Chapter Thirteen
“Sometimes things are lost, and oftentimes people are lost causes.” —King Campisi
Ivan
I walked past them.
They had no choice but to let me. It would be a bloodbath and I’d just taken over the De Lange Family with its own blood.
Junior was the rightful heir to a Family that never tried to save anyone, let alone themselves. Knowing what I knew now.
It finally clicked into place.
Everything.
The secrets, the lies, the desperation, and the need to be cautious if I was going to actually stay alive and make sure I did the same for Bella in the process.
She would hate me even more for this.
And I knew, as we stepped outside of that house, that I’d left what innocent parts of me I had left with the blood—Junior had played me so perfectly with every moment, the stabbing, the killing, he’d basically groomed me beneath him with this in mind. And he’d told nobody.
I lifted my chin toward Tank—he’d just started working with Junior on making sure the De Lange Family and the rest of the orphans, myself included, were up to par as soldiers within the ranks—just stared at me, face impassive.
“What?” With a shaking hand, I pulled the De Lange ring from my pocket, covered in Junior’s blood, and held it in the air and put it on my right hand. “Any questions?”
Tank paled, his eyes flickered to the other bosses standing at the door. “None, sir.”
I knew the men were nervous, concerned, but a few of them smirked. I made a mental note which ones and got into the first SUV. “Let’s go, Bella.”
“You’re taking her?” Tank asked.
“You’re questioning me?” I laughed. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I take her? I already stole her virginity and claimed my throne, shouldn’t I at least get to keep my prize?”
Tank clenched his fists.
I saluted him with my middle finger. “Relax, she’s just an Abandonato, I think I can handle her. Besides, if you ever want to see this pathetic Family rise to their former glory, you’re going to need one of the most powerful bosses on your side and they would do absolutely…” I gripped Bella’s chin between my thumb and forefinger. “And I do mean absolutely anything, for his cousin, including marry her to the very monster who killed his best friend. After all, isn’t that kind of how it happened so many years ago? Phoenix nearly stole her mom from Nixon. or wait, did he just take what wasn’t his to take? I get confused, and then Phoenix rose from the ashes, pathetic really, even if he is related, and then the De Langes were weakened, you know why? Fear. You fear what you don’t understand and what you can’t control. So get this right.” I turned and faced the men. “Fear me. Because I have no loyalty and no shits to give. I took this position in cold blood, and I’ll kill anyone who stands in my way. Soon, our name won’t be whispered like a curse, no, the De Lange name will drop from every mouth with respect, admiration, and fear.”
Bella started sobbing silently by my side. She was cracking bit by bit and I knew it was all my doing.
I pulled her against me, then pressed an angry kiss to her mouth, bruising both our lips, making a vow in front of everyone. “As of today, Bella Abandonato and I are engaged as per the rights established by Frank Alfero and Luca Nicolasi, forefathers of the Families, if someone takes innocence, they must join their hands in blood and unite their souls forever to prove their worth and loyalty.”
“But—” Bella started talking.
So I kissed her again. The last thing I needed was for her to ask where I found the old rules or who told me about them.
Our teeth clanged while I shoved her against the car and slid my mouth down her ear. “Trust me.”
“C-can’t.”
“Must.” I gripped her by the hair and pulled her head back. “Now smile.”
“Never.” She spat in my face.
I wiped it with a piece of her hair and winked. “I like a little fight.”
“I’ll kill you in your sleep.”
“What makes you think you and I will be sleeping when we’re together?”
Some of the men started laughing, I again, took note, and shoved her into the car. Tank immediately got into the driver’s seat and buckled up.
We pulled out toward campus.
The party was tonight.
And Ash was right.
We couldn’t fail.
Because everything banked on it.
Our very lives.
Now it was all on my shoulders, the fear of slipping up, and most of all, the truth.
Shit, the fan wasn’t going to get hit—it was going to burn the world, and I’d bet he’d be the one holding the matches. Had my entire life been foreshadowing this big moment?
We drove in silence. Her hands were shaking in her lap. I reached over and grabbed one of them. She tried to pull away, but I held firm. Bella started relaxing a bit like she knew this was her fate for now, but I knew better, she was plotting, planning.
Tank cleared his throat. “Want to explain, young one, because boss or not, I’m around five seconds away from emptying my entire gun into your pathetic twenty-one-year-old body.”
“Glad you asked.” I sighed and looked out the window. “It’s strange, isn’t it?”
“Talk faster?”
“People always talk about phoenix’s rising out of the ashes, but they never talk about the eagle who bathes in them.”
Tank’s green eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, he cursed under his breath and answered back, “That’s because where one rises and falls, another takes its place. Eagles are often overlooked, they bathe themselves in the ashes to look like the phoenix that used to be worshipped but it’s the same as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, they’re not there to resurrect… no, the eagle, it’s there to destroy.”
“And destroy it will.” I grinned. “After all, sometimes, there is no choice.”
Bella looked between us. “Are you guys seriously quoting some weird sort of poetry right now?”
“Settle down.” Tank sighed. “It’s going to be a long night.”
“I’m not sleeping with him!” she yelled, then tried to head butt me.
“Whoa.” I shoved her away. “Like I want to touch you.”
“YOU DID! You kissed me.”
Tank’s glare was back in full force. With his nearly shaved head and angry eyes, I almost felt the need to sink into my seat for a second.
I held up my hands. “It was an accident!”
“WE WERE NAKED IN A SHOWER AND IT WAS AN ACCIDENT? JUST LIKE YOU KILLING JUNIOR? WHAT DID YOU SLIP ON YOUR OTHER GUN?”
I looked to Tank for help.
He held up his hands and turned up the music like he was already finished before we began.
Yeah, it was my war now, and I’d basically just captured Helen of Troy without permission. My demise would be swift if Nixon caught me, which is why I needed proof.
Damn.
There was no rule book for rage and retribution, for destruction and war.
When we pulled up to campus word, I assumed word had already spread if the general fear in people’s faces was to be believed.
I hopped out of the car and pulled Bella roughly next to me, wrapping my arm around her as we walked toward our dorm.
People whispered, a few of the guys, ones I knew worshipped the ground Junior had walked on, had nothing but anger and clutched fists, good let them think they can scare me.
I winked over at one of the taller guys with bulky muscles; he was a talented basketball player, one of the favorites, Junior had supported him a ton.
He had tears in his eyes.
I jerked my head toward him. He was wearing a blue Nike beanie and black sweats. His mom was Honduran, his dad was from Thailand, so pretty much every girl was obsessed with his smooth skin, smile, and the fact that he somehow managed to pull off almond-colored eyes perfectly, or so the girls said.
He took a step toward me. I released Bella, gently walked up to him and threw a punch right into the middle of his face. His nose cracked as he fell forward.
I rolled my eyes. “Boo.”
I sidestepped him and jerked her by the arm, pulling her into the dorm while people scattered away.
I kicked the door open to the stairway and ran up with her lagging behind me, and when we got to our floor, people went into their rooms, slamming their doors.
No security needed to follow me, but I knew they’d be waiting downstairs.
It was this way whenever a new boss took the crown and we wouldn’t be here long, they’d move us to a more secure location, but the more people that saw us, the better the ruse of true love and protection, right?
I at least remembered that part when Phoenix was shoving information down my throat over the last few years.
Once we got into our room, I shoved her toward the bed, slammed the door shut, then quickly locked it. “Get ready.”
“For…“ Bella stared me down, her eyes cold, calculating.
“War.” I snapped. “Dress sexy and try to pretend to like me.”
“Like hell.” She jumped to her feet and charged me, slamming me against the door, my head hit the back of the metal with a thud. Her hands moved to my neck, strangling me. She was strong, but not as strong as me. “I hate you!”
“Do it.” I taunted. “Kill me. I won’t even fight back.”
Her fingers deepened, until I started seeing dark spots, before she jerked away from me and collapsed to the floor at my feet. I slid down the door and stared at her.
She was prettier when she was angry, stunning actually.
I’d vowed never to kiss that mouth out of pleasure, I never thought that I’d end up kissing it to bring her pain.
“Why?” She stared down at her shaking hands. She wasn’t a killer, she would never be a killer. I breathed a sigh of relief. Good. That was good, not for my sake, but for her own sanity. Then again… I didn’t want to think about what could potentially happen if she actually did defend me or any De Lange, would her father disown her? Would he abide by the archaic rules our forefathers set up all those years ago?
I was told that loyalty came before everything, that blood was law, law was blood, and I was banking on it in order to stay alive.
“Why does anyone who wants power take it, Bella? Junior outlived his purpose, and I took back what’s mine, besides, what do you think they prefer? Him? Someone who wouldn’t even listen to their demands and was still under Abandonato Family rules? Or me? Someone who doesn’t give a shit and is willing to let them run wild and restore what was taken? Your dad, your uncle, both of them helped cleanse the Family lines, they barely left any survivors… children, Bella, children. And you think that’s so easy to forgive for some of those men? Knowing that they lost brothers, sisters, wives?”
Bella lifted her head. “Rules are rules, if you sell drugs, rape, murder without reason, look at another man’s wife and—”
I held up my hand. “I know the rules, they were basically cut into my skin the minute I was technically saved. Imagine watching everyone you love get slaughtered right in front of you, then moving in with the very monsters who did it. Not exactly the bedtime story your parents told you growing up, was it spoiled little princess? I’m sure you cried yourself to sleep afraid of the monsters lurking outside at night, not realizing they were the very fucking ones tucking you in.” I scowled, growing angrier with each word I spoke. “Like I said, get ready, look hot, show some leg, and attempt to wear makeup that doesn’t make you look like a pre-teen.”
“Embarrassed I’ll look too innocent for you?”
“Nobody wants to screw the Sunday school teacher, Bella.”
“Oh? Because they want the easy whore?”
“No, because they’ll feel too guilty going for it, so yeah, be the whore, because looking too pure is going to make everyone think you’re not on my side and I need you to look like you belong exactly there.”
“So, by dressing and acting like a whore, I belong next to you, wow, that might be the first real thing you’ve ever said since that’s all you surround yourself with. I can’t wait.”
I could.
My stomach dropped when I thought about what life would look like for us within the next twenty-four hours. Into the lion’s den, make enough noise, and you’ll get devoured. And we were about to go out screaming at the top of our lungs.
I hope you were right, I hope you were right.