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No, I haven’t been thinking straight. Thanks to them. Thanks to my uncles’ manipulative scheme in convincing me Sabella betrayed me.
Yes, she tried to marry her best friend to escape being tied to me in name and blood, but for the first time, I see that day with clarity. In one of the most terrifying moments of my life, I finally see everything for what it is.
I see that she did what she did to save herself from a monster who never gave her a reason to believe in him. She gave me her heart once, and in return, I ruined her father before killing him. I never lied to myself about who I am, but as I’m forced to face that I can’t go through what I suffered with Adeline and my mother again, I see it clearly. I can’t lose another person I care about.
I can’t lose Sabella.
If I do, my life will no longer have any meaning.
For the first time, I’m standing on the outside, looking in, and I understand what needs to be done. I understand what she did when she told me she was sorry. She offered me forgiveness, and I threw it back in her face. And I see what I didn’t want to admit, that we can only move forward if I lay my vengeance to rest.
Start anew.
Begin over.
Give us the beginning I stole from us.
All I achieved in my feverish determination to make Sabella mine was drive us to our end.
Yes, I see it all, how my bitterness blinded me and how my uncles exploited that. They made a deal with my rival.
Marziale.
“What did you do?” I ask, shaking him hard.
“It was Daisy Remington’s idea. She came to us with a plan, and we reckoned it worked in our favor.”
Bowled over, I let him go with a shove. “Daisy fucking Remington?”
He has the decency to look guilty. “We made a pact. Laid down borders. Agreed on routes. She wanted Powell’s business. We wanted the rest. Mario would get thirty percent of everything.”
“In exchange for what?”
“For respecting our territories. For avoiding a war between us.”
“And all you had to do before setting this brilliant plan in motion was to remove the only obstacle that stood in your way—me.”
He hangs his head.
His stupidity makes me laugh. “Did you for one minute believe Marziale would honor your terms? Once you’d gotten rid of me, he’d shoot you in the head and take everything. You know that, right?”
“You have to let me help you, Angelo. Let me go with you to find those kids. I know Monte Cinto like the back of my hand. Those mountain passes are treacherous. I did tracking training with the nationalists there in my day. You’ll never find the secret paths into the gorge on your own.”
My man runs up. “A driver is on the way with the 4x4, sir. We loaded the weapons in the cars.”
I look at my phone, and then I go cold. The app is no longer tracking Waldo’s location. His phone signal is dead.
“Please,” Uncle Enzo says. “Taking the kids was never supposed to happen. You have to let me make this right.”
I don’t spare him another glance. He doesn’t deserve my attention. “Bring him,” I say as I turn my back on him and head toward the car. “If he makes a wrong move, shoot him in the head.”
ChapterTwenty-Three
Angelo
One of my men shoves my uncle into the back of the car and slams the door. I walk down the driveway until I’m out of earshot. My heart is in my throat when I call Sabella.
Her words rush through the line. “Are you on your way home?”
