CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
RAINA
Reaper, the man who tried to kill me in the hospital, stares at me as we walk in. He’s silent, but stares at me with an unreadable expression. His gaze moves from me to Kage, and I can instantly breathe again.
“Bones and Psycho are upstairs. They’ll be down in a few minutes.”
He waves to the expansive living room and says, “Have a seat.”
Kage walks me over to the massive ‘L’ shaped black sectional, and we sit down. Reaper sits on the other side, with a leg crossed, and a dark expression on his face.
“How’s Bella?” I ask.
Kage warns me in a low tone.
“Raina.”
His brother glances at me before looking away.
“She’s doing better. Her heart is still broken over losing our baby boy. I don’t know what the fuck is going on between the two of you, but I won’t soon forget that your family killed my son. And what they did to my Living Dead Girl.”
I don’t really get the reference, but it’s everything else he said that matters.
“I’m really sorry for what happened to her, and your baby. If I could’ve taken her place and saved him, I would have. I’m not proud to come from the family I come from. I take no joy in what happened to you, and for what it’s worth, I’m glad they’re dead.”
He arches an eyebrow in surprise, and then says a simple, “Thanks.”
Two voices echo somewhere upstairs, followed by feet moving down the steps. Kage speaks low.
“Maybe try to curb the attitude slightly.”
I shift uncomfortably, because I don’t know much about Bones, but he’s the head of the family, and I assume he’s going to have the final call about my life. I knew when Kage told me coming here was nothing to worry about it was a lie. We are not here for his brothers to get to know me. I might be more worried about Psycho. The name itself sends off warning signs, but I’ve heard stories about him from my brothers for years. A man that cuts his victims, and sews them up so he can continue his torture, is frightening. I’ve even heard that he’s given people blood transfusions, so that he can keep up the torment for weeks at a time. Rumor has it that every Bonetti man is dangerous, but the thought of being butchered repeatedly sends chills down my spine. They both approach and take a seat. They look as lethal as I know they are, but there’s something powerful in the Bonetti DNA. Each of them look like a woman’s darkest fantasies coming true, other than the ‘I might kill you’ thing.
Bones rubs his thumb over his jaw, like he’s deep in thought, before he speaks.
“I don’t get it. She’s an Abruzzo. Why the fuck is she alive?”
I can’t help but shiver at his tone, dripping with hatred.
“Because she’s mine,” Kage says matter-of-factly.
Psycho sits on a chair opposite to the couch, spinning a knife in his hand. I wonder if it’s to intimidate me. Someone should tell him I already am, and no further theatrics are required.
“There are close to four billion women in the world, and you pick an Abruzzo?”
Kage doesn’t respond, and I don’t think there’s much of a response for that anyway, so his brother Bones continues, but turns his gaze to me.
“Is he holding you against your will?”
I tap my foot on the floor nervously, while I think of my response, and snap.
“You were there when he yanked me from my home. I think you know the answer to that.”
He stares at me with a stoic expression, one that I think all the Bonetti brothers have perfected over time.
“Let me rephrase it for you, Abruzzo. ”
The way he says my name, it’s drenched with venom, like everything he needs to know about me is explained in that one word. As if he truly believes a person is defined by the family they were born into. There is little about me that matches my family. The comparison ends with physical features, but I don’t bother trying to explain that to these men, because they wouldn’t believe me anyway.
“If I told you that you were free to go, and let you walk out of here alone, would you?”
Kage grabs my hand, and tightens his around mine, like he thinks I might get up and run.
I shake my head no, and he visibly relaxes.
Bones smirks at me.
“I don’t get it. Why?”
I’m sitting here with four mafia men, three of which want me dead, staring daggers into me, and I’ve never been great at controlling my tongue. Why start now?
“I don’t know. Clearly I have a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome. I would bet money the Bonetti women have it as well, so perhaps you’re familiar.”
Bones glares at me, while Reaper and Kage sit still, like they’re waiting for their brother to blow my head off, but Psycho laughs, like I told a hysterical joke.
“I like her,” he says.
“Stand up, Raina,” Bones says, with no emotion whatsoever.
Kage tightens his hold on my hand.
“Don’t.”
I glance at him.
“It’s okay.”
This is the second time I’ve been prepared to die. I’m okay with it, mostly.
Kage’s voice is thick with emotion as I stand, emotion I didn’t know he was even capable of.
“Bones, don’t. Don’t take away my light.”
He shakes his head in disbelief.
“I still don’t understand this. She’s a fucking Abruzzo. And how can she be fine with you killing her mother?”
I turn to Kage, as the shock and terror bolts through me like a strike of lightning.
“You killed my mother?”
He admits it, “Yes, but it was an accident, Raina.”
I back away from him, as my head screams to run as fast as I can, but his brothers all stand and surround me, like a lamb they’re going to slaughter.
“You killed everything I love!”
The grief is overwhelming, a stabbing pain digs into my chest, as my heart squeezes with the knowledge I’ll never see her again.
“Enough,” Bones growls, “We had a plan. Every fucking Abruzzo. No exceptions.”
He pulls his gun out and aims it at my head.
This is the end.
Once everything is taken from you, knowing you’re about to die doesn’t burn as much. The fear vanishes, because what do you have to live for?
Lorenzo Bonetti took everything from me. I look at him and say the last words I’ll ever speak.
“I hate you.”
Everything happens so fast, like someone pressed fast forward on my life.
Bones holds the firearm. His finger is on the trigger.
Reaper growls a loud no.
And he’s in front of me as the gun goes off.
I’m knocked to the floor by the sheer force of him landing on top of me. The echoing howls of pain surround me, as the brothers realize Bones shot one of his own. He’s pulled off me, and Kage presses his hand to my chest.
“Firecracker,” he says, as anguish fills his expression, then his gaze moves to his brother.
“Reaper.”
The darkness consumes me as I breathe my final breath, and my only thought is, I’m glad it’s over. Death is freedom.