Page 5 of A Vendetta That Ruins

Tears spill down my face. “I had to run!”

His jaw tightens. “Why? Why run now when you didn’t go underground when you should have? Six months ago, it would have made a huge difference. Massimo staged your death perfectly, funeral and all. Fuck, it fooled me and my brothers, Anna. If you had gone underground then, no one would have recognized you because you wouldn’t have popped up at my casino looking exactly like the woman everyone for six months thought was dead.”

The tears fall faster. Vincenzo’s not telling me anything I don’t already know. All the trouble and heartache I could have saved by just taking Massimo’s advice. But still it hurts to hear the words.

“I know what I should have done but at the time I just couldn’t face losing my family. Sophia, Massimo, and maybe even their baby. I didn’t want to miss being an auntie.” I swipe at my tears. “I don’t even know how Sophia’s pregnancy test came out, whether it was positive or not and it’s killing me, Vincenzo.”

He wraps a hand around my nape drawing me closer. “That’s why you ran, to find out if you’re an aunt? Tell me the truth, princessa.”

“I took a gamble on not going underground at first so that I could be with my family for the long term, but…”

Vincenzo lifts my chin with the tip of his finger. “But what? Tell me what I want to hear, baby?”

“Because of the feelings I have for you.” I suck in a deep breath, trying to keep the dam from bursting. I’m barely able to get it out on a whisper. “I know you want to keep me, but it’s far more than sex for me. I love you, Vincenzo. Deep-seated emotion, that transcends everything in the bedroom. I really did leave to protect you and your family. They’ll come for Lanah, you know this.”

Vincenzo’s eyes soften.

“No matter that our families shouldn’t be together or that Delz would tell me that you’re the enemy and you’ve gotten me to submit. I can’t change how I feel and I don’t want you to get hurt. The Gallinis will come for all of you.”

Vincenzo starts to say something, but I put up a hand. “Let me get this out. The thought of you and your family in danger, it was just more than I could bear. Your sister Lanah, your mother, all your brothers, and you in danger because of me, I couldn’t take it. It terrified me. I ran to protect you and both of our families. The DeLucas and the Rosellis.”

His lips connect with my forehead as he draws me closer. “Princessa, I love you more than you know. Perhaps from the very day I first rescued you so long ago. I have no idea how you don’t feel how much I love you. You’ve been conditioned not to believe anything I say, but that ends today. I’ve told you time and time again that you’re mine, but I’m going to spend the rest of my days making sure you never forget it again starting tomorrow when I give you my name.”

My throat feels tight with emotion as I wrap my arms around his neck, leaning my forehead against his, just soaking in the warmth of his words and security of his hands.

“It may be a sham wedding for the rest of the world, but for you and me, it’s going to be the day that we express our love for each other because princessa, if you don’t know it already, I love you more than words can say.”

I sniff, looking into those dark eyes as he gently lifts my chin. “Will you marry me, Anna? Not because I’m forcing you, but because you want to spend every day in the future by my side?”

He opens up a little black box and pulls out a sparkling white diamond ring that is far more brilliant than anything I’ve ever seen, placing it on my ring finger. “Marry me, Anna?”

My heart constricts with love for this man. “I’m beginning to get some of my memories back from when you rescued me from Barcelo. You saved me, cradled me in your arms and I didn’t have any recollection like that when I went to the club at the masquerade ball but somehow, I think my soul recognized yours that very night.”

I grasp his face with both of my hands, drawing him to me. “I love you, Vincenzo. Yes, I will marry you. The reason I’m so upset about the wedding tomorrow is not that I’ll become your wife, but that the entire world, including the Gallinis, Rosellis, remaining Cassones, they will all think it’s a sham and until you told me you loved me, I honestly wasn’t sure myself.”

Vincenzo draws me close, closing off any further discussion, capturing my lips, kissing me with such a passion that all of my fears and doubt start to subside. “Tomorrow, every fucking family across the globe will know you belong to me, that you are a DeLuca. Not just to protect you, but to show the world that you’re mine in every way.”

I tug on his tie. “If I’m yours, will you stay?”

He stands, pulling his tie off before unbuttoning his crisp white shirt, exposing his broad muscular chest patterned with an intricate tattoo before unbuckling his belt. The sound of its clank against the floor causes my pussy to clench with anticipation, and when he drops his pants to the floor his upward curved cock is so incredibly hard that it makes my mouth water.

Vincenzo proceeds to undress me as my hand wraps around the velvety steel that will soon be deep inside of me, torturing me until his name flows from my lips in a scream.

6

Vincenzo

I slide out of Anna’s bed quietly after she slips off to sleep, after making her come time and time again. The whisper of her declaration of love still rings in my ears as I drag myself from her bed, get dressed, and head into my office.

Not that I doubted Doc’s abilities for a minute, but I never thought I’d see the need for my mother to go under the knife either. I zip off a few messages, knowing that when I wake in a few hours, every single thing I’ve ordered will be handled down to the letter. And that after last night, I won’t see Anna until she’s walking through the living room to the makeshift altar that will be placed on the balcony so I can marry her overlooking all of Atlantic City.

After tomorrow, everyone in the criminal underworld, including Massimo and the Gallinis will know who Anna belongs to. If the Gallini fucks want to get to her, they will have to get through all of my soldiers in this town with the added security in place since Anna’s escape, in addition to the barriers the elders back in Italy will create.

Even Bastian and the Gallini connections in Italy will be hard pressed to get them to consent to a bloodbath of these proportions to their soldiers without solid evidence, and up to this point, I’ve seen not one thing that substantiates the rumors he spills all across the land.

All the details for tomorrow are arranged, and I know Nicolo and all of our men will have already done what I asked and have ensured all the necessary paperwork is getting couriered over in short order.

I don’t question them at all, the only thing that worries me now is exactly what the Sarones and Gallinis may know. Pa taught me right. No matter how airtight your plan is, always consider what could happen and get a backup plan in place for the fucks who may be coming in from behind. Because sometimes when you think you’re fucking them, they’re coming in the back door to fuck you.