AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Well, if no one knew we were hiding out here, they sure do now. She looks him dead in the eye, but before she can say anything, I’m on him.
I push him off of her and grab him by the collar. “You don’t ever get to yell at her, and you don’t ever get to put your filthy hands on her again!”
“She’s my sister, and I’ll do as I damn well please!” he says through gritted teeth, shoving me. He quickly reaches behind to grab his gun and point it under my chin, but at the same time, I reach into my jacket, pull mine out, and bring it to his temple.
Out of my peripherals, I see Tony has his gun pointing toward me, while Enzo is pointing his gun at Tony, and Bash is now standing in front of Anya, who just looks annoyed. Dante has his gun in hand, but he’s waiting to see if he’ll need to use it.
“You’re outnumbered, Dominic,” I say to him as he pushes the barrel to my temple.
“What is going on here?” I hear a voice call from the door. From the corner of my eye, I spot Cesare walking down the front steps.
“Dominic, we do not point guns at our kind hosts,” he says to his son calmly, as if he’s not telling him to put his weapon away.
Dominic’s nostrils flare, and he stands still for a moment, like he’s seriously contemplating a shoot out. He backs away and pushes me off of him.
“Do you know what they’ve done! Did you see what he did to Matteo?” he yells at his capo.
I smile at the thought.
“Hush, boy, I’m still capo, and you will not disrespect me!” Cesare gets into his face and grabs his shirt with both hands. His usual calm demeanor disappears.
“It is done, Dominic. Nothing you can do,” he says as he releases Dominic from his grip.
Sure, we might torture, kill, and bribe, but we have some honor. Marriages were held in high regard in our world. Once God witnesses two lives becoming one, the only way out is death.
Dominic looks at me. “You continue to take from her. She’ll have nothing left because of you.”
Then he looks at her. “He’s only marrying you to solidify an alliance with you, Anya. He’s trying to block us out so the Cosa Nostra has an in with the Triad’s drugs and weapons supply.”
Oh,please.The Triad is bleeding money right now.
“Dom—” she says.
“No. You’ve ruined yourself enough. I don’t want to hear you explain your way out of it,” he says through gritted teeth. And with that, he storms off.
Anya looks at her stepfather. She smiles at him tentatively. His face immediately relaxes, as if he weren’t angry just a few seconds ago. I can see where Dominic gets his short fuse from.
“My daughter, you look beautiful. Congratulations.” He kisses her cheeks.
My shoulders relax.
“You’re not angry?” she asks.
“I had my suspicions the first time you called from here,” he reveals.
Anya’s eyes grow wide. “But—”
“I raised you. I know you. My daughter would’ve fought harder to get home.” He pauses just before he looks at me. “Unless there was something stopping her.”
Anya doesn’t cower. In fact, she straightens her spine and lifts her chin proudly. I love watching her come into herself. I love that I get to be here witnessing it.
“I won’t apologize, Papa. I love him, and whatever consequences there are, I’ll face them.”
“Wewill,” I say as I put my arm around her.
“I’m not thrilled about the timing or the way you went about it,” he says, staring directly at me. “But I’m happy if you’re happy.”
“I never meant any disrespect, Cesare,” I say to her father. “I want her to be my wife. But she’ll get a proper wedding for you to walk her down the aisle.”
