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“My mother? I was ten when she died. Make it make sense, Oz.”
“Gramercy fucked up. He was told to kill Sandro to stop him from taking over La Familia. The old guard?—”
“That’s where I was going, Alessandro,” Pop tells me, “When I wanted to send you to live with this rat. I was going to kill those bastards. I knew they ordered the hit but killed my Rosalie instead. It was a mistake that they paid for with their lives.”
“Gramercy? That’s the asshole who did this to me? That’s his name?”
“Yeah, Ellis. I found him that night the cops got you to the hospital. I helped him instead of letting him die. He told me he’d finish the job and I'd take over. He’d be my personal hand of God. Over the years, he’s proved useful. When Sandro got sick, it was the perfect time. He was to take you both out, and I could be the Don. Fuck you both. You killed my sister.”
“No, that maniac did, and he’s rotting in the Bronx River as we speak.” I walk over to Oscar’s dangling body, shaking my head, sick of death, sick of being the butcher. I hand the knife to my father.
“Wait, you promised—” Oscar gasps and grunts as Pop takes to his gut with the blade but stops when I start speaking.
“The kid I strung up in here, those shooters, you hired them, didn’t you? And the businesses, that was you?”
“Yes, I had to make you think we needed to get into guns to protect and grow our territory.”
“You stubborn old goat. You would have had the Bratva slaughter us all for moving in on their territory. I told you that guns were a bad idea. You should have listened to me. You guys have fun.”
“You don’t want a slice, Alessandro?” Pop asks.
I look at Oscar for the last time in my life. “No, my time with him is done. I never said I was going to use the knife, so he won’t make a liar out of me. He’s been in league with the man who killed your wife, my mother, who tried to kill me, and he kidnapped the mother of my child. I’m going home. Burn it down when you’re done. I don’t give a fuck.”
“I’m going to hang around, Less,” Lorenzo says with a wicked grin. “Something about that chainsaw is calling my name. Besides, I think you and Evelyn are going to need the house for a few days. I’ll check in with you.”
We lock arms, shake, and I leave the beautiful mansion on a discreet back lot on a street not well traveled in Staten Island. When I get back home, I unload the money from the back of the car and head inside where Jenkins tips his head to me.
“You two, enjoy yourselves. I’m taking a vacation,” he jokes, but I stop him.
After going into the bag to pull out a few stacks of money, I hand it to him. “I’m sorry, Jenkins. I’ve been an ass to you, but it was your doing your job that let us find her. Thank you.”
“Just keep her safe,” he says, taking the money with a light salute before heading out the door.
I half expect the kitchen to be blazing with pots, pans, the oven on, and music playing, but it’s empty. I take the steps up to the bedrooms where I hear the softest hum of someone singing to themselves.
“Mio dolce.”
31
EVELYN
“It’s nice to see you not covered in blood and home far earlier than sunrise.”
Alessandro undresses dreadfully slow with a devilish smile on his face. His voice is low and loaded with desire as he eyes me in the bathtub. Licking his lips, he continues stepping out of his clothes until he’s naked.
A few steps land him in front of me, cock semi-hard, which I intend to fix immediately. However, when I reach out to grab it, to bring him closer, he moves back and bends down to kiss me.
“I’m going to shower first. Meet me in there.” He winks and turns to walk away from me, the scar no longer a silent symbol of his suffering but rather a triumphant commemoration of his survival.
I can’t let him shower alone, taking the plug out of the drain for the water to disappear as I make my way into the shower behind him. Everything I expect to happen doesn’t. Alessandro’s dominant demeanor is softer as he takes a body sponge, lathering body wash all over it to wipe me down from head to toe.
When he finishes, I wash him in the same manner. His fingers work shampoo into my hair where I moan under the firmness of his touch. He even helps me detangle my hair. I don’t know how long we stay in the shower, but it’s long enough to wash away the stench of today.
In his bed, we stare into each other’s eyes as he plays with my hair.
“You have no idea how scared I was today, Evelyn. Then when I went to Kathleen and found out” —his hand drifts down to my flat stomach— “you could be pregnant, it made me wish I’d held you close. It made me wish that I'd loved you sooner, but it reminded me that as long as I love you, someone’s going to see you as a way to get to me. I won’t stop loving you, but after all of this, after all you’ve been through, I understand if you want the annulment.”
“I love you, Alessandro. I want us to be together. Sitting in that place today with that guy?—”
