Her face falls, seeing just how serious I am about destroying her for what she did to me. “I swear, you little bitch,” she murmurs, her voice hitching a little higher, creeping into dangerous territory of spilling her own damn secrets. “If you say a goddamn word, I will cut your bloody tongue out. Don’t think I won’t. I will destroy you.”
“You see, that’s just the thing,” I tell her, remembering that night during the business dinner when my rejection pushed her over the edge and all I got was a bitch slap before she stormed away, making me realize with complete certainty that she couldn’t be the hooded girl. “I don’t think you will. You don’t have what it takes, and deep down, you know it. You’re just flailing around like the rest of us, hoping you don’t get a bullet through the head. The only difference between us is that you’ve had years of practice, pretending like it bounces right off your shoulders. Though, just between you and me, I think you cry all night and binge eat ice cream and peanut butter because you don’t know how to control the fear. You’re an actress, Ariana, and that’s all you’ll ever be.”
She stares at me, swallowing hard and having no clue how to respond to that, so instead, she looks back over her shoulder and sneers at her husband. “I’m bored,” she says like a whiny brat. “Wrap this up. I want to get out of this dump.”
The corners of Giovanni’s lips pull into a smug grin as he watches his bitch of a wife strut past me, bumping my shoulder harder than any woman has the right to. All is silent apart from the clicking sound of her heels on the driveway as she strides away, trying to hold her head up high. Not a sound is made until she opens the door of Giovanni’s car, slides into the back, and slams it shut.
Giovanni glances back at his sons. “Last chance. Who were you meeting with?”
Levi’s head tilts and a sick excitement pulses through me. “How did my mother die?”
Giovanni stares back at him, his brows furrowed, confused by Levi’s sudden change of topic, though I’m not. Too many questions have been raised about their mysterious mother, the woman up in the tallest tower of this castle, frozen in her glass coffin. It’s been plaguing Levi’s mind, though he hasn’t said anything, I can sense it. It was only natural for him to seek out answers eventually.
“I … why is that necessary?” Giovanni asks. “I am not here to spend hours talking to you about your mother. You are no longer a child.”
“I am not searching for stories, Father. I am searching for answers,” he says, stepping forward and stalking his father, making adrenaline pulse through my veins. Levi doesn’t stop until he’s standing right in front of him, his impressive height towering over Giovanni. “I’m not going to ask you again,” he says as some of the guards switch out their tasers for guns. “How did my mother die?”
Giovanni narrows his eyes, the hard tick of his jaw is a clear indication that he’s losing control. “I wrapped my hands around her fragile throat and I squeezed until she stopped breathing,” Giovanni spits, stepping impossibly closer into his son until their noses are almost touching. “Your mother was a useless swine and did nothing but baby you. She was destroying my legacy, filling your minds with ridiculous stories and unconditional love. She was weak, and every moment you spent around her made you just as pathetic. You should be thanking me,” he spits. “Without me, you three would have been average, just as useless as she was. You never would have had what it takes to stand in my place, but now look at you. I created you in my image.”
Levi’s hand snakes out like a rabid python, cutting around his father’s neck with impossible strength, squeezing just like Giovanni had done to their mother. Levi raises his hand into the air until Giovanni’s feet are dangling above the ground, having the complete power to snap his neck like a damn twig.
I wait anxiously, my knees shaking, silently daring Levi to put an end to all this bullshit and take him out, but before he gets a chance, the harsh metal prongs of another taser pierces his skin. Levi falls to the ground, his knees crushing against the asphalt as his jaw clenches in agony. He hastily releases his father, and Giovanni shakily catches himself, grabbing the bottom of his suit jacket and straightening it up.
Before Levi’s body has even stopped convulsing on the ground, Giovanni gets the fuck out of here like the scared little bitch that he is.
28
The black SUVs careen down the long driveway, taking off like fucking rockets as they hurtle toward the front gates, more determined than ever to get the fuck out of here. “What the fuck did I say about starting shit?” Roman demands, pissed off with each of his brothers, but I’m not going to lie, I can’t find it in me to be upset, that was the most entertainment I’ve had in my life. That shit is worthy of an award. A Grammy? Emmy? A Tony? Which is the one for big stage performances? Because damnnnn, put that shit on a stage in front of thousands of people and they would have received a standing ovation. Fuck the mafia, put these bitches in tutus.