Vow to Me: A Mafia Arranged Marriage (The Romano Empire Book 1)

Chapter Forty-Six

After I left the cemetery, I came to the warehouse used by Alec’s organization. Last night, after he told me about how hard Izzy is being on herself, I wanted to do something to help them, so I asked Alec if there was anything I could do. Which is why I’m standing here, covered in another man’s blood after I’ve just beat the shit out of him to get him to spill his secrets.

Alec knows I have a knack for gathering intel—just not in the same way he does. The guy in front of me was one of Bianchi’s most trusted men and I’ve been asked to find out everything he knows about my now dead father-in-law’s dealings within the skin trade.

We left the Chicago outfit in the hands of our family friends, the Rossi brothers. They weren’t actually part of the Mafia; they just have the same values and thirst for violence as us. They’ll clean up the city and keep things on track. We’ve done business with them numerous times and we know they can handle it. The four brothers will be an unstoppable force in Chicago.

“P-please… just stop,” he whimpers, and it sends a thrill through me. This is the first time that losing Izzy hasn’t been at the front of my mind, and I’ll gladly take the distraction.

“Who else was Bianchi working with?”

“I d-don’t know much… just that he…h-he was trying to make a d-deal with O’Brien, but he refused… the boss didn’t tell me much, I s-swear,” he cries, and I roll my eyes at his dramatics. So, Bianchi was trying to make a deal with the head of the New York mob, everyone fucking knows that none of the leaders of New York tolerate sex trafficking.

“Who else in New York was he in talks with?” I ask and kick him in the stomach as an incentive to hurry the fuck up and start answering my questions with good enough answers.

“There were whispers about a low-level gang… Blue Vipers, I swear that’s all I know.”

Blue Vipers? What sort of fucking gang name is that? Ridiculous.

“Are you sure that’s all you know?” I grunt as I bring my knife to his arm and carve my initials. His screams fill the room as he sobs and begs me to stop.

“I-I don’t know anything!” he yells, and I believe him. You always get to a certain point and know that there’s nothing else to know. I bring the knife up and stab him in the side of his neck, letting blood spurt across my bare arms as I revel in his screams, thankful for the momentary distraction of the shit show that now is my life. It doesn’t last long, life without Izzy is unbearable and I’m not sure how much longer I can survive like this.

I head to the bathroom and clean off his blood before I shrug my suit jacket back on and pull out my phone to text Alec and update him on what I’ve learned. My pulse races as I realize I’ve got a text waiting for me from Izzy.

My Wife

Can you meet me later? Alana’s Coffee Shop, 3pm.

She wants to meet me? That’s a good thing, right? For the first time in days, I feel a sliver of hope. I check the time and breathe a sigh of relief that I’ve still got an hour before she wants to meet, giving me time to head home and shower before I meet her. I send a quick message to Alec before replying to her.

Of course, I’ll see you soon.

I head to my car and my father calls as I’m driving home. I press accept on the dash and his voice filters through the speakers.

“Luca.” He sounds resigned, as though he doesn’t want to be making the call. For fuck’s sake, what’s happened now?

“What’s up, Dad?”

“Damo just called me,” he blurts, and my hands tighten on the steering wheel. Damo is one of our men, the one who I tasked to watch over Izzy.

“What’s wrong? What happened? Is she okay?” I ask and he sighs in return. “She’s fine, son… he didn’t want to be the one to call you, he figured the news would be best coming from me.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. Is she with someone else? Has she met someone? I don’t think I’d be able to stop myself from killing him. No, Izzy wouldn’t fucking do that, I know that now. Theres no way in fuck she’s seeing someone else.

“Just say it Dad, what’s going on?”

“She visited Alaric Dean at his office this morning, I’m sorry.”

Alaric Dean? That name sounds familiar…I feel like I’ve heard the name before…and then it hits me—Blank Astor Dean law. He’s a fucking divorce attorney. She’s filed for divorce; she really did it. Fuck, that’s why she wants to meet me.

That spark of hope I felt only moments ago fades to dread. I’ve already begged her on my knees, I’ve tried giving her space, I really don’t think there’s anything else that can save us. She was the best thing that ever fucking happened to me, and I set our relationship on fire, burning us both and leaving us to be nothing but a pile of ashes.

I clear my throat and murmur, “It’s fine, I knew it was coming, I just didn’t want to accept it. I’m meeting her in an hour, I need to go, Dad. I’ll call you later.” I end the call before he can reply and drive home in a daze, how I make it in one piece I don’t fucking know. All I know is my wife really is leaving me, I won’t fight it, that will only hurt her more. I’ve hurt her enough as it is.

I always knew she deserved the world, I just failed to give it to her.

After I quickly shower and change my clothes, I head back down to my car. I’m going to end up being thirty minutes early, but I can’t just fucking sit at home and spiral, deciding it would be easier to just walk, I abandon the car with the valet and start walking the few blocks towards the coffee shop.

My breathing picks up the closer I get, my thoughts firing rapidly.

I lost her.

I fucking lost her.

I thought the fucking worst of her. How the hell could I ever think she would betray me?

She’s my fucking lifeline, and now I’m going to have to spend the rest of my life knowing I blew up my entire world.

I pause for a second on the sidewalk and force myself to inhale. Fuck, I’m losing my fucking mind. How am I supposed to hold onto my sanity, knowing that she’s out there, living her life without me? I pull my cell from my pocket and dial Marco.

“Yeah?” he answers on the first ring.

“I need you to promise me something,” I murmur.

“Are you okay man? Dad told me about Izzy visiting the lawyer’s office.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be okay, but you need to promise me that you’ll force me to let her go. Have men watch over her and make sure she’s okay, but don’t let anyone report it to me unless something happens. And I mean something bad Marco. Do not ever tell me if she’s with another man because I’ll end up losing my goddamn mind and going on a killing spree. Promise me you’ll do that,” I whisper, my heart breaking at the thought of her falling in love with someone else, sharing what we shared. “I’m on my way to meet her now and it’s fucking killing me man, this hurts more than taking a fucking bullet,” I sigh while I continue walking.

“Are you sure you’re really willing to give her up?”

“I’m only hurting her more the more I try to fix things. If this is what she wants, then I’ll give it to her. I once said I’d give her the world, it just turns out that world doesn’t include me,” I say before hanging up as I reach the entrance to the coffee shop. I can see Izzy us already seated at one of the tables through the windows. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the place is mostly empty, I really didn’t want to fucking do this with the place full of people.

I steel myself for what’s to come before opening the door and walking inside. Izzy’s head snaps up as soon as she hears the well chime and stands from her chair as I make my way over to her.

“Luca,” she whispers, and the way she says my name threatens to bring me to my knees. She sounds so fucking sad, so broken.

I did that, I broke her, destroying myself and ruining our future in the process.

“Mia regina,” I murmur back to her and go to wrap my arms around her, but I stop myself before I do. I don’t have the right to touch her anymore, I don’t have any fucking rights at all. She must notice my intention because she steps towards me and wraps her arms around my waist. I tense for a moment—taken by surprise at the gesture—before wrapping my arms tightly around her, cradling her head to my chest and pressing a kiss into her hair.

Christ, I’ve missed her so goddamn much.

I let go and step back before I can get too comfortable, not wanting to cross any lines or push her boundaries. I pull her chair out for her and wait for her to sit before rounding the table to sit down—but before I do, she kicks out the chair that’s next to her and motions for me to sit there rather than opposite her.

My pulse skyrockets at the thought of being close to her. It sounds fucking ridiculous, but I’ll take all I can fucking get.

“I need to talk to you,” she says as I take a seat.

“I know why we’re here Iz,” I blurt before taking a deep breath. “We’ve had guards on you.” I throw my hands up in a surrender gesture when I see her stony expression before explaining. “Not for any other reason than to make sure you’re safe. I made a mistake before, baby, and you got hurt. I didn’t want anything happening to you, it’s hard to live with myself as it is, I couldn’t cope if something else happened.” She nods in understanding and reaches for my hand, giving me a reassuring squeeze and I honestly wish she wouldn’t. As much as I love being around her, this is fucking killing me.

“I know where you went this morning Iz, I know why we’re here,” I sigh as I rub my thumb across the back of her hand.

“Jesus Luca, yes, I went to visit a divorce attorney but it’s not what—” she’s cut off as a woman approaches our table looking disheveled and Izzy peers up at the woman intruding with her brows wrinkled in the fucking adorable way she always does.

“You.” She points at Izzy, fire blazing in her eyes and Izzy tenses and sends me a questioning glance. I shake my head, equally as confused as she is.

“Can I help you?” I ask but she doesn’t spare me a glance, continuing to glare at my wife.

“You’re the reason he’s gone,” she hisses before pulling a gun from the pocket of her coat, “You’re the reason I have to live without him!” the woman wails, and everything happens in slow motion.

The mystery woman aims her gun at Izzy, and I know a split second before that she’s going to pull the trigger, I don’t even think—normally I’d be going for my own gun, ready to end the bitch—I shove Izzy down and throw myself over her as she fires. The few people around us scream in terror but I’m too busy checking Izzy over, my heart in my throat as I check that she wasn’t injured.

It’s only when I confirm she’s fine that I feel myself becoming dizzy, a pain in my stomach rendering me immobile.

“Luca!” Izzy screams and I know she’s realized the same as me, she rolls me over, pulling the gun from my waistband in the process and firing a shot at the mystery woman before leaning over me and using a cloth to try and stop the bleeding. I don’t need to see what she’s doing to know it’s not doing much.

“Luca…just hold on, okay? Someone’s calling for an ambulance, w-we’ll get you some help, okay? Don’t… don’t leave me,” she sobs, and it breaks my fucking heart.

I reach up and try to wipe the tears that are streaming down her beautiful face but I’m too weak, my visions blurring as the seconds tick by and my arm flops back down. “I got to love you Izzy, it’s okay baby. You’ll be okay,” I croak.

“I love you Luca, you’re not fucking dying on me, please,” Izzy’s pleas are the last thing I hear as the fight drains from me and I close my eyes, at peace with the fact I took the bullet that was meant for my wife.