herself away from the bed.

Vee.

God, it was all turning inside out.

"Uhn... uhn... uhn..." Luca raised the gun and aimed it at her. "You stay put until I finish talking."

Val stopped instantly. She was not foolish enough to test his finger. "I have to go," she said, voice shaking.

"To where? You have lost your husband, Val."

"No, you do not get to say that." Her hand flew to her mouth.

The sound that left her was small and wounded, almost childlike.

"You thought he was going to choose you over the famiglia," Luca said.

Val’s eyes filled again. "He loves me."

"What have you sacrificed for him?" he asked. "What?" he repeated. "Marco has bent for you. He stood by you."

Her face twisted.

"All you do is take and take and expect everyone to bend over backwards for you," he continued. "Marco must choose you. Veronica must forgive you. I must disappear. The famiglia must fall quiet. Voss must save you."

"I was trying to save them from you."

"From me?"

"You gave me no choice."

"And yet here you are, alive." He tilted his head. "Very generous of me, considering."

A bitter laugh escaped her. "You really think you are the victim here."

"I am the man standing between your stupidity and the people it will destroy."

"I am not the problem," Val ground out.

"Neither am I."

"Why won’t you just leave us alone?" Val demanded.

Tears ran freely down her face now.

"You stupid little thing," he said softly, "didn’t even realise you aimed a firing squad at your own husband the moment you started this. The famiglia does not take kindly to traitors. Marco goes down with you at the end of the day. The rules don’t care who you are."

"You are the rules."

"No, Valentina. That is your mistake. You assume I am the famiglia. You are wrong. I am powerful, yes. Terrifying, according to public opinion and a few well-informed corpses, yes. But I do not make all of the decisions. So even if you take me down," Luca said, "you still have a problem."

She wiped angrily at her face. "You are just trying to scare me. You are a manipulative dick."

"I am the best thing to ever happen to you and your sister," he said.