Romano's Queen

Giuseppe needed to understand how this could happen. No one was supposed to know they were in New York... no one but their family and the ones that had visited. One of them couldn’t be trusted, maybe all. They all put his wife’s life in danger; that’s what he knew. Berardo had Regina, and Giuse was going crazy on the inside. She was pregnant, alone with a crazy man, when she should have been with him, and it had been weeks. Maybe, two months, Giuseppe had lost count because he focused on finding her rather than keeping track of time.

The only thing he could do was replay the events of that day in his head. How Berardo found them, and why wasn’t Regenia’s tracker working? No one was supposed to know about the tracker, and it caused his mind to wander back to the night before she was taken to the people they had spoken with, trying to figure out which one of them was still working with his cousin but lying in their face. Still, he needed to understand how they knew exactly which restaurant they would be in. None of it was adding up; they all wanted Berardo dead as much as they did. Well, at least, he thought.

“Giuseppe—”

“I don’t want to hear it, Arianna. I know I need sleep, but my wife is still missing... the first woman I ever loved is missing... and I don’t know what to do.”

“Yes, you do, Giuse! You are our fucking Don. You know what to do, don’t let this discourage you. Berardo isn’t stupid; he wants you to act blindly. He wants you to be out of your head to use this against you. He won’t kill Regenia... he wants her for himself.” She sighed, shaking her head. “He wants to be you. To want what you have, and Berardo thinks Regenia can do that. He thinks you will trade everything for her, but we aren’t going to allow you to do it. You’ll get her back... alive and well.”

“She’s pregnant—”

“And your baby will be okay. You have to believe that Fratello. Sai che questa (you know this).” Arianna spoke as he pulled him into a tight hug. He knew she was hurting just a bad, but unlike the rest of his family, she was there with him, ensuring everything would be okay. Giuseppe hoped she was right because he didn’t know what he would do if he lost his Uccellino.

“I hope you’re right, Ari, or this can’t be all for nothing. What would I tell them? She’s their Madre Arianna. They can’t lose her— I can’t lose her.” He whispered, watching his children play beside them. Genia was all they had, and it was killing him to lie to them daily. “I need to return to New York....”

“NO, YOU DON’T! Look, Jacob and Enzo are taking care there. We can trust them, but I’m unsure about the others there. Charlotte, yes, but the governor, mayor, and commissioner, I know they claim the be on our side....”

“The governor is Regenia’s mother—”

“Maybe so, Giuseppe but Berardo did have someone impersonate her, Giuseppe. She knew too much about her life. How do you think he found out about that? I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job but dig more into Zoey. Good thing Bianca didn’t kill the fake Zoey when you told her. Maybe she can tell us something.”

Giuseppe thought the same thing, and he was thankful Bianca kept the woman alive, but she was no help to them. Lydia... the woman who pretended to be Zoey, wouldn’t talk. No matter how much he tortured her, she wouldn’t break. The woman was loyal to Berardo, and it was sickening. She knew he held her life in his hands, and the only thing she would say was to shove it where the sun didn’t shine. She was no use to him, and the only thing he could think to do was kill her but not until he got her to crack or died in the middle of his torture sessions.

“Hm, everyone keeps telling me this, but the bitch hasn’t been useful. No matter how much I torture her ass, it’s always the same fucking answer. Berardo has the woman train like his little lap dog, which she is playing the part.”

“Then let me talk to her. I don’t want to be right, but what if her mom is Berardo’s informant?” Arianna asked as he stopped looking back at his sister with a brow arched. The governor wasn’t his concern, nor was the commissioner and mayor. He knew they were on his side. Jacob and Enzo were in the clear as well. Leaving everything on one or more people, they added in their circle; one of the police officers or Leslie.

“I know who it was!”

Berardo was smiling from ear to ear. Two months had passed, and Regenia was still in his presence. She was a fighter that much he gave to her. Every day it was the same story, she would find another way to try and run, but he would stop her every time. Ardo could never understand why she was fighting so hard to get back to his cousin, knowing Giuseppe had already moved by now. Regenia was his now, and she needed to understand it.

“You need to eat, Bella—”

“I’m not your fucking Bella asshole!” Regenia yelled, pushing the plate of food to the floor. The woman angered him to a point he couldn’t explain. Before Berardo knew it, his hand crossed her face with so much force it caused her to fall from her chair. However, as Regenia hit the floor, she kicked her foot into the back of his knee, forcing Berardo to lose balance. He tried his best not to fall, but the woman gripped her shirt, pulling him down and punching him everywhere she could.

“FUCKING BITCH! I HATE YOU, ASSHOLE— FUCKING DIE ALREADY!” She screamed while hitting him. Regenia was determined Berardo would give her that, but he wouldn’t stand there and allow her to beat him. Without another thought, he grabbed her arm, pulling her down to the floor after quickly wrapping his hand around her neck while the other fought for control.

“You’re mine, and you need to learn that! First, I need to teach you how to obey!”

“The only thing you’ll teach me is you fucking dying. Now get the fuck off me, asshole!” She hissed, kneeing him in the balls. Again, he fell onto the floor, giving her the upper hand; luckily, he had hidden all the sharp objects in his home, leaving Regenia defenseless. She used to be a cop, but it was only so much she could do with her bare hands against a man. It was time for Berardo to show her who was boss and who she belonged to, but Regenia had other plans.

Too much was going on at once.

Too much was going on at once. Arianna felt that she was drowning in fear... in fear of losing the first person she had become friends with besides the women in her family. Except Regenia was more than a friend, she was her sister. She was the first woman her brother fell for, and it was hurting her to see him hurt. All of them knew Giuseppe wasn’t the one who wore his heart on his sleeve, but with Genia missing, it showed every day, and he was starting to lose his sanity.

“Did Giuse give us permission to come here?”

“Does it look like I asked?” Arianna spoke to one of her cousins as they questioned her about going to the warehouse without her brother’s permission. “Giuseppe thinks he can do this alone, but he can’t. Giuse needs our help whether he asks for it or not. We are a famiglia, and a famiglia protects its own. I’m going to get some answers.”

Giuseppe’s torture methods weren’t getting them anywhere. Ari knew the woman knew more than what she was saying, and she would beat it out of her the best way she knew how. Quickly she grabbed a bucket of water and threw it on the sleeping girl tied to the chair; as she opened her eyes, Ari shocked her. “Where the fuck did Berardo take my sister-in-law!” She yelled as Lydia laughed.

“You think something funny bitch?! I’ll show you fucking funny!” She didn’t have time for games as she reached for the spiked bat, taking it to her legs. The woman screamed out in pain, but it didn’t stop Arianna from punching her a few times in the face. “Isabella, hand me the claw—”

“Ari, I don’t think....”

“DID I ASK YOU WHAT THE FUCK YOU THINK?!” Quickly she shook her head, handing her the claw as Arianna swiped it across her chest as if she was a wolverine. “We know he isn’t in New York, and he’s been parting this for a while. Talk or fucking die— I’m not my brother, so I don’t give a fuck.” She spoke, digging the claw into her open wound.

“I don’t know—”

“You don’t know, or you’re not telling,” Arianna asked as she found another tool to torture the women until her eyes fell on one of their medieval torture devices, the knee splitter. Although she had already done enough damage to her legs, that didn’t mean she couldn’t do a little more. Arianna wanted her to do more than that. “Strip her—”

“Ari, I want to find Regenia just as bad as you do, but—”

“But what, Claudia?” She whipped her head to her little cousin, frowning. “Was it you? Were you the one on Berardo’s side working at us from the fucking inside because you’ve had a lot to say lately. I know we all have had our doubts, but you’ve been second-guessing all of our thoughts. Cousin or not, I will skin your fucking ass alive. Just like we’re going to do Berardo once we find him.” Arianna spoke as her cousin looked at her like she grew to head and stepped back.

“You and Giuseppe have gone fucking crazy....”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP AND STRIP THE BITCH BEFORE I PUT YOUR ASS ON THE RACK!” She yelled, making Bria quickly start cutting the clothes from the woman’s body. Shortly after, Natalia joined her as Arianna pointed to the rack in the corner of the room. Everybody sighed but did what they were told as Giovanni Sr, Mario, and Edoardo walked into the room. Her mother and father were away in Germany as he allowed one of the Köhlers to remove his brain tumor.

“Hand me the splitter.” Her Nonno spoke as Milana happily ran and got the device with a smile. Arianna watched as the old man put on a glove and placed the thing in the fire her Zio just lit. He waited until the thing turned red before picking it back up, forcing it through the skin around the woman’s nipple. “Let me tell you how this is going to work—”

“No, let me be the one,” Giuseppe spoke. Arianna knew he was coming, but the man took his sweet time. “I’m done with your fucking games bitch. You’re about to play my famiglia favorite game. Talk or lose a body part starting with this.” He said, pulling at the splitter. All the older women in the room frown, watching the skin tear away around the woman’s nipple as she screams.

“I’m going to get the point. I know how Berardo got you here, and I know you know where he took my wife. Tell me, and I may spare your life.” He spoke as Lydia managed to lift her middle finger. Edoardo didn’t like her response, so he turned the wheel at the end of the rack pulling at her limps until they heard something crack.

“OKAY... OKAY! HE THREATENED TO KILL ME IF I DIDN’T HELP! But you should talk to his right-hand man....”

“Mhm, about that, Jacob is taking care of that now. Talk!” He yelled as he pulled the device on the woman’s breast again, making her scream. “STOP! He took her to his in Detroit. No... no, Colorado! Aspen, he has a cabin there. The only one no one knows about! Here let me give you the address!” She yelled as they all looked at each. Quickly one of them grabbed a pen writing down what she told them, but her torture was far from over. Arianna didn’t plan on keeping this woman alive. She lied to them... to Regenia, then kidnapped the child to pretend it was Genia’s little sister. She knew something wasn’t right about the woman, but she wanted to make Regenia happy.

However, Arianna picked up the bat again, taking to every part of Lydia’s body as Bianca shocked her. Blood splattered the walls, and those standing around the woman, but Ari could only see red. She was pissed. Too pissed to care for the woman’s screams or her brothers, Zio and Nonno, calling her name. Once she was finished with Lydia, she was nothing but a bloody pile of skin and bones. Still, Lydia was alive, which didn’t satisfy Ari as she told her brother to turn the wheel, ripping the woman’s limps from her body.

“Okay... I think I’m 100% scared of you now. Giuseppe—”

“I’m on it now.” He spoke, taking out his phone and calling someone before turning back to them. “The jet will be ready in fifteen. Jacob and Hakeem will meet us there— I’m going to get my Uccellino back, and I swear to you I’m going to rip that bastard’s throat out of his neck.”