Chapter 51: Buy his morals

Santino released his grip on Emilio, who stumbled back and frantically smoothed down the front of his shirt.

"Soraya, did you actually marry him? How could you do this to me?" Emilio’s voice trembled with shock, though his eyes burned with raw resentment as he glared at Santino. "It doesn’t matter. You can divorce him. He trapped you into this."

"Tell him to shut his mouth before I break his jaw," Santino growled. His knuckles turned white as his fists clenched at his sides, his dark gaze radiating with nothing but the hunger for blood.

Emilio scoffed, stepping forward to seize Soraya’s hand, but she yanked her arm out of his reach.

"Don’t touch me!" she snapped, turning a look of pure disdain on her ex.

"Sora, please, you have to believe me. Every word I’m saying is the truth," Emilio insisted, pressing a hand over his heart in a display of innocence. "Santino tried to buy you from me. He offered me millions to walk away from your life, and when I refused, he was the one who sent that woman to set me up."

"Keep speaking, and he won’t hesitate to kill you," Soraya cut him off, her tone devoid of any warmth.

Santino froze hearing that statement from his wife. Soraya truly believed he was capable of such a scheme. He had grown up surrounded by blood and violence, where the roar of a gun dictated every rule, but he had intentionally held himself back from hurting Emilio from the beginning. He had spared Emilio because he knew if he used violence, Soraya would hate him forever. Now, seeing that she suspected him anyway, something broke inside him.

"Let’s go," Soraya said quietly, turning toward the arched doors of the grand hall.

Santino followed her out of the lounge without another word. As Emilio rushed to tail them, Marco stepped smoothly into his path, leveling a heavy black handgun directly at the center of Emilio’s forehead.

"The boss might hold back for her sake, but I won’t," Marco said. "Take another step and you won’t breathe again."

Emilio’s breath hitched, but he forced a bitter laugh, wrapping his fingers around the trigger to push it slightly to the side. "Do you really think you can shoot me? Go ahead, I dare you. Soraya will make every single one of you pay for my blood."

Without missing a beat, Marco adjusted his aim by a fraction of an inch and pulled the trigger. A gunshot echoed off the lounge space, shattering the crystal decanter on the table directly behind Emilio. Shards of glass rained down onto the wooden floor.

Emilio’s chest heaved as his heart hammered wildly against his ribs, his face draining of all color.

"I don’t care about Soraya’s anger," Marco purred, leaning close enough for Emilio to feel the terror. "All I care about is my boss, and the pathetic lies you just spat about him. The moment he gives me the nod, I will skin you alive and throw what’s left of you into the valley for the hawks to tear apart."

Emilio’s bravado finally broke. He took a hasty step back, holding his hands up in surrender. "Fine. I’m leaving. But mark my words that your boss can’t even touch me, and I never cheated on her."

~~~~~

Soraya kept her pace steady down the stone path, completely ignoring Santino’s demands for them to return to the car. She only stopped when she reached the edge of the open courtyard, turning around to face him with her chest heaving.

"Why did you come here?" she demanded. "You could have told me the truth back there, but you just remained quiet all this time."

"Who told you I was going to meet that bastard?" Santino countered, his jaw tight as he closed the distance between them.

"Why? Did you think you were the only one who could keep eyes on me?" Soraya snapped back, intentionally withholding Claire’s name.

She crossed her arms tightly across her chest, guarding herself against the cold intensity in his gaze. "You knew I was with Emilio, yet you kept everything hidden. You put a price on me just to trap me by your side, didn’t you?"

"Soraya, you are twisting this into something it isn’t," Santino said, his voice dropping to a harsh, desperate whisper. "Emilio needed money, and yes, I tested his loyalty. I tried to buy his morals. He refused my cash that day, but by the very next week, he chose to cheat on you on his own accord. I told you from the moment I set eyes on you, you became my obsession. How could I ever stand by and let another man touch what belongs to me?"

Tears welled up in Soraya’s eyes, blurring the sight of the man standing before her.

"Hey, don’t cry," Santino murmured, taking a step forward to narrow the space between them.

Before his fingers could touch her, Soraya scrambled backward, pulling out her phone with trembling hands and dialing Angelo.

Angelo answered on the first ring as his car glided down the quiet bakery lane. Seeing her name, he immediately put the call on speaker, but the sound of her sobs made him pull the vehicle over to the curb.

"Sora? Why are you crying? What happened?" Angelo asked, his tone instantly sharp with concern.

"Angelo, please... come take me away," Soraya pleaded, the words choking in her throat as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I don’t want to stay with Santino anymore. He—he has ruined everything."

"Soraya, please... at least listen to me," Santino begged as he tried once more to reach out to her, but she recoiled as if his touch might burn her.

"Where are you, Sora? Are you still at the bakery?" Angelo questioned, his grip tightening on the steering wheel.

"No," she whispered, rapidly giving him the location of the open courtyard just a street ahead of the club.

Lowering the phone, she tried to wipe away the tears that refused to stop falling, her chest aching with every breath.

"I was actually starting to trust you, and this is how you break me," she said. "I was living perfectly fine before you forced your way into my life. Everything you’ve ever done for me was only for your own selfish desires. You never truly loved me, Santino. Because if you did, you would have never done something so cruel."