I take one last look around the room and see nothing. But she has to be here. She isn’t in the chapel, and she isn’t in the house. No vehicles left our property after the attack. She’s here. She’s somewhere in the hidden recesses of The Castle.
I’m not a praying man and accepted years ago there was no redemption for a man like me, but seeing the chapel consumed in flames and the desperation clawing at my flesh makes me beg for something beyond my own reasoning. “Please,” I say, to who or what I don’t know. I want a chance to make things right. I want a chance to put this family back where it should be, and marrying Vittoria is step one. “Please.”
I move the candle from left to right in a final sweep. Something catches my eye. I start, shocked at what I see, a flash of white skin illuminated by the candlelight.
Vittoria’s on the floor, sprawled out with her arms askew.
Oh, God. I’ll kill whoever hurt her, kill them.
When I reach her, she’s covered in dust and blood, her hair’s disheveled and in her eyes, but I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my life.
“Vittoria.” I lift her in my arms, and she stirs. She’s alive. She’s alright, and she’s alive.
I kiss her cheeks and pull her to me as voices sound above us. I don’t care. I don’t care what the fuck happens to anyone else, Vittoria is my only concern.
I close my eyes when I hold her to me. This is the danger of falling in love with a woman. I’ve taken the vow of Omertà, the vow that will bind me to loyalty from my brothers above all. Sworn in blood to a code of honor, loyalty, and silence, I’ve vowed to put my family above anyone. But this woman… this woman will undo me.
Vittoria opens her mouth. “Romeo.”
She’s okay. Oh, God, she’s alright.
“How did you get in here?”
She shakes her head. “There was a passage… in the chapel… like a slide almost, some sort of chute. I fell down and hit my head at the bottom, but here I am.”
She pushes herself up suddenly. “Romeo! Your Nonna and Santo. He’ll kill them!”
I don’t need to ask who “he” is.
I want to know what she knows, how conscious she is. “Where are they?”
“The chapel.”
“We’re taking care of it, baby.”
Here in the cocoon of this windowless room, I hold her to me. Here, in the silent recesses of the place I call home, I make a vow.
Too long I’ve been silent against my father’s tyranny. Too long, I’ve been silent while my father’s dictatorship destroyed my family. Too long, I’ve allowed devastation to rip us apart.
I lift her in my arms and head for the stairs, as she wraps her arms around my neck and fills me in. Her voice is hoarse, affected by smoke and trauma, but it’s beautiful to my ears.
“You were all distracted with the attack. I bet you anything your father did this. He wasn't here during the first attack, was he? He wasn't here during the second attack, either."
“Great minds think alike,” I say with a wry smile.
“Though fools seldom differ,” she finishes. “The entirety of that proverb will keep you humble, sir.”
Jesus, I love this woman.
She winces in pain when we reach the doorway. “Shh, baby. We’ll find out everything. Don’t hurt yourself worse.”
“He tried to make me marry Santo!”
What?
Rage storms across my chest.
“The priest started saying the prayers. He beat up the priest, Romeo, to coerce him into performing the marriage. What kind of a monster is he?”
The kind that will hunt down anything between him and what he wants.
When we reach the landing, I see the Great Hall’s nearly vacant. The front door to The Castle is wide open, my men outside and surrounding the chapel that's engulfed in flames, but the rescue team’s arrived. I talk quickly to Leo. Mario’s held off law enforcement, allowing only the firefighters in.
“Oh my God, Romeo,” Vittoria whispers. “He’d do anything to get what he wanted, wouldn’t he?”
“Romeo! Rome!” Rosa’s frantic voice rises over everyone’s. “Help him, Romeo! He’ll kill him.”
I look to where she points. Tavi’s got my father in his grip, a knife to his throat. Tavi could kill him with one twist of his arm, but it’s a mortal sin to harm the Boss. He’d die first. My father’s come to with a last roar of vengeance, swearing to kill whoever’s in his path.
I nod to Tavi. “Ottavio. You have my permission.”
I don’t miss the flash of pain on his face before he spins, and with a roar of anguish and hatred, knocks our father on his ass. In seconds, he’s got him pinned under his knee.
“You win,” my father says in a hoarse whisper. “You son of a bitch. You win.”