“It was never a competition,” I snarl. “You want me to win? I win when we bury you.” I want to end it for him, take that gun from the ground and point it at his head. I want to pull the trigger and watch the light go out of his eyes. I want to send him straight from this chapel to hell, where he belongs.
Vittoria’s hand is on my arm, holding me back. I try to shrug her off, but she holds fast.
“Don’t do it, Romeo. You have every right, but you don’t have to. Don’t do it.”
If I kill him, I lose everything.
“Let him bleed, brother.” Tavi stands beside me, a look of disdain on his face while he stares at my father. “He’ll bleed out within the hour.”
My father screams and fumes and writhes in pain as his blood seeps out of him, while Tavi and I watch. Smoke billows around us.
Vittoria turns away and kneels beside Nonna. She takes her pulse. “She’s okay,” she whispers. “She’ll need a doctor, but I think she’s only fainted.”
“She shot me,” my father says. “Shot me.”
“Rome.” Mario enters with Father Richard hanging onto him. He’s bloodied and bruised and obviously on the verge of passing out. “I’ll tell you everything.”
We drag my father out to the concrete pavement, away from the eyes of first responders who will try to save him. No one will be allowed to save him now.
Chapter Twenty
"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun." — Romeo
Vittoria
“I don’t want to see a doctor.”
Romeo stands in front of the fireplace, giving me a look that would’ve had me quaking even a week ago. Now, however, I stand my ground.
“All I’ve done is what other people tell me to do.”
His jaw is set, and his eyes dare me to disobey him. “I don’t care if you’re injured, bella. I will take you across my knee right here, right now, privacy be damned, and after I redden your ass, you’ll see the doctor.”
And he’ll do it, too.
Why did I agree to marry this barbarian?
A corner of his mouth twitches. “You’re pretty when you pout, but I won’t allow that, either.”
“All this allow,” I say, even as my heart races when he gets closer to me.
It’s been four hours since the fire department came and put the fire out in the chapel.
The door to the reception room opens, and his brothers file in.
“Give me the fucking platter, Tav,” Orlando says. They’re at it again. This time, it’s over a silver tray of finger sandwiches. Mario comes in behind them, and my stomach growls at the smell of pizza.
“You two losers can fight over the fuckin’ tea party girl food, I’m eating pizza.”
“Where’d you get that?” Orlando asks, momentarily distracted from the finger sandwiches. Rosa enters behind him, followed by Marialena.
“None of your business,” Mario says, turning his back to him so Orlando doesn’t grab the pizza. “If there’s any left when I’m done, I might share. Hey!”
Tavi’s got Mario by the back of the shirt while Orlando grabs the stack of pizzas.
“Put ‘em down,” Romeo growls. With a sheepish grin, Orlando obeys.
Rosa curses under her breath in Italian, something about glutinous demons going to hell, but Marialena sits cross-legged on the floor with a piece of pizza in each hand.
“You okay, Vittoria?”
I nod and sit up on the couch, but a stern look from Romeo makes me lie back down. I roll my eyes behind his back, and Marialena grins. She wanted this. I know she did.
“Fill me in, Tav,” Romeo says. He sits beside me and pulls my feet onto his lap. He begins to massage them with his strong, rough fingers. It feels like heaven.
Tavi tells all.
Narciso’s body has already been brought to the dungeon. I don’t know what they’ll do next. I don’t want to know.
“What about Nonna? She should be seen first.” Romeo frowns.
“She’s already met with the doctor.” Orlando scowls. “And I got her locked in her bedroom so she doesn’t try to cook our fucking dinner with a concussion.”
“Whoa. That must be serious if it’s coming between you and your food.” I flush when I realize I might have spoken out of turn, but Marialena’s laugh sets off everyone else’s. Orlando only shakes his head but smiles.
I put a hand to my head, and Romeo’s eyes come to me. “Does it hurt, baby?”
“Yes,” I nod. Tears prick my eyes, but not from the pain. I’ve never had attention paid to me like this before. I’ve never had anyone care about me.
“What about the other errand?” Romeo’s taken a call on his phone and he doesn’t meet my eyes. Is he hiding something from me?
“Where?” He nods. “Keep him there. You’ll leave him for me to deal with. Better have a fucking pulse when I get there.”