Chapter Forty-Four
Roselyn
I lay my head on Devious’s shoulder as he sleeps. The only thing I hear is the machine that’s hooked up to his arms, and the beeping sound fills the room. I can’t get the imagines of what Cashel did to me out of my head. He raped me in front of Devious and my father. I hope Devious guts him like a fish once he makes it out of here. My soul is tired, so tired.
Tears tickle down my cheeks as I wipe them with the back of my hand. I can’t believe my father went to this length to betray his own famiglia . He did all of this because he wanted to be the don.
I kiss Devious on the lips. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” he whispers, opens his eyes, glancing at me, then around the room. “I’m glad to see your face.” His voice is cracked, hoarse.
He tries to sit up, but I place my hands on his shoulders.
“Take it easy.”
I call the nurse into the room, and she and the doctor walk inside. They check his vitals, and state he is fine so far. He has a bandage over the gunshot wound, covering his chest, and they tell us he needs to rest.
“What happened?” he says.
“Villainous came and rescued us, along with the American Gods.”
“Cashel?”
“He’s locked up in your dungeon.”
He cups my face and runs his fingers over my cheeks. “I never thought I’d see your beautiful face again. I’m sorry it took this long for me to tell you how I feel.”
“It doesn’t matter right now. All that matters is you’re alive.”
He sits up. “Call my brother in here.”
I do what he says and Villainous enters the room. They hug each other for a while.
“I love you, D.”
“I love you, bro. I’m sorry about everything.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Devious says.
What is he talking about?
“You should be able to marry who you want to, and I was thinking too much about myself. I approve your marriage to Maya.”
“You’re married?” I question Aiden.
He nods.
I had no idea that he was married to someone else.
“We need to talk shop.” Devious throws the blanket off of him, pushing himself off the bed.
“Easy, brother. Easy. You have a big-ass hole in your chest.”
“I need to kill Cashel now.”
“Yes, bu—”
“No. Rest, please. Rest,” I say, worried.
“He raped you! Even though he found out the truth, he still hurt you. He isn’t getting away with that. Him trying to kill me isn’t as bad as what he did to you.”
Tears leak down my eyes. I don’t want to face what happened in the hellhole. Not right now.
“I watched him hurt my wife, and you know what’s fucked up? Lex started all of the bullshit. He murdered Cashel’s parents and set me up. That’s why Cashel fucked Shelby.” I flinch at his words. Because it all goes back to her. “Got her pregnant because he thought I betrayed him. Planned to take over my territories. When I begged him to have mercy on my wife, you know what the fuck the bastard did? He fucked her in front of me because he didn’t care. She’s my wife. The motherfucker didn’t care that I love her. He did it to get back at Lex. He made us both watch as he fucked my wife then killed Lex, Aiden. So if you don’t help me get out of here and end his fucking life, then I’ll find a way to do it myself. I’m going to torture him so much he’s going to wish that he were dead.”
The room goes quiet and I wrap my arms around myself. Devious pulls me into a hug.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. It’s all of my fault that you had to suffer. If I hadn’t forced you to marry me, you would—”
“It isn’t anyone fault,” I say, softly. “It’s just happened. Don’t beat yourself up.”
I kiss his forehead. “Please do what you have to do.”
Once Devious is discharged from the hospital, Villainous drives us back home, and I lay my head on Devious’s shoulder the entire way. I’m just glad he’s safe. I’m glad he’s alive. That was one of my worst fears. Watching him get shot was the most heartbreaking thing I ever experienced in my life.
When we arrive at the mansion, I go straight to the bathroom, undress, and scrub my skin raw, trying to get the essence of Cashel off of me. I slide down the shower wall, bring my knees to my chest, rest my face on my thighs, and cry uncontrollably. I stay there for a while, then I scrub my skin raw again.
He raped me, and if he thinks he’s going to get away with it, he has another think coming. I’m not going to stand for this. He deserves to die, and I want to help Devious kill him.
I turn the faucet off and grab a towel to wipe my body down. I’m going to burn the wedding dress Cashel forced me to wear. When I walk to the bedroom, I throw on some clothes, grab a knife that Devious keeps in the drawer, and tuck it in the waistband of my pants.
I take the elevator down to the dungeon. Cashel is in the exact same cell Tommy was in, and he’s chained to the wall. His hands are bound behind his back, and he’s on his knees.
Without much thought, I grab the knife and stab him in the stomach, and he screams in agony as warm blood sprays my face.
Devious
I stride to my office, pour myself a glass of bourbon, then I grab my gun from the holster. I’m going to make Cashel’s death quick because I don’t have enough fight inside of me to torture him. I’m tired. My soul is tired, and I want to sleep for a good while.
Everything that I love usually gets taken away from me, but this time he took from my wife. She’ll never be the same because of my vengeance, and it’s all of my fault. He raped my wife because we both had a vendetta against each other. I wish I was the one who had killed Lex because he’s the one started all of this shit.
I decide that I have to let Roselyn go. I have to ask her for a divorce because she deserves so much more than me. It’s my fault. All of it is. This marriage started off forced, and she became my captive, but we both fell in love with each other.. Even though we have a rule that the wives are supposed to be with their mafia men until death, I’m going to break it for her. She’s worth it.
She always craved her freedom, so that’s what I’m going to give her. If I keep her here, she’ll start to resent me and hate me. For once, I’m putting aside what I want for her needs. My problem is I hold on to people; Shelby wanted to be free from me and I forced her to be with me, and I don’t want to repeat the same behavior with Roselyn. I want her to choose to be with me. She deserves happiness, and after all I put her through, why would she want me? I don’t deserve her love.
I walk to the elevator and tap the Down button. Once I make it to the dungeon, Cashel is chained to the chair. His eyes land on me, and he has a knife in his gut. I hear soft crying from the corner of the room, and Roslyn is in a fetus position, bawling her eyes out. Her eyes shoot up to me, and she gets to her feet, wrapping her arms around me. Blood drips down her face. I’m assuming it’s Cashel’s.
“I’m sorry.” She sobs harder. “I had to do it.”
I kiss her forehead, and my heart breaks for her. “It’s okay. Go wash up and get into bed. I’ll be there soon.”
She nods, kissing me before heading up the stairs. I glance at Cashel, and he’s losing a lot of blood. His eyes flutter at me, and a smirk spreads across his face.
“Your wives have some of the best pussy,” he says, breath ragged.
I want to gut him like a fish right now, but I need answers first.
“When did Lex come to you with this fake proof of me murdering your parents?”
He stares at me for several seconds. “After your initiation to become the don. He told me Draco killed Matteo’s parents, and you told him that you will do the same thing to mine. He informed me the reason you killed my parents was because you wanted to take over my family businesses.”
That was years ago. So everything was a ploy to him. In the mafia, you really can’t trust anyone.
“Why didn’t you come to me all of those years ago? Why didn’t you ask me? It doesn’t make sense for you to trust his words and believe some video.”
He doesn’t respond for a while, and I get what’s going on.
“You were going to betray me anyways.” I pause. “I got to thinking. Your father abused you, Cash. Why would you care if he died?” I run my fingers through my hair. “It was never about the death of your parents; it’s about your jealousy and greed. You thought fucking my first wife and getting her pregnant would hurt me even more. No matter what I’d have done or said, you were going to betray me in the end.”
“My father always wanted me to take over your businesses, Cayden. When we were in high school, he told me it was my goal, to earn your trust, and use it against you if I wanted to be the next don of my family. You were my enemy. It was always about business, and it’s nothing personal.”
I grab duct tape from the top shelf, walk up to him, and cut the front of his jeans.
I can’t believe he would go through these great lengths to betray me. I loved him like my own brother and took him in, and this is how he repays me.
I shrug my shoulders. “You’re right, this isn’t personal.” I cut the front of his boxers, yank out his dick, and slice it off. He screams in agony, but I shut him up by shoving his own dick down his throat, then I duct tape his mouth shut. His body shakes as I watch him choke on his own dick.
I lean down and whisper, “Goodbye, Cashel.”
Several seconds later, the life leaves his eyes, and I use two fingers to shut them.
It hurts that I lost him, that I finally got my vengeance, and I feel like shit. It doesn’t close the hole in my chest that he created. I saw him like my brother and my best friend at one point in time in my life. I never thought in a million years that I would feel empty. I thought I’d be filled with joy and happiness, instead, I feel a great deal of grief and sorrow from losing him. Thirty years of a friendship can’t be erased, after all.
I call Charlotte to clean up his body.
I need to clean the blood from my hands, so I stroll to my bedroom, and Roselyn is asleep, so I shower. I wash the blood off my body, feeling good about closing the chapter with Cashel in my life, even though I feel grief deep in my bones. Now, I have to do the hardest thing and let Roselyn go. Once I’m done in the shower, I put on some clothes and climb in bed with her. She rolls over, cries into my chest, wrapping her legs around me. I kiss her forehead and tell her I love her and how beautiful and brave she is.
I wrap my hands around her small body, pulling her close, knowing this will be the last time I get to hold her.