AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Or really, anything Antonio-related at this point.
Either way, I’m not about to be stupidanda bombing victim.
The man sets the box on the table and wiggles the lid off.
“Take everything out,” I instruct, my tone sounding a little too much like my father’s.
He extracts a small sheet of paper and a single black rose. He stares at me in question.
“Go ahead.”
He turns away and leaves, looking over his shoulder numerous times, anxious I’ll shoot him.
When I finally pick up the paper, a small message is written on it.
Gigi,
Your father murdered the heir to our family, which means war.
To you, I’m now the villain, an enemy of your family.
Stay in Italy and be safe.
I’m not done with you yet.
—Antonio
What the fuck doesI’m not done with you yetmean?
Is it a threat?
I crumple the note in my hand until it becomes a wad the size of a tennis ball and then grab a candle lighter from my nightstand. My heart feels as on fire as the paper when I light it and watch it burn to nothing but ash. Then as much as I want and need to do the same with the rose, I can’t. Instead, I set it on my nightstand.
All night and the day after and the day after, the reality of Antonio’s note hits me harder.
Antonio is my family’s enemy, making himmyenemy.
It’s always family over everything.
He is loyal to the Lombardis.
Me to the Marchettis.
That’ll never change.
And now, there’s no time for sadness.
No time to play the victim, or I’ll become one.
Each day, I watch the rose continue to die.
When the last petal of the black rose falls, I return to New York.
17
Vinny is dead.
I predicted his death as soon as I learned he had taken Natalia. We discovered his bullet-ridden body in our family’s Cape home and are attempting to fit all the pieces of his death into the fucked-up puzzle it is.
