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“No, Christiana. He is not. Born of sin, he died of sin before he had a chance to take a single breath. Now, be a good little girl and accept your fate. No one is coming to save you.”
“I will kill you,” I said. I felt nothing inside, absolutely nothing. My entire world had been yanked out from under me.
He laughed then glanced down the length of me. “I will return to walk you down the aisle. Then you won’t need to see me again. Isn’t that what you want?”
After saying something I couldn’t hear to Olga, he left. The sound of the door closing was as if an end had just occurred, my world shattered in the space of a short period of time. I moved toward the single chair in the room, so sick inside that I knew nothing would ever matter again.
Olga remained, but at least she was quiet. I eased my head into my hands, rocking as I tried to make sense of everything that had happened. Only a few minutes later I heard footsteps and bristled, fisting my hands. I’d been unable to stop the tears. When I heard Dante laugh, I lifted my head, immediately wiping away my tears. “You’re such a bastard. You and my father deserve each other.”
He burst into laughter, studying me as if I was nothing but a piece of furniture.
“What’s wrong, princess? So I hear you believed that your knight in shining armor was going to save the day? How naïve of you.”
Exhaling, I tried to hold my head high as I rose to my feet, inching closer. Then I managed to laugh even though it was obvious he was here to burst what was left of my bubble. “Maybe I am, Dante. At least I know what you’re made of, the brutality you enjoy inflicting. Is that something your father taught you?”
He snapped his hand around my neck, yanking me onto my toes. As he squeezed, stars floated in front of my eyes. I could tell by the darkness in his eyes how much he hated me.
“Don’t worry, my beautiful bride. I don’t want this any more than you do, but I’m required to have a wife prior to taking over from my father. You will do. For now. You will surrender to me at all times, or I will make good on my promises.” He shook me violently before pitching me backward. I caught my heel in the long train, gasping from pain as my hip hit the corner of the desk.
“What did you do to Francesco?” I spit at him, an icy chill already forming. I had to be hard edged and find a way out of the situation by myself. Unfortunately, I wasn’t certain who I could trust.
“What was necessary. Your father said you needed proof Francesco was dead. I thought it would be the perfect wedding present. This is what’s left of the man you were supposed to marry. He thought he could fool me. He and his worthless family. What you don’t know is that the priest who is required to marry us will be the one who gives his best friend’s eulogy tomorrow. What a shame we won’t be able to attend.” He yanked out a photograph from his tuxedo, flicking it at me. Then he laughed when I didn’t pick it up right away. “You and your father saved me the trouble of finding out the man responsible for taking what should have belonged to me. Your fucking virginity. Francesco Arturo got what was coming to him. Finally. Now, I am the star of my family.”
The twisted smile remained on his face as I finally glanced down at the floor, the vivid photograph not unlike the one my father had handed me so gleefully.
Only this time, the picture depicted blood and death. Not life.
And I threw my head back and wailed.
The love of my life was truly dead, murdered in cold blood.
CHAPTER 24
The wedding day…
Francesco
The last twenty-four hours had been excruciating.
I’d been talked off the rails more than once. By Maxwell. By Dominick. By Cayman.
By my sister.
Hell, I’d spent more time with Meghan and little Brock in an effort to keep remembering there were decent things in the world. Why? So a bloodbath wouldn’t rain in the streets. And I’d been staying out of sight. One night. That’s all the patience that had been required but I could barely contain my anger.
Both Raleigh and Madisen, Viper’s fiancée had consoled and nursed me, the bullet wound clipping my shoulder still hurting like a son of a bitch. The fucker who’d managed to drive a single bullet into my flesh instead of the bulletproof jacket I’d worn under my suit was a bad shot.
Fortunately, no one else had been hurt, the plans we’d put in motion quickly preventing loss of life. Plus, the drive-by had been on cue as planned, our soldiers able to provide notice the driver had been on his way.
The dangerous game could have gone terribly wrong on so many levels, but we’d gotten lucky. The police had swarmed in, tracking down the ‘killers’ in less than eight hours. I’d found it interesting that Dante had willingly sacrificed his men, but he was certain he had the mayor, the police commissioner, and various law enforcement officials under his thumb.
We’d allowed him to think that way.
Meanwhile, I’d been forced to endure as much suffering as I knew Christiana had to be. Had she been told about my death? My guess was Dante had picked today to do so.
Her wedding day.
Up until now, she would have continued to believe I was putting a stop to the charade. I’d shared everything with her, except for a single detail. That we’d lured the Bianchis into making an attempt on my life. I’d been terrified she wouldn’t be able to provide a real time appearance of shock. I hated that I’d lied to her, but there’d been no other choice with what the family had been forced to face.
