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“You will or I’ll tie you down and make you fucking listen.” He caught my chin and stared deep into my eyes. “I know you didn’t know who you were. We discussed that, but you weren’t supposed to leave yet.”
“You think I’d stay in that house? With your nonna who wants me dead? Of course, I left!” I tried to wiggle free, but he outweighed me by a lot and was built like a friggin’ tree. “She’s insane and tried to run me out of the city. She dumped me off in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a train ticket to Rome.”
“I know,” he gritted through clenched teeth, as though he had the right to be angry with me.
“Then why turn your back on me? Why let me think you believed your psychotic nonna?”
“Because only moments before I learned the truth about her, that she knew who you were before any of us did.”
“Well, that’s great, Elio, really.” I dripped with sarcasm, knowing it would piss him off. “I’m glad that life is one big chessboard for you and your family to play on.”
“You think I wanted this to happen?” he shouted. “To be separated once again from the only woman I ever loved? I needed her to think I hated you, so that I could flip the tables on her and take over what was mine. Remember, I risked everything to see you in the bedroom that night, because I love you more than anything or anyone. But before I got the chance to tell you my plan, you left, and then I find out from Ugo what you were planning to do!”
“Okay, okay. I’m listening to what you’re saying, but I need to do this. I’ve got this.”
“Are you mad? Sienna, one wrong move and they’ll kill you! Not to mention what’ll happen when Stefano finds out who you are.”
I breathed deep to calm my own fuming anger. I knew us getting mad at one another would only end one way, and though I craved this man, my heart couldn’t take another tug of war. “I need you to hear me.” I slapped my hand over his mouth as he went to speak. “It’s my turn to talk now, okay?” His eyes squinted into an angry glare, but I knew he was listening.
Glad I finally had his attention, I removed my hand and kept my voice even and logical.
“This isn’t some plan we hatched overnight. This has been carefully mapped and thought out. Ugo and Oscar have done their research. They still have allies within the Coppola household, and the uncles still stand firmly behind the family rings. This,” I held up my hand between us and wiggled the ugly ring, “is my ticket in. I will gain their trust, play their game, and when they least expect it, I will implode the syndicate from the inside out.”
“It’s suicide,” he grunted.
“No, it’s smart.” I felt my confidence kick in. “Think about it. The Capris have been fighting the Coppolas for how long? Think of all the lives that’ve been lost. Now, a child from one of the families was taken from the pack and raised unknowingly by the enemy. What a plot twist that is.” I smiled, feeling the excitement. “So, imagine their confusion when I return wearing my family ring with a DNA test in my hand, ready to take over the family business.”
“And how will you ever gain their trust? They know we’re together.”
“They knew we were together,” I corrected, and his face scrunched in anger. “And I’ll tell them the real truth, that I had no idea who I really was, and as soon as I did, I left and came back to them.”
“It’s not enough.” He pushed off the wall and covered his face like his world was crumbling around him.
“Elio,” I sighed, “you know this is a great idea.”
“It’s a brilliant idea,” he snapped. “With the right plays, this could work. This could be the end of the Coppolas.”
“Exactly!”
“But not for you.”
His shoulders fell. “I can’t let you do this.”
“Oh, Elio,” I shook my head at the man who killed for a living, a man most people feared, and laid it out for him. “It’s just not up to you anymore. Despite our painful history, this time around I’m coming out stronger and wiser. My monster blood is the key to ending this lifelong feud to join the two syndicates. The family will have the Don they deserve to have, you. You can’t see it because you’re blinded by your need to keep me under your protection, but I see it clearly, and it’s the best move we have left.”
“No, it’s not.”
“So,” I ignored his last comment, “I’m going to do this.”
“But why?”
“Because when this all comes to a head and your family rises to the top, there won’t be any doubt of where my loyalty belongs. And I could go back to my life with my integrity intact and know I did right by all of you.”
“Go back?” His head did a quick shake. “You can’t possibly think I’ll allow you to go back to your old life. You belong with me.”
“I wish you could set aside your alpha male quality for a just a moment and hear what I actually just said to you. Could.” I repeated the word, not wanting to end what we had either. He just needed to know this move was important for me too.
He closed his eyes and took a second to calm himself. I fully expected him to come at this from a different angle and try to dominate me, but instead, when his eyes opened, I could see acceptance. He knew I wasn’t going to budge.
