I would never be afraid again.
Then, with my fists clenched at my sides and my voice loud enough that none of my words could be misheard, I said, “Make sure you’re the first to pull the trigger,sugar.”
Chapter 51
Camillo Vicari
August, 2025
Castello dell’Fiero, Calabria, Italy
Iclung tightly to the arms of the chair. Luca’s hands gripped my shoulders, keeping me from collapsing. Daisy was there, on the screen in front of me, disheveled, her face swollen, barefoot and still in the dress from the night before. They’d propped her up in a chair facing a monitor, surrounded by soldati flanking her with AK-47s. And right there, beside her, was the one face that stirred the deepest hatred within me.
Cissio Accorinti.
That son of a bitch had posed as one of my own, convincing my Piccola Furetta that I was the one who’d ordered her execution.
I buried my hands in my hair and gripped tight.Dio, I didn’t know whether to sob, scream, or blow my own brains out. Iwould never hurt Daisy. Never. The second my finger faltered on the trigger back in Mississippi, a part of me knew I’d never be capable of hurting that woman. But pride, fear, and duty had tried to convince me otherwise.
Worse. They’d convincedher.
“Camillo…” Luca choked out, formalities and rank forgotten. Neither of us had the stomach for protocol, not now. “We will rescue her. Trust inDio.”
I laughed bitterly, tears blurring my vision. “Diowashed His hands of me a long time ago, Luca. You know that as well as I do.”
“Forgiveness is guaranteed to those who truly repent.”
My breath hitched, and I swiped at my eyes to dry them. Maybe Luca was right, but it didn’t change a damn thing. My Piccola Furetta was alone in that room with thosefigli di puttana, believing I’d ordered her death, while I sat here in Castello dell’Fiero watching it all on a screen. Helpless. Unable to protect her.
“Tell me they’ve tracked the signal…” I groaned, adjusting the earpiece. Accorinti’s words were tearing through my insides. If he decided to kill Daisy right then and there, I’d be unable to stop him.
Luca sighed, his hands squeezing my shoulders with grim resolve. “Our ragazzi are trying to follow the trail, but there are too many leads… It’s going to take time.”
“And Don Zaccaria? Filippo Barone? Don Finisterra and the other families? The rest of the Cosa Nostra?”
I had called in every favor, reached out to every ally I had.Dio, I would move heaven and earth just to get her back.
“They’re already mobilizing. Don Zaccaria has locked down Gioia Tauro; his men are tearing through every container and ship. No one gets in, no one gets out. Don Barone has his men intercepting Rinaldi vehicles and has given the order to open fire on sight. The entire Cosa Nostra is putting boots on the ground, and Don Finisterra has already sent over coordinates for Accorinti’s known warehouses.” Luca reported, and for the first time, I allowed myself a glimmer of hope.
And in the very next instant, it shattered right before my eyes.
“What the hell is thisfiglio di puttanadoing?” The words died in my throat, the blood draining from my face the second Accorinti turned on the screen in front of Daisy. I recognized those images. “It can’t be…”
Luca leaned over me. With trembling hands, he unplugged my headset and cranked up the volume on the speakers. “Impossible,” he breathed.
Helpless, I watched as Daisy’s face went completely slack, her gaze turning to ice as the images scrolled across the screen. She was watching the moment I killed my own son and my ex-wife.
I felt something snap inside me.
How do you even put something like that into words? How could I tell her that I’d let hatred consume me? That I’d allowed revenge to be my only compass, and that was why, even now, I couldn't sleep through the night? That the reason she’d found me screaming the other night was the crushing weight on myconscience? I regretted every second of my existence for killing my bambino. How could she ever look at me again after seeing the monster beneath the skin?
I hadn't been able to keep anything down since last night, and thank goodness, because the only thing I wanted to do at that moment was to vomit my guts out.
“It’s all my fault…” I moaned, my vision nothing but a blur of tears. “I’ve lost her forever, Luca.”
“No, Camillo. Have faith in Signorina Parker.”
I shook my head. “I’m a monster, and now she’s seen it.” Tears streamed down my face. “She’s sweet, she's kind, and I’ve ruined her life. I should have finished it in Mississippi, or let her go… I should never have dragged her into my world. I should never have touched her. I don’t deserve her, Luca.”
