“This was about Elio?” How fucking dare this bastard claim he did this for the betterment of Elio. Who the fuck is he to decide the fate of my son.
“It’s always been about Bettina’s boy. Did you truly think you could walk all over us, and I’d let it lie? You were always going to pay.”
I don’t bother telling him I only gave his worthless ass a promotion because he is Elio’s grandfather or that I have let them see him regularly and ensured he’s fully a part of their family too because the man won’t listen. He’s clearly been holding a grudge this entire time. “I give you my word, your family will be unharmed provided you tell the truth. If I find evidence anyone else in the Da Rosa family was involved, I will take the necessary actions. This is treason, and it will be dealt with accordingly.”
“I swear, Cristian, I didn’t know any of this,” Isa cries. “I love you and Elio. I would never do anything to hurt either of you! Daddy told me Sloane had returned, and I needed to run her off. I didn’t know there was some other plan in place. Please, you have to believe me.”
“Isotta is innocent,” Rafaelo repeats. “She didn’t know.”
“You honestly expect us to believe that?” Sloane says.
“It’s the truth.”
“Whether she knew or not, Isa was still involved,” I say.
“Send her away if you must, but promise me you won’t hurt her,” Rafaelo pleads. “It would break her mama’s heart.”
Caleb snorts. “You have some nerve, Da Rosa. You have dishonored omertà and plotted to kill Don DiPietro, and you beg him to spare one of your own? Why should he? Applying your logic, anyone bearing the Da Rosa name is guilty and should be punished for the sins of one of their own. If it were up to me, I’d shoot the lot of you.”
Rafaelo’s chest heaves, but he doesn’t even attempt to contest Caleb’s words.
“Unlike you, I don’t condemn innocent people for the actions of family members unless they played an active part,” I say. “Whether she was party to the plan or not, Isa still facilitated it, and that deserves punishment. When I’ve heard it all, I will decide her exact fate. I’m already tired of this, so let’s hear it.” I glance at Sloane, and she meets my eyes, nodding to let me know she’s okay. “Start at the beginning,” I tell Elio’s grandfather.
“I had everything handled years ago, but fucking Carmine and that stupid whore ruined it.” His evil eye fixes on Sloane. “Then I get a new opportunity to make you pay, and that whore fucked it all up again.”
I punch him twice in the face, relishing the sound of bone cracking when I break his nose. Blood gushes out of his nostrils, dripping over his chin. “Call her that again. Go on, I dare you. I’ll slit your daughter’s throat right in front of you if you disrespect Sloane again.”
“You sicken me.” Rafaelo glares at me.
“The feeling is entirely mutual, and I’m running out of patience,” I grit out, ready to forgo answers and send his treacherous ass on a one-way ticket to hell.
“I vowed to take revenge on your family after your brother ruined my sweet Bettina and gunned her down in the street like trash, but that vengeance was stolen from me.” He swings his glare Caleb’s way. “I might have let it go, but you fought us for custody of Elio, and you had no right,” he yells, staring at me with so much venom in his eyes I don’t have a hard time believing he genuinely hates my family. “That is when I decided you had to die, your papa too, so no one could stand in our way.”
“How did Carmine fit in?”
“He gave me an in with the cartel. He got into debt to them while vacationing in Mexico. They were going to kill him until they discovered he was Cosa Nostra and aligned with the DiPietro famiglia. Carmine knew I was out for blood, so he arranged a meeting. We agreed to help them so long as they killed you and nullified Carmine’s debt.”
“The nanny strategy was your idea,” Sloane says.
“Yes.” He looks only at me, refusing to direct his reply to Sloane. I don’t want him looking at her anyway, but it’s fucking rude, and I’m going to go to town on this prick when I get to the torturing part of the night.
“I knew you’d hire a new nanny when Isotta wed, so we planned for it,” he continues. “She had the interviewee files in her bedroom. It was easy to copy them so we could threaten whoever got offered the position. The cartel had hired their own tech team to create a fake background for the…for her, and I placed the application among the others.”
“Why did you even need her if you had Vincenzo?” I ask.
“Nothing could lead back to Carmine or me. She was the fall guy. She was to make it easy for the cartel to get to you, but they wanted to fuck with your business as well.”
“Was I targeted because I was from New York?” Sloane asks.
“You were merely in the wrong place at the wrong time. The cartel had men working at several resorts in Cancun. They told them to find a young, pretty American traveling with a friend or a relative. Someone that could be used as bait to force her into cooperating.”
I want to throttle him, but I settle for punching him in the gut. Repeatedly. It barely takes the edge off the blistering rage charging through my veins.
Rafaelo coughs up blood, and he’s struggling to breathe. Caleb shoots me a warning look, a silent reminder not to kill him before we get all the answers.
“I always suspected Thiago was involved.” Sloane clenches her hands into fists. “At least I know now for sure he set me up.”
“I’ll find him,” I promise. “If he’s not already dead, we’ll get him and make him pay.”
“Good luck with that plan,” Rafaelo snarls, and I’ve had enough.
Taking out my gun, I shoot him through the foot.
Isa screams, and Rafaelo howls with pain.
“You’re running out of time, old man, and I’m losing my patience. One would think you didn’t care about your family’s welfare.”
“We have a deal,” he says through gritted teeth.
“Go on,” I say in a clipped tone, pulling Sloane back a little as blood pools around our feet. Isa is back to sniveling again, and she’s giving me a headache. “Shut her up,” I tell Caleb, and he stuffs a dirty rag in her mouth.
In the corner, the other two assholes are stirring from the beatdown Caleb gave them, and it’s almost their time to meet their maker.
“We were to wait for the cartel to tell us when to make a move, but Carmine got greedy, thought he could take you and your papa out at the wedding, and the cartel would be in his debt. Except he fucked it all up, and the cartel was enraged. I believe that’s when they decided to change their plan and target my grandson instead. Fuentes was screaming bloody murder, but I appeased him by promising to take Carmine out. It seems they used that as a distraction. While I was slitting that fat fuck’s throat, they were trying to take Elio.”
“You married that fat fuck to your daughter,” Sloane says. “Why?”
“I didn’t trust him not to shoot his mouth off at a later stage. Isotta marrying him was an opportunity to watch him more closely, and I didn’t plan on keeping him around for long anyway. He was never good enough for her.” He’s answering Sloane’s questions but still not looking at her. She doesn’t seem bothered by it, but it’s seriously pissing me off.
“You truly are evil,” Sloane says. “I hope you burn in hell where you belong.”
He opens his mouth to spit venom at her, no doubt, but I make a slicing motion across my throat that shuts him up.
“I had no more dealings with them after that,” he says. “I wanted to gut that asshole for trying to take my flesh and blood, but my hands were tied. There was an unspoken agreement we couldn’t rat the other party out without risking ourselves. So, I hatched a backup plan. To wed Isotta to you, so I could get close enough to kill you. Then Isa would legally be Elio’s mother, and he’d belong to us.”
Tears are streaming down Isa’s face, and she’s looking at her father like she doesn’t even know him. I think her reactions are genuine, but whether she was a willing accomplice or not, she still played a part, and she will suffer the consequences.
“Except you were still getting in the way when you weren’t even here.” He doesn’t shield his animosity as he glares at Sloane, so I put a couple of bullets in his other foot.
Isa pisses herself, and the smell of urine infiltrates the air.
The two cartel deserters are fully awake now, shouting something behind their mouth tape.
“Cristian wouldn’t entertain any discussion of a marriage contract until recently,” Rafaelo says, having no issue eyeballing Sloane this time.
“No need to look so pleased with yourself,” Sloane coolly replies, shrugging. “Your daughter tried to rile me up with the same bullshit, but your taunts fall on deaf ears, you old fucker.” Sloane grabs my head and smashes her mouth to mine, kissing me hard and fast.
Caleb chuckles, and my lips twitch when we pull apart.
I move my mouth to her ear. “You are so getting fucked later.”
“Can’t wait,” she whispers back before refocusing her attention on the overweight old man tied to the chair. “Cristian has been mine from the minute we met. Your attempts to tear us apart didn’t work because you can’t destroy love when it’s soul deep, bone deep, and it transcends time and separation. You were always destined to fail because you have no concept of what it truly means to love someone.”
She jabs her finger in his face. “If you did, you’d never have tried to kill your grandson’s dad. Elio loves Cristian completely, and you would’ve devastated his heart to the point he would never have recovered.” She bitch slaps him across the face, and it’s a complete insult, whether she realizes it or not. “You’re a petty, narrow-minded fool with no honor and no loyalty.” She turns to me. “Are we done with this because I’d like to get out of here in time to collect our son from school.”
“I fucking love you.” I slam my mouth against hers in a possessive kiss.
“I fucking love you too.”
“Okay, lovebirds,” Caleb drawls, smirking. “Let’s get this show on the road. I’m ready to go home too.”
“I want to know one final thing,” I say, checking the bullets in my gun. “Were you chasing after Sloane, or was it the cartel?”
“It was Pablo Fuentes. I was happy for her to stay gone. I assumed they’d kill her, but the fucker couldn’t even do me that favor before you chopped him into little pieces. Alvaro and Manuel approached me a few months later. Rodrigo was cleaning house, killing any man loyal to El Rey. They knew they couldn’t go home, so they offered their services. They had eyes on her, and when you finally agreed to have the contract drawn up, I told them to start pushing her toward the city. I knew she was holding you back. She was supposed to die when her car blew up, but the idiots fucked up. When they said you had her, I had to think fast, and here we are.”
“You’re a disgrace to Cosa Nostra, and you will die. I planned to do it today, but that’d be too easy. So, you’ll remain here while I investigate every member of your family. I’ll visit regularly to torture you, bringing you close to death only to bring you back each and every time. When I decide you’ve suffered enough, I’ll slit your throat, piss on you, and set your bones on fire. All that will be left is ash, which will flitter away in the wind. You will die with no honor, no grave, and no legacy except for your betrayal. You will die a traitor and always be remembered as one.”
“I will see you in hell, DiPietro. Mark my words, I’ll be waiting for you.”
Isa suddenly screams behind her mouth covering, and she’s a sobbing, shaking, stinky mess. I think reality is only now dawning.
I move in front of her, stabbing her with a dark look. “Elio doesn’t deserve this. He is the one who will suffer because of your selfishness. He loves you, but you couldn’t let it go, could you? You might not have known you were being used, but you were vindictive and self-serving, and I want you out of our lives.”
Opening the door, I call Dano back into the cell. “Isotta is banished. Have someone escort her home to pack up her belongings, but I want her on a plane to Sicily within twenty-four hours.”
“I’ll personally see to it, boss.”
“Put that prick in the corner cell. He’s getting special treatment.”
Dano grins before instructing a couple of his men to move Da Rosa. The old man says nothing to his daughter as he’s led away from her for the last time. No apologies. No regrets. No expressions of love. Sloane is right. The man has no clue how to love. It was about possession and vindication for him.
Standing in front of Isa as her binds are untied, I don’t feel an ounce of pity in my heart. I let her into our lives in good faith. She had full access to Elio, and he loved her, but it wasn’t enough. I have never, not for one second, led her on or given her any indication I was interested in her sexually or romantically. I might’ve reached a different decision today if she showed any genuine remorse for the way she’s treated Sloane, but she hasn’t, and she won’t. The potential for her to interfere in my relationship is too strong, and it’s not like I will ever trust anyone with the Da Rosa last name again. So, this is the way it must be.
Isa has brought it upon herself, and my only emotion is concern for my son because losing his auntie and his granddad will hurt Elio. “Show your face in New York again, and I’ll kill you,” I warn her. “As far as Elio is concerned, his aunt and his nonno died tragically in a car crash. He will mourn you, but Sloane and I will help him through it.”
Isa stares at me with a haunted expression as Dano hauls her out of the cell. I hope I never set eyes on her again.
“Now, on to the last business of the day.” Turning to face Sloane, I gesture at Alvaro and Manuel. “You get to decide their fate. What do you want to do?”
“Can I borrow your gun?” she calmly asks.
I hand it to her and step back as she walks over to the two men. Caleb arches a brow, and I shrug. If anyone deserves vengeance, it’s Sloane.
“Can you take that off his mouth?” she asks, pointing at Alvaro. “No part of me is touching any part of him.”
“Agreed.” I stride forward and rip the tape from his mouth, grabbing a handful of his hair and yanking his head back. “You’re lucky your fate is in Sloane’s hands. If it were up to me, you’d suffer the same fate as that old prick.”
“Your whore swallowed my cum. Think of that next time you fuck that pretty mouth.” A knife is in my hand and pressed against his neck before I’ve even processed the motion.
“No, Cristian!” Sloane shouts. “He’s baiting you.”
“Should’ve fucked that tight pussy and virgin ass when I had the chance,” Alvaro adds, and I dig the knife into his neck, drawing blood, the same time Sloane shoots him in the crotch.
The guy roars, over and over, his entire body convulsing as blood pumps from the hole where his dick used to be.
“I could torture you for days. Make you feel some of the torment I felt, my mother felt, but I don’t need that. I get to live, and you don’t. I will be the bigger person and extinguish your miserable existence in a merciful kill, but I don’t forgive you. I will never forgive you.” Sloane puts the muzzle into his mouth. “Move away, Cristian.”
I walk over to Caleb, and we watch my girl exact her revenge.
“Burn in hell, Alvaro.” Sloane pulls the trigger, and the back of his skull shatters, splattering the wall with brain matter.
Her hand shakes as she stares at him with a look of shock on her face. I gently pull her away and take the gun. “Baby.”
Her eyes lift to mine, and a myriad of differing emotions flicker in her eyes. The enormity of what she’s done isn’t lost on me. This took balls, and my baby has them in spades. But it’s clear she’s in shock, and I need to take control. “You did good, beautiful, but let me kill this other asshole for you.”
Slowly, she nods, and I keep a tight hold of her trembling body as I aim the gun and fire. A clean hole appears between the fucker’s eyes as his head falls back, and his vacant stare points to the ceiling.
“It’s over.” Placing my gun down, I crush her to me, wishing I could absorb all her pain and make everything better. Sloane sinks into my embrace, and her entire body shakes as I hug her. She was so brave, but the hardest part of the journey lies ahead of us as we come to terms with everything that’s happened. I hold her until she stops shaking and releases me.
She looks more composed when she asks, “Now what?”
“Now, baby.” I link our fingers. “We wipe the slate clean and start over.” Caleb holds the door open as we walk out into the hallway. “It won’t be easy, but we will conquer every challenge together. Today is day one of the rest of our lives.”
