Chapter Sixty Six

He blubbered  as the Grand Don strode into the room his eyes on Juliette, without even looking at the other manor breaking his step toward her he raised his gun and shot him three times killing him instantly. When he reached her his arms went around her and somehow he had the key to the cuffs and she was free as he lifted her bridal style,                                                                                                                          ‘Non dire una parola. Discuteremo di questo atto di pura stupidità quando saremo tornati sani e salvi alla mia villa.’ [Do not say a word. We will discuss this act of sheer stupidity when we are safely back at my villa.]  He was angry with her, she could feel it as he carried her and she sighed heavily he would punish her and she was  honest enough with herself to think that she deserved it. She had put herself, Romero and all his men in great danger, they could have been killed by Marcello instead at least six of his men had died along with him. Juliette said nothing when he dropped her onto his bed and stepped back,                                    ‘Take a shower and I will send the Doctor into to see you.’                                                                            He ordered then turned on his heel and left she did as he asked scrubbing her body to rid herself of Marcello’s touch, it could have been so much worse if Romero had not come to rescue her. She leaned her forehead on the cool tiles and let the tears flow, Romero had every right to be pissed at her, he had been so stupid leaving without taking her guards. Wrapping herself in one of the huge fluffy towels  she dried her tears and walked into the bedroom, she had hoped he would have returned but it was empty.                Romero was very angry, he sat in his office sipping a glass of whisky forcing himself to calm down the sight of his Juliette hung up like a piece of meat with that fool’s hands roaming freely over her body had incensed him. No one touched his woman, he knew why she had gone over to the club, he had seen her at the window of their room and realised she had heard them when he found her missing. He was angry at her for being so impulsive, he would have told her what he knew if she had asked but she was always so reactive. A slow grin spread across his face, her disobedience angered him but it also aroused him because now he got to punish her, downing the rest of his whisky he got to his feet.                                                ‘I’ll be in my room with Juliette, only disturb me if it is a life or death situation.’                                              He ordered Angelo and Timo then headed up the stairs unaware of the smirks on their faces they knew exactly what their Boss would be up to and the little minx had no one to blame but herself.  He opened the door to the bedroom silently and stood just inside watching her, she was standing by the window brushing her stunning red/gold curls still damp from her shower. Her wrists were bandaged and she had some bruising but as far as he could see she had got away lightly from Marcello, he was not known for being gentle with the women he came in contact with.  Romero knew that if he had not intervened when he did Marcello would have raped her, even though she was his niece, he was Santini’s  much younger half brother. They had the same father but different mothers he had been a baby when Santini was the Don and his mother had kept him hidden from the monster. The man had murdered three of his male cousins, raped two of his female cousins and then handed them over to his guards before he discovered he had an illegitimate half sister and she had been dragged before him. Unfortunately for the poor young woman it was her eighteenth birthday and she was pretty with a slender figure, long deep brown hair and gentle chocolate brown eyes. She had been brought up under the protection of the Nuns at a local church, his anger at them for keeping the knowledge of her a secret had been dreaddful even by his standards. He had ordered his men to round up every single one of the Nuns, then he had shot the Mother Superior in front of the rest, their shock had been absolute, he had ordered his men to separate them older ones on one side and the younger ones on another. With a nod to his two Capo’s the older ones were led out into a small courtyard and with silencers on their guns his men had shot the defenceless women to death. The younger ones had cried with horror at such brutality but they soon discovered the old ones had been given the easy way out.  The deranged monster that was Don Santini had sat in his huge wingbacked chair and ordered them to strip. They had tried to refuse, they had given themselves to their church and were married to ‘God’ as his handmaidens, their bodies remained untouched and unseen by any male so to be asked to remove their clothes in front of him and his men was abherrant to them. Until one of the men cracked a large whip along the floor at their feet.                                                                                              ‘Spogliatevi o lo sentirete sui vostri corpi nudi, in ogni caso, sarete il nostro intrattenimento stasera, quindi rendetelo facile con voi stessi e fate come vi viene detto.’ [Strip or you will feel this on your naked bodies, either way you will be our entertainment tonight so make it easy on yourselves and do as you are told.]      It was not in these women to defy an order, they had lived a life of quiet obedience since entering the church terrified of this evil devil in front of them they had no choice and did as they were told. Crying quietly and praying that someone would save them making Santini sneer at their pleas for mercy. Brought up in the strict confines of the Catholic faith and beaten and abused by the so called Priests when he disobeyed them or just because they could they never needed an excuse to hurt the boys in their care.