Sins of Loyalty, Revenge Best Served Cold

By Christine Gray

"Know how I was able to cope all of these year in hell with you Luca? Wanna know the secret? I…slept with…Gio," she reveals with a big grin. 

And you wanna know what else your rival could do that you never could," she pauses to lean into the camera. "Give me a baby…a son."

 

They say, 'Revenge is better served cold.' Well, this scheme has been on ice for three long years. Luca Greco is finally ready to get his lick back for the betrayal done to him. The stage is set, and he's happy to watch it all play out from his front-row seat. The ways he plans to torture and make the little bastard suffer before he puts a bullet in his head will be a work of art. Then, he'll kill his dad, Gio.

 

Avery has a job to do. The millions deposited into her account as a down payment is to resolve her of feelings for Marco. It shouldn't matter that Avery hates Luca's nasty self with a deep-rooted passion. Or that Marco's messed up life is a hard pill to swallow…or that he is really a charming, good looking piece of man. At the end of the day, she'll do as she's trained to do to keep her masters from turning the gun on her.

 

Marco Fabbri has perfected the art of being slow to speak, quick to listen, and even quicker to sniff out bullshit. It's a skill he's learned from his father. And the skill of strategy is one he's learned from his notorious mother, Cindy. While he's smiling, dining, and oh yes, hooking up with Avery, he's no fool to the game. While others think he's playing Checkers, he's playing the most dangerous game of Chess in his life…and they all are his pawns in this war that will expose all his foes.

 

Cat and mouse…live by the sword, die by the sword…they are all true in this dangerous world they operate in. But can enemies to lovers…and finding real love in all the wrong places be true, too?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christine Gray
• Release date: May 14, 2024
• ISBN: 9798223651871

Christine Gray

Christine Gray is an author, publisher, and entrepreneur. Beginning her career under the pen name, Sapphire, her list of books include Don't Tell My Husband, One of a Kind Love, Sweet Obsessions, the paranormal series, Relentless; A Vampire King's Desire, and many more. Christine Gray is a very creative writer that's heating up the Interracial Romance scene with her talent for creating books that pull her readers into the story, allowing them to experience every emotion. Her gift for original story lines laced with mystery, humor and erotic moments combined with strong women, and devilishly handsome men, has brought her a large fan base since her start in fall 2014 with Royalty Publishing House. Now as a CEO of After Hours Publications, it's her desire to push the boundaries of the Lit world by offer stories in the Paranormal, Erotica, and Historical Fiction, even Sci-Fi genres which are areas that many African American characters aren't featured.

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A Novel By,

CHRISTINE GRAY

©2023 After Hours Publications

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Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage without express permission by the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Contains explicit language & adult themes suitable for ages 17+

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PROLOGUE

1993

I stand at the threshold of the dimly lit room. The air hangs heavy with the scent of antiseptic, a stark reminder of the fragility of life. My wife, Cindy, lies motionless on the bed, her once vibrant eyes now vacant, her body weak and frail. The ravages of her illness have reduced her to a mere whisper of the woman I fell in love with.

I approach her bedside, my footsteps echoing through the silent room. Her eyes flicker with a hint of recognition, a flicker of something familiar. She tries to speak, but only two fingers twitch, a futile attempt to convey her thoughts. My heart aches at the sight of her struggle, at the torment etched on her face. A wide smile spread on my lips.

Hi, bitch, I chuckle.

Ignoring her, I frown at the wall-to-wall flowers filling the room.

Who the fuck spent money on her ugly ass? I wonder.

There ain’t nothing but hate in Cindy’s dull brown eyes when I look back at her. Knowing she can’t move or resist my taunt, I lean over to place my two fingers under her nose.

Good, huh? That’s the pussy waiting for me in the car, I chuckle.

The bald bitch lying in the middle of the bed only narrows her gaze at me. The cancer really did a number on her. Too bad it was coming to an end. Soon, my wife will be worm food.

What do you want? I got shit to do, I say as I readjust my dick.

Movement behind me gets my attention. Damn, I’m slipping. I didn’t even notice the two men in the room until now. I don’t care that they heard me and saw my treatment of Cindy on her deathbed. What the fuck are these goons gonna do to me? It was no secret that I couldn’t stand my wife.

Mrs. Moretti has requested for you to view the following.

I blink and take a step back to see the flat screen hanging on the wall while the man raises the remote to get the TV going.

What the fuck is this? I chuckled.

Saying nothing, the two men fade back into the shadows of the room.

The screen flickers, and then a healthier-looking Cindy appears on the screen. Other than the short hair and hollowed cheeks, she looked like the picture of health. In a garden somewhere, her skin had a sun-kiss glow.

Hey fucker, she starts off.

I cut my eyes back towards where she was in the bed. Her beady gaze is hard upon me.

Only have a few hours left, but I didn’t want to let go without letting you know how I really feel about you.

Ah, man...I don’t wanna hear this bullshit, I grunt.

I start to move for the door, only to freeze in mid-step.

Backing up, Wh-what did she just say? I whisper in disbelief, What the fuck...play it back, REWIND!! I yell.

This time, I didn’t move a muscle.

Know how I was able to cope all of these years in hell with you, Luca? Wanna know the secret? I...fucked...Gio, she reveals with a big grin, Oh, his dick was, mmm, she says before kissing her pinched fingers, He had me cumming...and he could eat pussy...like licking peanut butter from a jar. Something your cookie monster munching ass could never do. And you wanna know what else your rival could do that you never could, she pauses to lean into the camera, Give me a baby...a son.

Flabbergasted and slack-jawed, all I can do is stare at the laughing vision of Cindy on the screen.

"All those years of you trying, but I made damn sure that I would never give you what I gave Gio. Oh, then when you went into the hospital to get your hernia worked on, I paid to make you sterile. You’ve been shooting blanks motherfucker. Those hoes might as well swallow cuz nothing of yours is ever coming out of those ran-through pussies."

It takes a moment for the strange choking, gurgling sounds to break through my dumbstruck haze. My head snaps over to the bed to find Cindy chuckling under the oxygen mask. All I can see is red. Like a raging bull, I charge to close the space between us. My fingers barely close around her neck before the two assholes in the room are pulling me off.

I’LL KILL YOU!! BITCH! YOU’RE DEAD!! I scream, spit flying everywhere, I’ll get you! I exclaim.

Still laughing, she waves her hand to single for me to be tossed from the room.

CHAPTER ONE

LUCA

1996

I stand at the edge of my opulent study, the room suffused with an air of simmering rage and bitter memories. It has been three long years since I uncovered the truth since the revelation tore my heart apart. The wound is still raw, the pain a relentless companion that refuses to release its grip.

Cindy; I hated the bitch. Her uppty, knot-kneed ass. Only her name and money were her saving grace. She knew it, too. Oh, not that she was an ugly bitch. No, people flocked to her like flies on a hot day. I’m talking about her pull and the fact that she was protected, even from me, because of her family. She and I knew that was the only reason I fought so hard to get her. I kissed ass, hell...I even sucked a dick once to get close to her father. I killed the gay fucker, later on, to make sure he never told. I was the stud that all the women wanted to give a ride to, and I picked Cindy.

Bitch, I spit.

Me wanting a child, then to find out she had opened her womb to him. Cindy had bestowed that gift upon my most detested rival: Giovanni DeMarco.

The betrayal lingers in my thoughts like a festering wound, a constant reminder of her deceit. How could she have done this to me? How could she have given herself to him, allowing him to plant his seed within her while denying me the very essence of fatherhood? The questions churn inside me, a tempest of anger and confusion.

I strode across the room, my footsteps echoing with a resounding thud against the marble floor. The weight of my rage presses upon me, threatening to consume me entirely. I find solace in the physicality of destruction, in the power of my actions. I sweep the contents of my desk onto the floor, the clatter of papers and trinkets mingling with the storm brewing within me.

The memories flash before my eyes—moments of laughter like she knew something I didn’t whenever I came home with the taste of pussy on my breath. How could they have all been a facade? How could she have hidden her betrayal behind a veneer of our twisted marital bliss? The pain lances through me, a sharp knife twisting in my chest.

I gave you everything, I mutter through gritted teeth, my voice filled with the bitterness of a wounded soul, And yet you chose him, the very embodiment of our enmity.

The room seems to shrink around me as the walls close in, suffocating me with the weight of my emotions. I reach out, my hand trembling, and grasp the portrait of Cindy that hangs on the wall. The once radiant smile that adorned her face now taunts me, mocking the hated years we had shared.

I’m happy you suffered, I whisper, the words laced with a mixture of anger and malice.

The tears well up, unbidden, as rage overwhelms me. The dichotomy of emotions intertwines, creating a complex tapestry of pain. Three years have passed, but the wound remains fresh, the anger unyielding. It is a torment that I carry with me every waking moment. The desire for revenge, for justice, burns within me like an unquenchable fire. Giovanni DeMarco will pay for what he has taken from me, for the wound he has inflicted upon my heart.

I take a deep breath, attempting to calm the storm that rages within. But the pain, the sense of injustice, remains as potent as ever. I can’t look my men in the face. I have no doubt word has gotten out about it. I can almost hear them taunting me. Where once I would see fear in the depths of their eyes, I see teasing and goddamn pity. Those fuckers pity me...ME!! Giovanni DeMarco will soon learn the consequences of his actions, and my vengeance will be lingering.

And Cindy is going to show me the way. I mean, how fitting it is to employ her own strategies to scorch the earth and her seed. She possessed a formidable intellect, a sharp mind that surpassed the expectations of those around her. She was cunning, shrewd, and had a keen sense of strategy. Her prowess extended beyond the boundaries of our marriage, for she was also a key player in her father's business—a business that thrived under her careful guidance.

The thought of her capability as a leader and a businesswoman sends a chill down my spine. Cindy possessed a unique blend of intelligence and ruthlessness, a lethal combination that made her an imposing force in the world she inhabited. Her reputation as a woman with killer instincts was not unfounded, for she had left a trail of bloodshed in her wake many times.

I remember the whispered rumors, the tales of her involvement in countless clandestine operations. Cindy was not one to shy away from getting her hands dirty. She had mastered the art of manipulation, effortlessly weaving a web of deceit and influence. Her cunning ways allowed her to eliminate obstacles that stood in her path, often with a cold and calculated precision.

It was a testament to her strength, her audacity, that she had outshone her own brother, who had been groomed to inherit their father's empire. Cindy, with her razor-sharp mind and unwavering determination, proved time and again that she was more than capable of running the family business. She commanded respect and wielded power with a grace that few could rival.

As I reflect upon her successes, I am torn between admiration and unease. Admiration for her sheer brilliance, her ability to navigate the treacherous world of organized crime with such finesse. And yet, unease lingers within me, a constant reminder of the darkness that dwelled beneath her polished exterior.

I witnessed firsthand the lengths to which Cindy was willing to go in order to protect her interests to secure her place in a world that thrived on bloodshed. She was