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Why now? Now, when she finally found love and peace in her life. The decision to break away from the family business had unconsciously been made within the first two months at the farm. She loved the freedom and living so close to nature, not having to look over her shoulder wherever she went. That decision was reinforced the night of the auction when she met Kevin and Keith... the two men she had unconsciously come to love with all her heart. She wanted to stay on Splendor Orchard and never see her depraved family again... except her mother had other ideas.
Preparing to kill yet again felt like a direct betrayal to the Frazer family, especially since they fought to eliminate criminals... like the Sanchigo Mafia, her father, and God help her, even her. Maybe it was time she realized she had been living in a bubble of her own deceit. No one in their right mind would ever expect men who fought so hard to eliminate evil from the earth to set aside the deeds she had done. Once they found out who she really was, their love would burn to ashes, to be dissolved by a wind of fury.
“Ah, I see the cavalry has arrived.” Fiorella’s cackle sounded like a witch from the Medieval movies Aria used to watch as a child. “Just in time, too. Marino, your targets are the two Frazer boys. If the principessa hesitates to shoot President Lee, kill the young one first.”
“You’re no fucking mother. You’re worse than Father ever was. At least he never blackmailed me to do anything.” Aria was fuming. Her eyes burned as her gaze caught the two men alighting from the military vehicles. They seemed to be involved in a heavy argument. She bit back a gasp as Kevin socked Keith on the chin so hard that he fell to the ground.
Closing her eyes, she silently wept for them. She could feel their anger, their torment at what they believed to be her betrayal. They weren’t wrong. Even though she was here, not of her own want, her initial intention had been to kill them. In the end, she had deceived them.
How was she to know she would lose her heart and have no desire to hurt them anymore? To let her vengeance go and break the graveside promise she had made to her father?
None of it matters, Aria. You lied to them. Keith might forgive you, but Kevin... that man never will.
That hurt more than she cared to admit. She loved both men, but Kevin held a deep soul connection that held her bound to them, no matter how far apart they were. No one had to tell her they had found out the truth about her—her soul knew. She could feel how much he hated her now—with as much passion as he used to love her.
“We need to act now,” Fiorella sneered as the group of men at the front gate of the compound made contact with the guards. “Before they warn the president’s personal guard, and they take him into the underground bunker. Now, Marino. Give the order. Be ready, Aria. I’m warning you. Don’t miss, or your two lovers are dead.”
“Don’t worry, Mother, I have no intention of missing.” With slow movements, she placed six ninja stars on either side of her sniper rifle and ensured her Glock was placed close to her left hand. Careful not to draw attention, she removed the silencer from her rifle. Whatever happened after she took the shot, she was ready.
“Now, Aria! The president is about to come out onto the patio.” Fiorella’s voice pitched excitedly as she shuffled on the spot. It was evident the visions of power this night would bring to her in the future had completely taken over common sense.
Aria ignored her and concentrated on Marino. His gun was aimed at Keith. Her heart hammered in her chest as the door of the presidential suite opened, and the chunky figure of President Lee and his wife appeared to address the crowd who stood in the street, supposedly there to honor him with song and dance on this night... his birthday.
Aria breathed in, closed her eyes briefly, and with a quick swivel of the rifle, she changed her target. Keith’s stern face appeared in the telescope. Releasing her breath, she squeezed the trigger. The loud crack of the shot sounded like thunder over the hush of the people below.
Chaos erupted as the crowd was alerted to the impending threat. Shrieks of terror pierced the air as people began pushing and scrambling over one another in a frenzied attempt to flee the area. Adults grabbed children, pulling them along as they ran for cover. Many were knocked to the ground and trampled underfoot in the panicked stampede. Bodies crammed into doorways, desperate to get inside buildings and out of harm’s way.
The president’s security guard yelled urgently, trying to maintain order while swiftly mobilizing to form a protective barrier around President Lee. Bodies pressed and jostled, driven by primal fear. The panic was palpable as the crowd fled in horror from the attack they knew was coming.
“Vanculu! What are you doing?” Fiorella shrieked. Aria ignored her, grabbed her Glock, and without hesitation shot Marino, the bullet disappearing into one perfectly round hole between his eyes. He was dead before his body hit the ground. The ninja stars incapacitated the other men, who jostled in confusion. Their cries of pain echoed over the sudden quietness as the echo of gunshots quieted.
A quick glance at the compound confirmed that President Lee and his wife had been taken to safety. Aria sighed with relief... until she turned and came face to face with a furious tigress, ready to rip her to pieces. The flash of the knife glinted in the moonlight, warning Aria, who just managed to roll out of the way.
“Really, Mother? You’re going to kill me?” She stared at the enraged woman with disbelief. A wrathful witch who she didn’t recognize. Her face was pulled into an ugly grimace as fury burned holes in her eyes; they were that ablaze.
“You little bitch! You just destroyed years of planning and sacrifice. All gone in one stupid act of selfishness! No one fucks with Fiorella Sanchigo, Aria. No one. Not even you!”
With a high shriek, Fiorella charged at Aria, the knife slashing through the air. Dropping the gun, Aria jumped to her feet and out of range.
“I’m not going to fight you, Mother. I sure as hell won’t shoot or hurt you.”
“Vaffanculo! I don’t give a shit! You are a selfish bitch. Did you, for one second, think about the future of the family business when you chose that bastard Frazer over me? Your sisters? We don’t need betrayers in our midst, Aria. You are no longer my daughter.”
Aria’s heart bled at her words, yet her soul strangely felt at peace. Somehow, it made knowing her mother had lost complete sense of reality easier.
“Well, good,” Sera’s voice sounded clipped and cold as ice from behind Aria. “It makes doing this much easier.” The soft pop of the rifle and Aria’s cry of “NO!” echoed simultaneously through the still night.
With horror, she watched the red splotch on her mother’s chest spread, like a carnation coming to full bloom. Fiorella’s eyes widened as she touched her chest, disbelief at war with terror in the gaze that caught and held Aria’s.
“N-No... I’m not r-ready to d-die...” The stammer sounded broken and forlorn as it drifted off into the atmosphere.
Aria sank to her knees, incapable of rushing over to comfort her mother. Perhaps she didn’t want to acknowledge that, for some reason, what she felt watching her take her last breath was relief and not sorrow or pain. She could not comprehend the flood of emotions coursing through her. Where there had once been a heart hardened by vengeance, now beat the heart of someone starved for affection.
It was undeniable. She knew then. The unconditional love shown by Keith and Kevin had awakened in her an overpowering need to embrace life, not death. Except they must hate her now, even though it was their caring natures that had purged her of the need to be like Salvitore and Fiorella Sanchigo. She thought back to the tender gazes, the gentle caresses, the comforting words whispered late at night. They had spent every night with her from the night she had committed to them at the club, until they had to leave for a mission. In such a short time, they had become the center of her existence. With them, the cold loneliness that had enveloped her soul began to thaw. For once, she felt cherished for who she was, and not what she could do.
They had come to love her. She saw it in their eyes, felt it in their warm embraces. Her heart skipped a beat with the flood of reciprocating emotion. She loved them, too—with a depth of feeling she never thought possible.
Trembling, she sat flat on the ground, knowing that a future without Keith and Kevin would be a life not worth living. Overwhelmed by the revelation and realization that was exactly what would happen, Aria felt the tears well up in her eyes. She was so tired of the years of pain and hardship.
