Read My Masters' Nightmare, Season 1 / Episode 14 for Free Online Page B

attention returning to me. “You may ride
in the front passenger seat.”
    I let go of the young soldier
and shoved him towards his partner, then got into the front
passenger seat. The two soldiers climbed into the car after me, the
fat one taking the wheel, his hands shaking. I shook my head in
disgust, thinking this was what had become of the Donatelli famiglia. Even worse, I was
going to die surrounded by these rejects.
    Within seconds, we were
heading towards our destination. I closed my eyes, certain I would
be seeing Alberto in Hell soon.
    ***
    The soldier turned into a driveway and
drove down the bumpy lane, the car ride short. A large barn stood
amongst a green field with a few cars hiding behind it. The soldier
parked beside them. He asked me politely to get out, the man
rightly showing me respect.
    I climbed out and waited for
instructions, not knowing what to do, other than be a lamb to the
slaughter.
    “ My Don’s waiting for you inside
the barn,” the fat soldier said.
    “ I will pay you both two million
if you help me,” I said, upping what I’d offered during the car
ride.
    “ Again, we wouldn’t live long
enough to enjoy the money.”
    “ The offer still stands, and I’m good for my
word, so if you change your mind, make sure you take out Christo
when he least expects it.”
    “ Not
happening.”
    “ You have no
balls.”
    “ More like I want to keep
them.”
    Frustrated, I exhaled
loudly . “So,
what am I walking into?”
    “ Death, but I think you
already know that.”
    I grimaced. “Then, let’s get this started.”
I headed around the barn, entering through the large door. I
stopped in my tracks, horrified by what I saw. Rita was hanging
from a rope, her arms stretched tight. She was naked, while her
face was swollen and bloodied. She looked either dead or
unconscious, my woman beaten to a pulp. I ran for her.
    “ Frano!” Christo shouted.
“Don’t touch her!”
    I came to a sudden stop in front of Rita,
my head whipping to the side. Christo was sitting in a chair next
to the Rosso Don and his eldest son, the men glaring at
me.
    “ Fuck you!” I yelled. I turned
back to Rita, feeling for her pulse, beyond relieved when I found
one.
    “ Get your hands off my schiava !” Christo shouted.
    I spun around. “This is my woman. My
woman! How dare you beat her!”
    He pushed out of his chair. He was a
shadow of his former self, almost unrecognizable, only his pale
blue eyes unchanged. Unlike his twin, he was deadly thin, a
skeleton waiting to be buried, the man clearly sick.
    “ The arrogant troia asked for it,” he
said. “She head-butted me and spat in my face. She’s lucky to be
alive.” Holding a gun, he walked towards me, stopping a few feet
away. “If anything, she was probably trying to get me to kill her,
so I didn’t have any leverage over you. I know how people’s minds
work, though she doesn’t know mine, because no matter what, you’re
not getting out of this alive.”
    “ Then set her free now. I’m
here; you must abide by your word.”
    “ No, I want her to watch you
die. Through you, I will break her. After that, I’ll leave her to
mourn over your dead body.”
    Don Rosso cut in, “What’s left of
it.”
    My glare shifted to him. The grizzled
old Don was sitting next to his oaf of a son, glaring at me. He was
in his sixties, although he looked older, the man having lived a
hard life.
    “ Looks like the Landi were right
about your famiglia .” I spat on the ground. “Traitors!”
    Don Rosso pushed to his feet with his
cane, which he needed after having a recent hip replacement. “I
will enjoy your death. I want you to suffer for what you did to my
daughter.”
    “ I did nothing to
her .”
    “ Liar! You drove her to her
death.”
    I sneered at him. “No, you and my father
did by forcing me into marrying her.”
    “ You promised to love and protect
her.”
    “ I never said that. I promised
to marry her and provide a child—that’s all. It wasn’t