The Mafia Don Dark Obsession

Chapter 16

Gerald stepped through the broken door with his gun already raised. The smell of blood and dust hit him first. Then he saw her.

Lily was on the floor, face swollen, blood running from her mouth and nose. Her body looked small and broken. Something cold and violent tore through Gerald’s chest. For a second he could not hear anything else in the room. All he could see was the damage on her skin. The same woman he had kissed two nights ago. The same woman he had held in his bed. Now she was lying there like someone had tried to erase her.

Rage rose so fast it made his hands steady.

The first two of Elliot’s men barely turned before Gerald put a bullet in each of their legs. They dropped with loud screams. The third man reached for his gun and took a shot through the thigh that dropped him instantly.

Elliot stood frozen over Lily’s body.

Gerald’s voice came out low and rough. “You put your hands on her.”

Elliot opened his mouth, but Gerald already fired. Two bullets tore through Elliot’s hands. Elliot screamed and fell to his knees, blood pouring between his fingers.

“Mako,” Gerald said without looking away from Lily. “Take him. Find the woman who set her up. I want them both alive for now.”

“On it, boss.”

Gerald holstered the gun and dropped to one knee beside Lily. His hands, usually so controlled, hesitated for a fraction of a second before he slid his arms under her. She was too still. Too light. He pulled her against his chest and felt her weak breath on his neck. He had seen men die. He had ordered deaths. But seeing her like this made his blood feel too hot for his body.

He carried her out of the building without another word. In the car he kept her on his lap, one hand pressed gently against the side of her face that was less damaged. His thumb brushed near the bruise on her cheekbone.

At the private hospital the doctors were already waiting. The moment they tried to take her from him, Gerald’s arms tightened.

“Be careful with her,” he said, voice flat but dangerous. “Anything happens to her under your care, I will burn this place down.”

The lead doctor nodded quickly. “We will take care of her, Mr. Maldovo.”

Gerald stood in the hallway after they wheeled her bed away. Blood from her face had stained his shirt. He stared at his hands and forced himself to breathe. The image of her on that floor kept replaying. He wanted to go back and put more bullets in Elliot. He wanted to do worse.

By the time he reached the warehouse, Mako had both Elliot and Miguela secured. Elliot’s shot hand was wrapped in thick cloth. Miguela sat tied to a chair, shaking.

Gerald walked straight to her. His eyes were cold.

“You set her up,” he said.

Miguela’s voice cracked. “I only….”

“Shut up.” He leaned closer. “You are going to make a video. You will say the club footage and the s*x video were of you. You will say they were edited to look like Lily. You will say you released them because you were jealous. If you hesitate, I will make this much longer than it needs to be.”

Tears ran down Miguela’s face. “Please, I was just—”

Gerald slapped her hard. “Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she sobbed. “Yes, I understand.”

Mako set the phone to record. Miguela spoke through her tears, repeating exactly what Gerald ordered. When she finished, Mako stopped the recording and sent it out. Gerald did not wait. He raised his gun, placed it against her forehead, and pulled the trigger. Her body slumped forward.

Elliot made a choked sound. His face had gone pale.

“I can give you something,” he said quickly, voice shaking. “Real information. Just do not kill me.”

Mako stepped closer. “Talk.”

Elliot swallowed hard, eyes fixed on Miguela’s body. “The night your father was killed, Don Megalion’s right-hand man contacted me. Back then he was only a handler. He paid me to hide him for a few months. Move him around. Keep him off the streets. I can give you that man. I swear.”

Gerald stared at him. The anger from seeing Lily beaten was still burning under his skin. “Name.”

“Benson,” Elliot said immediately. “That is the only name I know. He worked under Megalion. Months after your father died, he came back and rose fast.”

Gerald was silent for a long moment. Then he nodded once. “We will check it. If it is useful, you live. If it is a lie, you will beg for death.”

He turned to his men. “His right hand. Three fingers.”

Elliot started shouting and begging, but the men already held him down. The screams that followed were raw. Gerald did not stay to watch. He walked out of the room while the sounds continued behind him.

Outside, the night air did nothing to cool the heat in his chest. He kept seeing Lily’s swollen face. The blood. The way her body had felt so still in his arms. He had told himself for weeks that she was only a contract. A body he paid for. But the moment he saw her on that floor, something inside him had refused to accept the idea of losing her.

His phone rang.

“She is awake,” the doctor said.

Gerald closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, and released a breath he never knew he was holding.

“I am on my way.”