Rival Attractions & Innocent Secretary(59)

Raul picked up speed-and God help Bastiano because hate and fury catapulted Raul those last few steps.

'Pezzo di merda … ' Raul shouted out words that did not belong in such a setting.

Any sane man who saw murder approach would surely turn and run, but  instead Bastiano walked towards Raul, hurling insults of his own. 'Your  mother wanted-'

Raul did not let him finish, for Bastiano had already sullied her  enough, and to silence him Raul slammed his fist into Bastiano's face.  He felt the enamel of Bastiano's tooth pierce his knuckle but that was  the last thing he felt.

It was bloody.

Two parts grief, several belts of rage and a hefty dose of shame proved a volatile concoction indeed.

Raul would kill him.

That was all he knew.

Yet Bastiano refused to go quietly and fought back.

There were shouts and the sounds of sirens in the distance as the two  men battled it out. Raul felt nothing as he was slammed against a  gravestone. The granite tore through the dark suit and white shirt on  his back with the same ease that it gouged through muscle and flesh.

It didn't matter.

His back was already a map of scars from his father's beatings, and adrenaline was a great anaesthetic.                       
       
           



       

Only vaguely aware of the wound that ran from shoulder to flank, Raul  hauled himself up to stand, took aim again and felled his rival.

Yet Bastiano refused to submit.

Raul pinned Bastiano and slammed his fist into his face, marring those  perfect features with relish, and then he held him to the ground and  told him he should have stayed the hell away from his mother.

'Like you did!'

Those words were more painful than any physical blow, for Raul knew that he had done just that-stayed away.