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“You’re right. But I won’t be going first. I can promise you that,” I snarl back.
“Oh? How’s that?”
He crumples in front of me, and the woman stares at me with scared eyes. She’s holding the bat in her hand and staring at me as the tears seep from those beautiful blue eyes I once adored.
“Why, Maria?”
She walks away with her back to me and slumps on the bed.
“Because it was always you that I loved. Unfortunately, after you returned from Spain, your father decided that it wasn’t me that you should marry but Graziella. I know that it hurt you as much as it hurt me.”
“He’s your brother,” I say, nodding at Rocco who’s out cold on the floor.
She nods. “I know, but he’s always been shit for a brother. Always tortured me when we were younger, and now, I live under his constant threats.”
“About?”
“Telling Johnny about you and me. Do you know what would have happened to either of us if people had known the truth? That I was still carrying on an affair with you whenever you’d come to town or that you were messing with another man’s wife who’s in the family? Your family, at that.”
Cocking my head to the side, I kick Rocco in his side, but he doesn’t move.
“Yeah, but they’re used to my brand of madness. There’s no real rhyme or reason for why I move the way I do.”
Her shoulders shake as she drops her face into her hands. I step over Rocco’s body, bend down and remove the gun from his hand before sitting beside Maria.
“We were never meant to be, Maria. You’re a good woman. I would have only corrupted you and broken your heart. A man like me can’t be faithful and settle down with one woman. You know that.”
“I could’ve tried.”
“It would have broken you,” I reply.
“More than being with a man I didn’t love and who didn’t love me? A man who punished me daily for loving his cousin a little more than I should?”
I angle my head sideways, watching her.
“I would have destroyed you, Maria. Besides, you didn’t love me. You loved our memories, and being together would’ve assured you that I’d forgiven you. I think you hated being forced into a marriage and circulated from one man to his cousin. That wasn’t my doing. You must find a good man who loves, cherishes, and protects you. I’m not him.”
She’s the first to break my gaze.
“Did you ever forgive me for aborting our child?”
I didn’t think that I had until this moment. So to give her the peace she needs, I say, “Yeah.”
“Can you...would you make love to me once more?”
Shaking my head, I say, “No. It’ll only make it harder for you to walk away.”
She chews on her bottom lip.
“Get packed. Go home to Italy for a while. If anyone asks, tell them you’re grieving Johnny too hard and don’t want to be alone.”
She stares at me for a second longer before nodding her head. “Hand me your phone,” I say.
She does as I ask, and I order her an Uber while she gets packed. Then I send a text from my phone to a burner phone.
When Rocco starts to stir a little while later, I grab his head and bang it against the floor again, rendering him unconscious.
“So, this is goodbye?” Maria asks, standing at the bedroom door facing me moments later.
