Chapter 52
MATTEO
Being back in my family home brought all sorts of grief to the surface.
Finding Goldie clutching my knife, ready to plunge it into my chest was just another, brand-new manifestation of all the pain and loss I’ve endured in this house, the latest iteration.
But there’s layers and layers of it underneath.
My grandfather dying in his sleep. My mother lying on the bathroom floor for hours before her body was found. Sitting alone on the porch—the very porch I’m on now—staring at the vast moonlit ocean, knowing there was no one left.
The only reason this house is still standing is that Dante Moretti liked to threaten and taunt me about it while I was his prisoner.
Saying he’ll move into it when he finally gets his hands on my sister.
Or that he’ll make me burn it down if I step out of line.
I was surprised to find he didn’t burn it to the ground after I escaped.
The hot Santa Ana winds were fierce tonight when we got here, making my skin itch from the inside out. But they’ve died down and only a cool breeze straight from the ocean is blowing now. A calming wind. The kind that makes everything better.
The knife in my hand is still hot from Goldie’s touch. It’s been passed down from generation to generation in my family. It being the weapon my curse of ruin uses to finally wipe out the last man standing in our line would’ve been poetic. Especially when wielded by the only woman I’ve ever loved.
But she would’ve dropped it on her own before stabbing me with it. I saw the truth of that in her eyes.
It’s not enough.
Tomorrow, the war begins.
And it doesn’t end until Dante Moretti and all those he cares for are dead.
Like I told her, nothing will stand in my way of getting revenge for what happened to my family now. Not even her.
Love has no place in the world we’re entering now.
Especially not love that wields knives and plots my death in the dark and in my own bed.
As much as I want her, as much as I need her, my family needs me more now.
But after I win this war, I’ll gladly give Goldie my life.
* * *
TO BE CONTINUED