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I want to run upstairs and confront Elena. I’m not sure whether I want to hold her to keep her and our children close or rage at her for her keeping the news from me. For planning to leave without telling me. I’d go my entire life never knowing I was a father.
We leave the penthouse. I sit in the passenger seat as Donovan drives. I should be focused on our plan, but all I can think about are Elena and her pregnancy. My mind is going round and round and round, trying to make sense of her decision not to tell me.
“You sure you’re okay?” Donovan gives me a concerned glance.
“Yep.”
“It’s been a big day. The scare with Elena. Dealing with Romeo?—”
“I’m fine. I just want to be done with this.”
We park down the street from Tiberius’s mistress’s place. We’ve already handed her a duffle bag full of cash, a fake ID that includes a passport, and a ticket to some Caribbean island where she can live in bliss. Once she made a call to Tiberius telling him she wanted him to come over and fuck her tonight, we got her to the airport. I imagine she’s paying some cabana boy fora fruity drink as Donovan and I ascend the staircase toward her apartment.
When we reach it, Liam is already there, lurking in the shadows. When he sees us, he straightens from the wall he was leaning against. "Any last words you want him to hear?"
I’ve been thinking of a few things to say. “Enjoy hell, I suppose.”
Donovan uses the key the mistress handed over to open the door. Inside the apartment, we fan out, taking positions, waiting for Tiberius to arrive. I decide that Tiberius should die like Romeo… at the foot of the bed with his dick hanging out. Well, maybe not that. I don’t want to see Tiberius’s dick.
I sit on the edge of the bed imagining Tiberius's surprise when he realizes he’s about to be fucked a whole different way. With my gun in hand, my mind is a whirlwind of thoughts and memories. I can almost hear my mother's laughter, see my brother's impish grin—both stolen with the help of Tiberius's hand. I roll my shoulders as the anticipation of my promise to my mother and brother is about to be fulfilled.
I hear a slight knock on the wall outside the room. Donovan’s signal that someone is entering the apartment. I rise and wait, running the words I want him to hear before he dies through my mind.
“Where are you? I need a good, hard cock sucking.” Tiberius Abate enters the room.
The dim light from the moon filters through sheer curtains. I tighten my grip on the gun as I lift it toward the man unzipping his pants. The speech I’ve been planning evaporates. All I need to see is the knowledge in Tiberius's eyes that he’s about to die by my hand.
He stops short. His eyes widen in surprise. Then I see it. He knows he’s dead, but I also see he’s going to try and run. I squeeze the trigger. The shot rings out. Blood and bone paint thewall behind him. Revenge is sweet, and at the same time, not. He’s dead. He’s paid the price for what he helped take from me. But my mother and brother are still gone.
Donovan and Liam appear in the doorway.
“You didn’t give him a chance to beg,” Donovan says. “I really wanted to hear him beg.”
Liam snorts. “I’ll get this?—”
“Leave him,” I command. I reach down and pick up Tiberius’s phone. “Maybe there’s something here that can tell us where Giovanni is.” I scroll through it.
"Anything?" Donovan asks.
"Nothing." Frustration seeps into bones. "Motherfucker.”
The image of Elena, looking terrified as I entered the room where Romeo kept her, flashes in my mind. With Giovanni on the loose, she’s in danger. She and the babies. My babies. If Giovanni knew that, he’d kill her for sure.
"Let's go.” I step over Tiberius. At some point, his men will come looking for him here and find him. Hopefully, they’ll get the message. I need to start thinking about what to do about Tiberius’s business, but first, Giovanni needs to go.
“What’s next?” Donovan asks as he drives me back to the penthouse. Liam has gone home but is on call should something come up on Giovanni.
“We call it a night.” It’s nearly ten at night. The close of a day that’s been filled with anger and vengeance. Two of my enemies are dead. Giovanni is in hiding. I figure let him hide. Give him one more night to live. Tomorrow, he’ll pay with his life.
“When we get back, I’ll check in to see if there’s any news. They’d call, but you never know,” Donovan says.
I nod. When we arrive back at the penthouse, Donovan heads to my office. I grab a drink and descend into the thoughts about Elena and her not telling me about the pregnancy. As the booze burns its way down my gut, anger and a feeling of betrayal grow.From the time I took over the Leone Family business, I’ve never allowed betrayal to go unpunished. I set my glass aside and head upstairs because I’m not going to let it go this time, either.
30
ELENA
Steam swirls around me, the hot water carrying away the horror of the day. My fingers trace the bruises on my arms, a stark reminder of the crash and Romeo's grasp. I should be resting, but I’m aware that Niko is gone and I’m worried. Lucia had to take a call from Italy in regard to Giuseppe. Feeling tainted by the events of the day, I climbed into the shower to cleanse it away.
