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But that’s a problem for tomorrow. I haven’t ever stood up to Dad, even before he murdered Mom. He treated us like his accessories, and I’m not going to be anyone’s decoration or pawn ever again.
“I’m ready.”
The four of us get into Lorenzo’s Mercedes and drive until the roads are as familiar as my own hands. They let me out at the far end of the street, out of sight of the house.
Lorenzo turns around and gives me a nod. “Three in the chest, and when he’s down, shoot him in the head.”
In the front passenger seat, Cassius passes an agitated hand through his black curls.
Vinicius grips his shoulder. “She’ll be all right. You know she will.”
A meaningful moment passes between them, and I sense words that have been spoken out of my hearing. Whatever they’ve said, it doesn’t matter right now. My heart’s beating wildly and I need to focus.
“Go get him, kitten. We’ve got your back.”
I take a deep breath, get out of the car, and start walking. My heavy dress rustles on the sidewalk and I keep my chin lifted and my pace slow, as if I really am walking down the aisle of a church. The walk I never got to take the day of my wedding.
My home appears before me, huge in its splendor with its grand columned entrance and sweeping front lawn. After today, I’ll have no mother, and no father. There’ll just be me, and the men who want to claim me as theirs. I walk up the steps and push the doorbell.
I’m home.
19
Chiara
Sunlight dances on the surface of the water. The swimming pool is vivid blue and casts refracted light on my wedding dress. I stare at it, remembering ribbons of blood blooming through the water. Mom’s been near me all year, but now I can feel her hovering closer than ever.
I look up at Dad and Salvatore, dressed for the occasion in suits and suspicious expressions.
“Sorry I’m late,” I tell them.
Salvatore’s eyes narrow at my attempt at levity. Now I’m the unpredictable one, and he’s the one warily watching me and wondering what I might do.
His eyes scour my wedding dress and snags on the engagement ring that he gave me, and I gave away. He flinches, almost like he’s hurt.
“Where have you been?”
My heart squeezes painfully. I was half in love with Salvatore when Cassius carried me out of that church. Our marriage would have been a disaster, but one filled with passion. Heat.Need.
And blood.
The others are raw and bleeding with Salvatore’s loss. There’ll be a power vacuum in this city once Dad is dead, and the most powerful men in Coldlake will be at war.
“With your friends.”
“Why did they let you go?”
I think about that carefully. “I guess they thought it was the right thing to do.”
“Since when did those three ever care about what’s right?” Salvatore sneers.
But I’m not here to discuss Cassius, Vinicius and Lorenzo with Salvatore. The four of them have got nothing to do with why I’m here.
My problem is standing before me in a black suit, eyes narrowed with mistrust, silent at Salvatore’s side. I try to imagine him as a man-shaped target at the other end of Lorenzo’s shooting range, but the adrenalin coursing through my blood tells me he’s not.
He’s Dad.
He’s a living, breathing human being, and the man who brought me into this world. I watch him closely, wondering what he felt in the moments before he murdered Mom. Did he hesitate, and ask himself what the hell he was doing? Or did he plan what he would do in cold blood if she stood in his way?
