abcnovels
Chapter 507 - Dark Halls (3)
Chapter 507 - Dark Halls (3)
Chapter 507 – Dark Halls (3)
"Dead… Evan is…dead," Angela muttered as if to confirm because it seemed as if Gael just told her Evan died. People had been dying around her for the past twenty-four hours that this particular news shouldn't faze her anymore.
But it did. Somehow it did.
"Yes. Probably a couple hours ago. They checked on him during lunchtime and he was still breathing. They only noticed he was gone a few hours later." Noticing her expression, Gael gently stroked his thumb on her hand. "Are you okay?"
"I…" She swallowed. "I don't know. Why did he ask to see me?"
He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "Not sure. Perhaps he knew he was slipping away for real and thought he wanted to make amends." He scoffed. "If he was even capable of that… I thought about telling you after the party last night, but a lot of things happened."
Angela looked to the side, her brows drawing together as if she was trying to picture out different scenarios if she had faced Evan one last time. Then her jaw clenched—still feeling angry towards the man, more than she was afraid of him.
Gael held her chin and lightly pulled her attention to him. "Are you feeling guilty?"
"No."
"Good."
"But I wonder… Would you have allowed me to see him? I know how you feel about that. But—"
"No. I still wouldn't have." His face was hard and his gaze was intense, looking serious as he added, "Angel, you didn't want to see him when he looked like a person. That man we kept down there… You wouldn't recognize him. My men did a number on him—I did."
And Gael would never tell her to spare her the gory details but the last few days that Leos was alive, one of his men upped the ant and started skinning him. They had done most of the torture techniques there was to know on Evan Leos. The latter should have died weeks ago but like the persistent sick fuck that he was, he kept breathing and his heart kept beating.
The first week Evan was kept down there, he was beaten up until he lost consciousness. Like all of their prisoners, they stripped off all of his clothes, leaving him no chance to use anything as a weapon. They didn't feed him for days and he only survived on water. Gael didn't do all the dirty work, he had men for those, but every once in a while, he'd drop by to see him suffer and maybe slash a cut or two anywhere on Evan's body—not to bleed him out, just enough to hurt. The last time he saw the man was a few days ago and he thought Evan would die any time soon.
Gael didn't want to, but he was slightly impressed that Leos survived that long—at the same time, the longer the man lived, the longer he was able to exact his revenge. It got a little boring in the end because no amount of cuts, bruises, and what-not would ever bring back what Evan did and took from Angela. But seeing him suffer made Gael feel better. He got what he deserved.
"Did he… Did he suffer?" she probed.
"Yes. Since day one. Day and night. Every hour. Every fucking second. He suffered."
Angela inhaled deeply and her gaze darkened. "Good." She didn't need to know what Evan wanted to tell her and she wasn't curious. When Gael cocked a brow, she added, "He's a piece of shit and he died not able to say what he wanted to say to me. That's more than good enough."
Gael's eyes widened at her statement. For one, Angela said "piece of shit"—which was a bit surprising as she barely cursed and when she did, it was either tame or verbally adorable to hear. And two—she thought the same way Gael did.
For a second, though, Gael was afraid that she'd be mad at him for not telling her right away. But it turned out that he didn't need to worry about that.
Letting out a soft chuckle, Gael pulled her to his side and began walking down the stairs again, heading back towards the secret underground passage. It was weird walking through there with her by his side. He never thought this would ever happen.
The secret underground passage in Brooklyn had been there since the time of his great grandfather who, along with his mates, worked so hard for while civilization slowly grew in New York. No one knew except the main family and those who needed to know about it—and those who earned it were allowed to travel down there. Some crime families heard rumors about it, but the only one who ever knew of the truth outside those people they trusted was the Morelli family.
Even though Gael's great-grandfather killed his adoptive son, the latter might have told his wife back then and possibly Don Mario learned about it from his mother. This was why the Morellis coveted the De Lucas territory so much.
The underground passage was a major factor in the growth of their clandestine business over the years. This was why they were filthy rich—in every sense of the word—why their enemies increased over the years. And Gael showed it all to Angela as they slowly walked back to their room.
***
Saturday — March 23
"Do you want me to tell your brother?" Angela cautiously asked as she held the phone tightly in her hand. She was on the phone with Gabriella who sounded worried and pissed at the same time. For the past few minutes, she listened to the girl talk about how angry she was at her husband.
"No. Please don't do that." Gabby sighed. "I just… I want to believe that he has nothing to do with what happened that night. But all of you could've died. Uncle Pietro is gone… What am I even here for? Why did I marry him if I couldn't have prevented all of this from happening?"
Angela blinked through the tears pooling in her eyes. Gabby was in pain and she wished she could fly to Chicago to hug her. Even though she hadn't admitted to having feelings for her husband, Angela could sense it. Maybe it was why Gabby was affected this much.
"Gael told me a couple of weeks ago that it seemed like Mariano really hates his brother. Have you talked to him? Maybe…that would help clear things up."
"I don't want to see him." There were shuffles on the other end as if Gabby was moving in bed. "I'm comfortable right here in my own bed, cuddling with two men who would never hurt me."
"I'm sorry, what? Two men?"
"Yes. Their names are Ben and Jerry. And tonight, they brought Phish Food with them to comfort me—it's also Yan's favorite flavor, you know? That'll piss him off when he sees the fridge and there's none of this delicious goodness he loves so much."
Angela chortled loudly and sniffed that Gael looked at her over the papers in his hand, his brows raised in question. He was going over some KMH contracts at the other end of their room in the dungeon. She kept her voice low for privacy as she talked to Gabby on the phone, but their distance was the maximum they could get at the moment and she didn't want to kick him out.
She shook her head to him and when she was about to convince Gabby to give her husband a chance to talk to her, there was a knock over the other line and then Gabby quickly said goodbye.
Angela sauntered towards Gael who put the papers down and pulled her to his lap. "When are we going back home?" she wondered.
He inhaled her hair and then pressed his lips on her exposed shoulder. "Probably Monday. Why?"
"I was just thinking… Maybe I could go back to Mayne for a few days. And you could come with me…" She bit her bottom lip and a coy smile ghosted her face.
"I would love to…" Her smile widened until he said, "But I need to see some clients next week. Without Perry… It's only Giovanni and I working, which technically is one of the best things that happened these past few weeks—Perry being gone, I mean."
"You still have no idea where he is?"
Gael shook his head. "Last trace we had of him was at JFK airport. We don't know where he went, but he could be out of the country."
"What does that mean for you and the company?"
"I'll go over the legal matters with Savannah on Monday. Other than that, I'm just hoping Perry's out for good." He trailed kisses along her shoulders and neck and she tilted her head to give him more access, moaning. "I think it's a good idea that you go back to Mayne for a while. You could use the break."
"Yeah… Perhaps after the funeral." Uncle Pietro's funeral was next weekend. While Angela wanted Gael to go with her, going back home by herself would actually be good too. She could work without disturbance and finally put all of her dream house plans in place. "Can we go get some fresh air now?"
With the dazzling smile on her beautiful face, how could he say no? He kissed her lips.. "Of course."