“Do you disapprove, little brother?”
“Are these the dogs who massacred Gia?”
“Yes-”
“You’re certain,” Liam bit out before Emilio completed the confirmation.
Emilio’s handsome face was a hard mask. “I have no doubt,” he said.
Liam felt the words quell something inside him. A crate to one side of the torture area, carried an array of guns, knives and other killing tools. He selected a Beretta, checked the magazine and approached one of the slowly dying men.
“Seeing this is one thing, Liam. Being part of it changes a man,” Emilio cautioned.
Liam cocked the weapon he held. “If there’s to be any hope for the rest of us, someone has to be part of it.” With those words, he aimed the gun barrel squarely between the man’s eyes and fired.
~20~
Two Days Later...
Athena left the doorway of the apartment’s single bedroom. Humphrey and Aaron were still asleep on the big bed they all shared. She would need to make new arrangements soon. She was about to be a mother of three, after all.
She pressed both hands to her still non-existent waistline and thought of her husband. “I’ll do right by our boys,” she vowed in the silent room. Liam Tesano was still the best man she knew. She would raise their sons to be just as great. They would be great men and marry women of worth. She would see to it.
“Liam”, his name was a caress on her tongue then. “Forgive me,” she whispered.
Her plea was answered by a vicious knock at the door. Athena shrieked in reaction and quickly clapped both hands over her mouth while praying the boys hadn’t awakened. Peering back into the room, she saw they continued to sleep peacefully.
There was another echoing knock. Athena hurried down the short hall to the door in the cramped living room. With the determination of a mother intent on keeping two rambunctious boys sleeping just a little longer, she overcame her unease about opening her door to the unknown. She staggered back, almost stumbling to the plank wood floor when Liam stormed in.
“Where the fuck are my sons?” He demanded.
Athena likened his tone to the sound of chipped ice, ragged, cold and hard. She didn’t answer straight away and Liam covered the scant distance separating them. He closed a fist around the button front of the simple brown dress she wore and punished her with a shake potent enough to rattle her teeth.
“Where?” He breathed, tugging the dress material until Athena stood on the toes of her low cut shoes.
Her tear glistened violet gaze wandered toward the hall, Liam released her as though she were a mere afterthought. Barely three of his long strides carried him down the corridor to a door at the end.
Liam found his boys asleep on the bed inside the room. He resisted rushing over and pulling them both into crushing hugs. Instead, he gripped the doorframe in a brutal hold, using the space to support his boneless legs. When he spoke, the small dwelling seemed to quake against the quiet power of his voice.
“I should kill you for this.”
“You would have every right to,” her voice was quiet as well, but lacked any power to speak of. “H-how did you find me?”
“Emilio.” He didn’t look her way when he answered. Couldn’t look at her. “His men have been searching since the day you left. It appears your seamstress staff are proven guards. They did a fine job shielding your whereabouts. Did you plan to keep them from me forever, Thea?” Liam chuckled when silence was his wife’s response. He looked toward the room where the boys slept.
“What about Gia?” He asked then. “Would you have let him see the child? Or maybe your plan was to run away together?”
“Gia? Liam you-you can’t think the baby is-”
“I know he’s the father, so I’ll thank you not to give me another lie. You spin them so easily, don’t you?” Liam’s upper lip curled into a hate-filled snarl. “If I’d been paying attention, I would’ve probably known what you were doing with Gia long before that note of yours. Is that why you went with him Athena? Attention? The attention you weren’t getting from me? Is this my fault, somehow?”
“No. No Liam,” prompted by the strength in her voice, she started to go to him but thought better of it. “I hate myself for what I did I-I t-tried not t-to but Giaimo...he-he...”
“Right,” Liam smirked. “That was Gia. A woman didn’t stand a chance once he set his sights on her. Not even another man’s wife.”
“Liam please,” she risked a few steps forward with her hands clasped to her dress front. “I never meant to-”
“What Thea? Fuck my brother? Or get pregnant with his seed?” Again, Liam snarled. The gesture lent an even more striking element to his face. “Are you even sure? Sure you’re pregnant? Sure it’s his?”
“I-y-yes I-I haven’t been with any...anyone else. I haven’t bled in more than two months. I didn’t even realize...”
“Mmm...too preoccupied, I suppose?”
“Liam-”
“So much for those special herbs of yours, I guess.”
She smiled, but the gesture was more resigned than amused. “In the old country I always told the women I helped to not put total faith in the herbs. Nature has the final say, I would tell them. I suppose that was true after all.” She looked to her belly and sighed.
“Mostly I told them that for my own protection so they wouldn’t return seeking restitution if the pregnancy held.” She realized she was rambling and glanced toward Liam. She literally shook at the glacial fury radiating from his glare.
“And this?” Liam scanned the cramped space. “Was this for your protection?”
“No, I-”
“Were you going to use my boys as a shield? A weapon against me?”
“Never!” Anger sparked in her lilac stare. “They’re my boys too.”
