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The breath hisses out of me and I hear her intake of breath. I glance down to find I’ve wrapped my fingers around hers and have squeezed. I loosen my hold, but she doesn’t let go.
"You didn’t hurt me," she insists.
"You shouldn’t come to the funeral," I snap.
"We’ve been through this, already." She firms her lips, "Now is not the time to pull back. Now is when I appear by your side. Now is when we show the world that they didn’t strike us down. That I am still alive."
"And mark a target on your head again?" I growl.
"I’ll be safe as long as I am with you."
"You’ll only be safe when you are away from me."
"I beg to differ."
"Why are you so stubborn?" I growl.
"Why are you so...so...pigheaded?" she snaps back.
I scowl at her and she flushes, but doesn't look away. Her eyes blaze with that inner fire that has attracted me to her from the beginning. That I need to resist if I have any hope of letting her go. I take a step back. "Just this once, I am allowing you to have your way," I set my jaw, "but make no mistake, once Christmas has passed, you will return home to London."
I release her, begin to walk away.
"Twice," she calls out behind me. "That’s twice you’ve let me have my own way."
I stiffen.Minchia!She’s right. First, I allowed her to continue with the Christmas festivities, and now, I’ve acquiesced and allowed her to come to the funeral. Goddamn it, she’s getting to me and I am not even aware of it. The faster I get her out of my sight, the faster I can go back to being how I was.
Alone. Focused. This time, on revenge. It’s the path I have chosen for myself; the path I should have never allowed her to sway me from.
I turn away from her, then walk down the stairs and open the door for her. We step outside where Antonio, Sebastian, Christian, Adrian and Massimo wait for me. I slide into the driver’s seat of my Maserati. Sebastian holds the passenger door open and she slides in next to me. He slips into the back seat, along with Antonio.
Massimo follows behind in his car with Christian.
We complete the fifteen-minute drive to the chapel in silence. The last time I was here, I had faked my own funeral. This time… It’s real… More than real.
I ease the car into a parking space in front of the chapel, push open the door and step out. I walk around to open Beauty’s door. I hold out my hand and she places her palm in mine. I tuck it into the crook of my elbow, then walk forward. Sebastian follows me, and within minutes Christian, Adrian, Massimo and Antonio fall into line behind me. We walk into the chapel and every person turns to watch us. The place is packed, as is to be expected. I walk to the front row, guide her to our seats, when she stiffens. I glance over as Nonna rises to her feet. She closes the distance between us and holds out her hand.
"Nonna," I take her hand and kiss her fingertips. Her fingers tremble. I glance down into her face, take in her anguished eyes. Her features are composed though. I wouldn’t have expected anything else.
She grips my fingers as she gazes up at me. "Mika," she swallows, "I hope you are going to hunt them down and teach every last one of them a lesson."
I bend my head, and she kisses my forehead. She releases me and turns to Beauty. Something unspoken seems to pass between the two women. My Nonna nods. She steps back, takes her place next to my father, who turns his face away from me.
Typical. In times of crisis, you can count on my father to retreat into that stony place inside of him where none of us can reach him.Like me. Che cazzo.Where did that thought come from? I am nothing like him.
I will not let myself become like him. I am far more focused, have more empathy for my brothers, for my clan. Hell, if it weren’t for that, I’d have gunned down every single head of our rival clans, and all of the other families. I’d have shot first, then asked the questions.
Instead, I have my men searching, identifying who was behind it… Then, I’ll begin the killing. Which is only fair. An eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth. The death of their entire family for the death of my brother and my unborn child. Yeah, that’s only right.
There’s a commotion behind me. I turn to find Luca prowling up the aisle.
5
Karma
I glance around to find Luca stalking over to Michael. What the hell? What is he doing here? Michael stiffens, his nostrils flare, and color suffuses his features. His shoulders seem to grow even bigger in size, stretching the material of the suit-jacket. He pivots, closes the distance to Luca, then smashes his fist into Luca’s face.
There’s an audible gasp from the congregants as blood spurts from Luca’s nose and drips to the floor. He staggers back, then straightens. He makes no move to defend himself as Michael plants his fist in his left shoulder, then his right, then slams it into his stomach. The breath whooshes out of him and he drops to his knees. He bunches his fists at his sides, bows his head almost in supplication as he waits…and waits.
