Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
Lissia
How did Marchello even know this part of the basement existed in the house I grew up in? Had my father used this room for the same purposes Marchello intended while I was asleep in my room? Did all mafia mansions have a kill room?
The dampness protruding from the walls in the back of the basement nauseated me, intensifying the dread building in my gut. The concrete flooring and old windows didn’t help with the violent chills that settled in my bones moments after agreeing to be here for what Marchello had planned.
Marchello came up from behind me and grasped my shoulder. I jerked forward.
“You don’t have to stay,” he said. “Just knowing that you want to be here with me is enough.”
My husband offered me an out. A way to deny accountability. But it was too late. I knew what he was about to do, and I was here for it.
“I’m staying.” I turned to face him, noting the lack of warmth in his expression. “I’m with you.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Milo said. “I’m not surprised she’s staying.”
“I’m not talking to you.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You called me a demon.”
“You heard that?” He laughed. “I meant it as a compliment.”
“I can’t wait until you find the love of your life, because I’m going to tell her all the inappropriate things I know about you.”
“I’m never going to find the love of my life,” he said.
“Why not?” What a grim thing for him to say.
“Because my brother already found her.” He winked. “I’m heartbroken that you and I will never be.”
“Would you cut the bullshit?” Marchello’s jaw tightened. “We have work to do.”
Marchello and Milo inspected the room that their team was putting into place. The plastic tarps wrinkled under my feet with each step I took until I stood in the middle of what was soon to be a crime scene. I was a willing accomplice.
The decision to join Marchello wasn’t about being reckless or impulsive. I wanted to be here because I needed to understand who my husband truly was. Being on the inside could give me the upper hand in the future if I were in a situation where I had to protect myself.
“This is pretty brave of you.” Milo returned to my side. “Marchello doesn’t need this kind of loyalty from you. He knows you support him.”
“If Angelo was the diversion, he went after Marchello and you in the worst possible way,” I said. “He played on your fears and knew what it could trigger for both of you. The memories, the sadness, the brutality.”
“It was so much worse for Marchello. In the minutes he waited to find out if you were okay, he relived all of it. Witnessing our mother die was traumatic, and it really shaped who he is today.”
“I’m not leaving him.”
“I know.” Milo took my hand. “Thank you.”
“He’s here,” Marchello announced to the room. “Everyone out. I’ll let you know when you can come back down.”
“I’ll bring him down.” Milo handed Marchello a gun he retrieved from a holder strapped to his ankle. “Here. Don’t use yours.”
Marchello clasped the weapon as everyone cleared the basement.
“Why can’t you use yours?” I asked.
“What?” He gazed down at the gun in his hand. “Oh, because mine is registered to me. If the authorities ever get a hold of his body, this can’t be traced back to me.”
“You put a lot of thought into this.”
“This is standard, princess.” His chiseled face looked as if it might crack from the tension in it. “Having you here isn’t.”
“I won’t distract you.”
“You already have.” He took my ice-cold hand in his, warming my flesh. “But I’m used to it.”
“Do you think you’ll have to…” I nodded toward the gun. “Use that?”
“Don’t think about that.” He placed his palm on my face. “Know that whatever I have to do is all on me.”
He lowered his lips to mine and possessively claimed my mouth, kissing me until the knot in my stomach dissipated. Whatever happened in this room wasn’t going to define us. It was going to strengthen us.
“Get your fucking hands off me.” Angelo’s gruff voice brought me back to reality.
“Here we go,” Marchello said as he placed the gun in his inside jacket pocket.
I quickly moved out of Milo’s way as he pushed Angelo into the room.
“Angelo.” Marchello’s low voice carried a menacing tone. “Thank you for meeting with me.”
“Did I have a choice?” Angelo glared at me, then back to Marchello.
“I’d say you had plenty of choices.” Marchello took his time crossing the room as Milo stood in front of the exit. “Starting with the one where you decided to work with Gian.”
“You’re digging deep,” Angelo said. “Ancient history. Just ask your father.”
It struck me as off that Angelo would remain so calm, knowing there was a very good chance he would be leaving wrapped in the plastic beneath his feet.
“Then let’s fast-forward.” Marchello closed the space between the two of them. “When Gian was eliminated?—”
“By your father.” Angelo glanced in my direction. “You’re sleeping in a house owned by the man who destroyed your family.”
“Don’t talk to her.” Marchello shifted his stance, blocking me from Angelo’s sight. “When Gian was killed, you could have walked away. His business is useless for you now that Milo and I have taken control.”
“You stole it!” Angelo gritted his teeth.
“It was ours to take,” Milo said as he stood behind Angelo. “We control the territory.”
“Because your father is too busy with other ventures.” Angelo laughed. “He doesn’t care about this territory. If he did, he wouldn’t leave it to a son who would choose pussy over power.”
Marchello hauled his hand back and punched Angelo so hard he stumbled, but Milo kept him standing.
“That’s the last time you’re going to disrespect my wife.” Marchello leaned into Angelo. “You should have walked away when Gian was taken out.”
“I don’t have time for this show,” Angelo said. “We all know that you don’t have the authority to take me out. So, whatever it is you dragged me down her for, spit it out. I have things to do.”
“I admire your show of strength, I really do.” Marchello stepped back, creating some distance between him and Angelo. “You have one shot to get out of this alive. If you fuck it up, that’s on you.”
My heart pounded faster than I would have liked, and I clasped my hands together to try to get them to stop shaking. That didn’t work. I wanted to scream for Marchello just to let Angelo go. I had known Angelo my whole life. We spent holidays and vacations with his family.
Why couldn’t he have left Marchello alone?
Because he was loyal to my father. He would show that honor until his death. Marchello would have probably forgiven him anything, but if Angelo came for me, all bets were off.
“There was an explosion in the driveway today,” Marchello said. “The car that transports my wife.”
“How tragic.” Angelo pressed his hand to where Marchello had punched him. “I bet that hit a little too close to home.”
Asshole. Angelo’s smug demeanor infuriated me, but I had to keep it together. I couldn’t interfere. Not in this.
“Taunt me all you like.” Marchello grinned. “It’s not going to save you.”
Marchello took the gun Milo had given him from his inside pocket and swiped the barrel along Angelo’s jaw. My husband’s calmness startled me. Would he pull the trigger without warning? Or would he get the information he wanted and let his suspect go?
Am I going to see someone take their last breath right in front of me? Can I handle that?
The room didn’t seem as cold as when I first arrived, making the space the four of us gathered in a bit claustrophobic. Sweat gathered underneath my sweater and trickled down my back.
“Why did you bring me here?” Angelo’s gaze shifted to the gun pressed against the corner of his mouth. “What do you want?”
“Who put that warning bomb in my car?” Marchello asked. “The one that was meant to throw me off-balance when they came after my wife in the same barbaric way someone killed my mother.”
“I don’t know.” Angelo stared into Marchello’s eyes with such defiance.
“You’re a liar.” Marchello landed another swift punch to Angelo’s jaw. This time, he knocked him to his knees.
“Does this make you feel tough?” Angelo stood. “Coming after an unarmed man?”
“Do you want to go a few rounds with me?” Marchello laughed. “I’ll give the gun to Milo, and we can fight it out, but I have a feeling we both know who will finish this. So, why don’t you tell me what I want to know?”
“I’m not afraid of you,” Angelo said.
“Your boss is dead, and most of your soldiers have either fled the city or defected to other families.” Marchello slowly circled Angelo. “I know the bomb wasn’t your handiwork, but I do think you assisted in that weak display for power.”
“That was nothing compared to what’s coming. You have no idea who you’ve fucked with.” Angelo smiled at me. “All to protect her.”
“Who set up the car bomb?” Marchello asked. “Who is sending me the message?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Angelo gazed around the basement. “So, if this display of nonsense is over, I’m leaving.”
“What makes you think you’re walking out of here?” Milo asked.
“Do you think taking me from my home, roughing me up in a car, and bringing me to a staged hit scene is going to scare me into revealing anything to you?” Angelo shook his head. “Your father would be so disappointed. Because if he were here, my throat would have been slit already, and he would have found his answers another way.”
“My father might not be here, but he is still very much in control.” Marchello waved his gun in front of Angelo. “My tactics may not be the same as his, but make no mistake, we are very much alike.”
“Your father would never let a woman interfere in his business.” Angelo motioned toward me. “The spoiled brat that you call your wife is going to bring down this shambles of an empire, and you won’t even see them coming.”
I inched closer to Marchello, staring into Angelo’s eyes when I stood by my husband.
“I already know Collins is coming,” Marchello said. “Let him.”
“Collins.” Angelo continued to glare at me. “You’re going to wish he was all you have to worry about. He is nothing compared to who Gian has unleashed on you.”
“You’re lying.” I moved in front of Marchello, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “My father can’t do any more damage to me.”
“Always so naive,” Angelo said. “I told your father you would be the death of him, and it turns out I was right.”
“My father was responsible for his demise, not me.” Siding with Marchello may have been an act of war in our unorthodox world, but my father couldn’t see that his actions forced me into the arms of his enemy. “If my father would have listened to reason, he might not be dead.”
“What is your exact idea of reasoning?” Angelo asked. “Allowing you to marry Marchello? Being fine with his daughter living in Nico’s home?”
“That was better than what he had planned for me.” I cringed when I recalled what my father would have wished on me. “Starting with Danny.”
“For the record, Lissia, I never agreed to the union with Collins. He is too much of a loose cannon. Your father shouldn’t have trusted him, but Gian was so focused on the bigger prize that he was willing to sacrifice to get what he wanted.”
“Sacrifice me?” I raised my voice, shaking from the anger I had pushed so far down that I didn’t know if I was capable of releasing it.
Marchello rested his hand on the small of my back, reminding me he was there, lulling me into a safe place to get out all of the things I couldn’t say to my father.
“My father would have rather given me to a man like Collins than see me happy with Marchello. I begged him for his help when I called him to come and get me from the safe house, but he didn’t come.” I moved closer to Angelo. “I went to him and asked him for a truce, and you know what he did? He signed off on an auction, giving Collins permission to fucking sell me like a piece of property to a man he didn’t even know.”
Bile burned my throat, but I pushed it down. Tears stung my eyes, but they wouldn’t fall. I wouldn’t allow one more tear in the name of my father.
“Does that sound like a man who wasn’t responsible for his death?” I asked. “I was his daughter. I deserved better.”
“You deserved nothing!” Angelo got in my face, but Marchello elbowed him away from me. “But you got more than you bargained for, and when the actions of your choices come back with a vengeance, no one will be able to protect you. Not even your husband, because he has no idea who is coming for you and the Accettis.”
“I am an Accetti .” I clenched my jaw. “More than I ever was a Gallanti.”
“Your father knew that. That’s why he allowed you to be sold like the whore that you are.” He spat his hot saliva in my face. “You’re a disgrace to your family and its legacy.”
As I wiped his disgusting gob from my face, Marchello propelled his fist forward, knocking Angelo to the ground.
“A man can tolerate many things.” Marchello’s foot connected with Angelo’s ribs with enough force to crack them. “But if you disrespect his wife, any hope of forgiveness or negotiations are off the table. You’re a dead man.”
Milo hoisted Angelo to his unsteady feet. “If you have anything to say, now would be the time.”
“You can’t take me out.” Angelo’s voice held defeat. “There are rules.”
“My father is still in control,” Marchello said. “I know the rules.”
“That still doesn’t give you the right to take down another family’s capo.” Angelo struggled to get a full breath. “The order has to come from Nico.”
“How can you be Gian’s second when he’s no longer alive to give you orders?” Marchello tightened his hold on the gun. “The ironic thing is, I’m a second too, and my boss is still alive to give me the order you so desperately think I don’t have.”
“What?” Angelo shook his head. “Nico is off-the-grid.”
“Not to me.” Marchello smirked. “He gave me the order about an hour ago.”
“Too bad for you.” Milo gripped Angelo’s shoulder and shoved him down, forcing him to his knees.
“You may view my tactics as weak,” Marchello said. “But I wanted to give you the opportunity to purge your rotten soul before I pulled the trigger.”
“No!” Angelo held up his hand as Marchello pushed the gun inside Angelo’s mouth.
“Did you know when the gun is pressed on an exact location on the roof of a person’s mouth, the bullet will do the most damage with such precision.”
Angelo pleaded with me with a wild, wide-eyed expression, but I didn’t feel any remorse. He made his choices and wanted to stick by them until the end.
“Say hello to my father for me.” I glared into his soulless eyes.
When I rushed out of the back of the basement, my legs couldn’t carry me as fast as I wanted. The resounding blast stopped me as I clutched the banister at the bottom of the staircase.
Paralyzed from the sound and stunned by the reality of what had just happened six feet from me, I gasped before sitting on the bottom step.
Three guys from upstairs hurried down and carefully stepped around me as Marchello came out of the basement. He whispered something to them before joining me.
“Are you okay?” He extended his hand for me and pulled me into a standing position. “I can take you home now.”
“Just like that?” I shrugged.
“I don’t know what you want me to say.”
I ran my finger along the red marks splattered on the collar of his shirt, tracing it to the spray of blood across his neck.
“I don’t know if you’ll ever be able to look at me the same way again,” he said.
“You’re right,” I whispered. “I’m never going to see you the same way again.”