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“I know Dante killed Carmine.”
And this is why my husband and I never spoke of what happened once I left that room.
Because when I reply, it’s the truth.
“I don’t know anything about that, Paulie. From what I was told, Carmine had sleep apnea for years. Forgot to put on his machine and died peacefully, God rest his soul.”
He punches a cabinet when he doesn’t get the reaction he wants, leaving a fist-sized dent in the wood before growling, the sound angry and aggressive.
“Stop with the fucking games.” Paulie moves, pacing like a caged animal. “It was supposed to be you, you know. You were supposed to be the one whose life we’re celebrating tonight.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, but, of course, I know the answer—Carmine said he and Paulie already spoke about it, about how I had to go.
I was to be taken out as soon as they realized I had flipped all of Paulie’s men, pulling them to my side.
Instead, Carmine was the man who fell.
“Why would I have been killed, Paulie? Your family wants the connection to mine. It would stir up unresolved issues; it could start a war.”
“A war the Russos couldn’t fight.”
It’s then that I make a mistake.
I forget to play dumb.
I forget to be the dumb blonde with good bloodlines who is just here to join the families.
Partially because I am so damn tired of idiotic men who can barely remember to wash their asses assuming I don’t know anything.
I raise an eyebrow, leaning a hip into the counter as I cross my arms on my chest.
“How would you win any war, Paulie, if all of your men were mourning my death?” I tip my head to the side and give him a taunting half smile. “That black eye is healing up pretty slow. Looks like you could use some more sleep. Are you eating okay? Or is the guilt from putting a hit out on your own fucking mother eating at you?”
Red creeps up his neck, anger encompassing his face.
“You’re a fucking cunt. That’s why you need to be gone. I know what you’ve been doing, turning my fucking men against me. Just like my whore of a mom did to my father, turned all of his men so they were loyal to her. Made it so if anything happened to her, they’d all have questions, so she had a safety net to destroy all of us.”
You know, I thought I liked Teresa before, and now I fucking love her. Seeing how much her even breathing clean air riles up this asshole brings me so much joy.
“And you know—Carmine was willing to let it happen. Was willing to wait, let you keep pulling your strings until we were fucking married so he could have that tie to the Russos. But he didn’t know what I do.”
He takes a step forward and I know before he speaks what he’s about to say.
Somehow, Paulie found out about us.
“But you’re already married, aren’t you, Delilah? And even better, you’re married to a Carluccio.”
In this moment, I know I have to make a decision.
Do I deny it and try and talk my way out?
Or do I admit it and start the end now?
I choose the latter, tipping my chin up as I start to talk.
“Oops. You got me, Paulie.” I smile, moving my eyes over him like I’m trying to decode him. “You know, your uncle really threw me for a loop, announcing my engagement to you.” I turn again, giving him my back as if I’m not scared of what he might do while I’m not watching him, resuming my job of filling bowls with chips.
I refuse to let him see the shaking of my hands.
