“I wasn’t talking about Luigi, Papà.” She pauses for a beat. “Matteo and I got married.”
That bomb has everyone reacting. Lorenzo and Toni both shout at the same time, and the two other guys have their hands carefully inching closer to the inside of their jackets.
Movement to my right has everyone freezing.
I finally look over, and what a sight.
Gemma’s holding one of my guns with her uninjured hand, raised high enough to aim at her father’s head. “Don’t test me, Papà. I’m not your little puppet anymore. You heard what happened to Frederico.”
“Figlio di puttana.” He continues to cuss under his breath, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. “What the fuck is wrong with you?Youkilled your cousin?”
Gemma swallows. “He was a psychopath.”
Lorenzo throws up his hands. “So what?”
Gemma engages the grip safety, and the men opposite her notice it.
“He drugged me, handcuffed me to a bed, said we’d get married and was about to rape me. I’m sorry if that level of psychopath isn’t concerning to you,Father, because it should be. You should be the one protecting me from monsters like him. He killed Mamma.”
The last words come out in a whisper, and my brain is reeling from all the info. We still haven’t had a chance to catch up yet, but shit, that sounds even more fucked up than I thought.
Lorenzo’s eyes widen in surprise, but he stays quiet.
Gemma laughs humorlessly and shakes her head at him. “Papà, did you hear what I said? Frederico killed Mamma.”
This time, she yells, and while I couldn’t care less if she shot Lorenzo, I know she would. She’s not a cold-blooded killer.
“Passerotta.” I put my hand over hers and take the gun from her, keeping a tight grip on it before addressing the men. “Well, this was very unpleasant, so it’s time for you to leave. As you heard, there will be no wedding for Alessandra or Gemma, and I never want to see your faces here again.”
I wave the gun in the direction of the elevator, and the four men reluctantly walk toward it, Lorenzo at the back of the group.
He suddenly stops and turns around, a disgusted glare aimed at his daughter. “You’re a disgrace to our family. Your mamma would turn over in her grave if she could see you.”
One second he looks like he’s about to spit on the floor, the next he’s howling in pain when one of my small throwing knives hits him in the upper thigh.
“Don’t you ever talk about Mamma again.” Gemma hisses in pain, cradling her right hand to her chest.
“You bitch.” Lorenzo crosses the distance, charging straight for her, malicious intention written all over his face.
I step in front of Gemma before he can reach her, raising the gun and pressing it straight to his forehead. His eyes bulge as I step closer.
“Listen very carefully to me, Lorenzo, because I will not repeat myself. You’re going to walk away right now and stay completely out of our lives and affairs. Consider all ties with the Santarossa family cut, including Gemma since she’s my family now. You’re not going to contact her or even look at her. Forget she exists since you never deserved her in the first place.”
Without taking my gun off him, I walk him to the elevator, only relaxing once the doors close and I activate the keypad.
Then I’m by her side where Ash and Zeno are already tending to her.
Ash is tsking. “Seriously, Gem. You could have let someone else have some fun too, you know?”
“Sorry.” That’s all she gets out before she grimaces.
Ash sighs. “Come on, you wild cat. Let’s see if you managed to damage your hand even more.”
By some miracle, the injury is still the same on the X-ray, and Ash finally puts the splint on her, saying, “No more funny business, okay? I doubt you’ll be this lucky next time.”
She nods with a small smile. “I’ll try.”
Both Ash and Zeno leave with the promise to catch up the next day, after we all get some much-needed sleep.