That temper of yours is going to get you into trouble one day.” Benny tapped him on the cheek before heading for the door. I followed, letting my eyes run over each of the guys sitting at the table. They were obviously regulars, but I couldn’t decide if they were Gino’s guys or just indifferent patrons.
Felix and Dimitri exited the bar first, with me and Benny coming up behind. I’d just reached the door, when I heard Gino’s raised voice. A cry pierced the air followed by a loud grunt and more muffled cries. I glanced back, but Benny’s large hand landed on my shoulder.
“Leave it be, Nicco. We got what we came for.”
But I saw red when I heard another faint whimper. Shrugging off Benny, I turned around and stormed through the bar. I came face to face with one of the guys as he leaped up. “I wouldn’t go back there if I were you.”
My hand went inside my jacket, flashing him the butt of my pistol. “You going to stop me?”
“Have at him, man.” He held up his hands and stepped aside.
I ignored Benny’s calls, fueled by nothing but anger and rage. She was still crying, her quiet sobs bleeding into me, turning my blood to molten lava.
“Get your fucking hands off her,” I growled as I burst through the curtain. It was a small office and right there against the desk, Gino had his woman cowering, a bruise already forming around her eye.
“What the fuck?” he spat. “You don’t get to come in here and tell me how to handle my shit.”
“Apologize, now.”
“Vaffanculo!”
I didn’t give him another chance. I descended on him in a blur of fists and fury, relishing the crunch of my knuckles against his cheek, the soft tissue of his throat. He went down like a sack of bricks, blood trickling from his eye, grunts of pain spilling from his dirty fucking mouth. But I didn’t stop… I couldn’t.
“Don’t hurt him, please...” The woman cried and I wanted to shake some goddamn sense into her. But I knew how it went. I knew how these women made excuses for their boyfriends and husbands. How they became so blinded to the cycle of abuse that they only ever had a list of excuses.
My chest heaved as I crouched down, grabbing him by his collar and yanking him forward. “Touch her again and next time it won’t be my fists you have to worry about.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Spittle sprayed into the air as he tried to compose himself.
“Your worst fucking nightmare.”
“Niccolò,” Benny’s voice cut through the tension. “We need to go.”
“N- Niccolò?” The guy stuttered, confusion clouding his eyes. But then they grew wide as realization dawned. “Marchetti? Niccolò Marchetti?”
I didn’t answer.
Shoving him hard, I stood up and smoothed down my jacket. “You should find a guy who treats you right,” I said to the woman who was still sniffling.
“I- I love him.”
Benny caught my eye and flicked his head to the main bar. I ducked out of there and walked out of the place as if I hadn’t just lost my cool.
“What the fuck was that?” Benny asked the second we hit the sidewalk.
“Just letting off some steam.”
“Jesus, Nic, you’re supposed to be laying low.”
“He going to be a problem?” I flicked my head to the dingy bar.
“Nah, I’ll handle it. But maybe you should stay at the house. You’re a fucking liability.”
He wasn’t wrong. But I’d heard that woman’s cries and all I heard was my mom and father arguing, his raised voice, her soft whimpers. All I’d seen was Arianne’s broken and bruised body all over again. And then Alessia. My sweet, innocent sister with a faceless man, a man leveraging his power over her.
“It triggered some stuff,” I confessed.
“You don’t say.” He clapped me on the back. “For a second there, I was worried we’d be adding clean up to our daily roster.”
“It’s been a long time coming if you ask me,” Felix added. “Gino is a real piece of work. It isn’t the first time I’ve seen Jenny black and blue and it probably won’t be the last.”
“You’re right,” I said around a grimace. “I probably shouldn’t come around here again.”
Chapter 4
Arianne
My hands shook as I finished putting the final touches to my hair. Nora had helped me style it off my face in messy bun, with stray waves framing my face. It was relaxed yet elegant.