Chapter 52 #2
I’ll give it to him, Dante knows how to play to her ego.
It’s written all over her face. The knowledge that she might just get to fuck over her father and betray him.
It’s fascinating to see a woman who hates her father so much.
All because she felt he wasn’t the right one to lead the family or his territory.
“That bastard thought he was so clever,” she sneered. “But he fucked up because he pissed off one too many men and—”
“Oh will you look at that,” Dante interjects, looking at his phone.
“Looks like I won’t be needing you after all.
” He looks at us and then Nico. “It seems Eion came through on his threat. Seamus is dead, along with the other men in the bunker. Seamus figured out he was our rat on the inside, but Eion killed him before he could share it. He’s already set it up to look like Marco’s men got in and tried to kill them, but he survived.
He’ll pledge his loyalty to Seamus’s second son, Cedric. So do we even need her?”
“No, it doesn’t seem we do,” Nico agrees. “But we’ll wait to kill her until the women leave.”
“No!” Sinead screams. “No, I was supposed to kill him. It was supposed to be me!”
“Silence her,” Papa orders Lazaro, who steps forward with a cloth and quickly gags her. Sinead still tries to scream, thrashing and making the chains rattle, but we all ignore her, instead turning back to the others hanging there.
Nico wastes no time in stepping into Leonardo and slamming his fist hard into his face, making blood spray and Leonardo groan.
“That is for every time you hit her,” he hisses.
Then he pulls a knife from his pocket, the blade bright in the lights overhead.
“And this is for every fucking time you whipped her.” He slices Leonardo’s face, making him scream and thrash, but Dante steps up quickly to hold him in place.
When he finally steps away, I look down at Lucy, who is staring at the sight with a mixture of horror, but also relief. Like she’s finally seeing the man responsible for all this pain he's caused pay.
Then he moves to Giovanni, and he does the same. Giovanni snarls, furious, but he’s the first one to beg and plead for him to stop. The fucking coward.
When Nico gets to Orlando, Orlando gives him a cold smile, but then his gaze goes to Gia.
“You were always so easy to fucking break. Crying and simpering like the bitch you are. I told them we should have killed you when you were younger, make it look like an accident.” He lets out a grunt of pain when Nico’s fist slams hard into his face, followed by one to his gut.
“Gag him too,” Nico barks. “I have information I’ll get out of him before we’re done.” He’s practically shaking with the need to kill him.
“Wait,” Gia says, stepping forward. She ignores Nico when he tries to grab her to pull her back.
Instead, she looks at Orlando and then her father and uncle.
“All three of you tried to break me, but I didn’t break.
Not when you hit me,” she says to Giovanni.
“Or whipped me,” to Leonardo. “Or just plain tortured me,” to Orlando.
“And now look where you are. About to die. Everything you worked for, built, and tried to hide in secret is about to fall apart. Your homes, your networks, none of it matters anymore, does it? And the best part? You’re all going to die knowing that we’re going to dismantle everything you built, piece by fucking piece. ”
“You know what makes me stupidly happy?” Sienna asks, stepping forward as well.
“We’re the ones who brought you down. All because of the very women you didn’t want.
And for Amara, Lucy, and me, we’re the ones who have come back to help make it happen.
” She gives a humorless laugh. “Fuck, that must piss you off.”
“You’re nothing,” Leonardo seethes. “You think because you spread your legs that it makes you powerful? You’re only good for fucking and breeding, nothing more. You will never…umphhh.” He grunts when Sienna lands a hard punch to his face.
“You really need to learn to stop talking,” she tells him as she steps back, shaking out her hand.
“Let me see, coniglietta,” Alessio says worriedly, reaching for her.
“I’m fine,” she assures him, but her eyes never leave Leonardo.
“The difference between you and the men in front of you, Leonardo, is that you only see what you think is power. Not true power, though. The kind of power that actually makes you weak is the one you kept chasing.” Something flashes in his eyes, and I have to say that Sienna might have just hit that nail right on the head.
“You want the power that gets you more, but it makes the cracks form. Your brother hates you, wanted what you had, and your son was the same. Your nephew wanted to take you all out. That’s not power, that’s greed and desperation, and neither work in the long run.
Now, everything around you has crumbled.
You have no legacy, and everything you built will burn to the ground. ”
Esposito starts to laugh. “How wrong you are.” He looks at Nico. “You really think you’re going to win this, nephew? I have so many connections that—”
“Your networks are finished, Gregorio,” Nico interrupts sharply. “We found my mother’s office, all her records, the map on the wall, all of it. I’ll be shutting it down and all your contacts will have someone new to deal with.” His smile is cold, calculating.
Esposito looks at him, realization dawning. “No. I have a son, it’s his right to take it over.”
“It is indeed,” Papa agrees, stepping forward. “And he’s going to be the one to take it over and make it so much bigger and better than even you could have imagined. Isn’t that right, Dante?”
I hear a sharp intake of breath, and when I turn my head, I see Ada clutching Sofia’s hand tightly. Sofia’s face is unreadable, but I don’t miss the look in her eyes. A sadness she’s trying to hide.
Silly woman. Does she really think that Dante is going to leave her behind?
“No, I will not have a fucking bastard run my territory,” Gregorio seethes, fighting the chains.
“And yet, that is exactly what will happen,” Dante interrupts.
“I told you, Father, that I would take everything you had. I would burn it to the ground and then I’d build it up so much bigger and better than you ever could.
” He looks at Lazaro. “Gag him too, would you? We’ll finish this argument later. ”
Gregorio fights, tries to scream, but Lazaro gags him as well.
“Amara? Lucy? Anything to say?” Papa asks them.
Amara and Lucy exchange a look, and then they both step forward.
Amara looks at Giovanni and Orlando. “You know, I’ve been through a lot, but I’m glad I never had either of you in my life,” she tells them quietly.
“But I want you to look at me, and I want you to see my mother’s face.
The face of the woman you beat mercilessly and know that she’s going to live on.
I found a picture of her. One she tucked into a hidden sleeve in the journal.
And I look like her. My sister looks like her too.
She deserved so much better than you. Than a husband who despised her and only married her for power and connections.
And a son that saw her as his punching bag and someone to torment because his father gave him permission.
” She looks at Orlando. “She loved you, you know. Even with all of that, she never hated you. She wrote that she only wished that she could have protected you from him just like she did me.”
Something flashes in Orlando’s eyes. Surprise? Regret? But then it’s gone. “She was fucking worthless,” he hisses. “Just like you.” He lets out a grunt when Lazaro punches him in the side of the head.
“Thank you, honey,” Amara says sweetly.
I look at Lucy and I see her staring at Leonardo thoughtfully.
“You know,” she says slowly, carefully, “I might have come into this late, but I really don’t feel anything but pity for you.
You really were an insecure man that thought brute force was the only way to be powerful.
And it cost you everything. Your family, your territory, your daughters, and your wives.
And now, your life. You’ll never know your grandchildren, and that’s probably for the best. My son won’t even know your name if I have my way about it.
All our children, they’ll have people who love and care for them, and you’ll fade from memory.
” She gives him a cool smile. “And I think that will kill you more than knowing that we’re happy.
It will be even more torture for you in hell to see us moving on and refusing to talk about you, to even mention your name again. ”
Leonardo’s eyes stare at her hatefully, but he doesn’t say a word to that.
I think she hit that a little too close to home.
“Let’s go,” Gia says then. “I don’t need to be around to see you all die, but I’ll sleep well tonight knowing you are.” Then she turns, and Sienna takes her hand. Amara and Lucy follow, taking their hands as well, before walking out. A united front.
I’ve never been so fucking proud in my fucking life.
“Before I go, I want to say one thing if I may,” Ada says softly.
“Of course, cara mia,” Papa says with a warm smile.
Ada eases forward, her eyes on Gregorio.
Dante is quickly behind her, a menacing presence as a reminder to his father.
When she finally gets to him, she smiles.
A sweet, warm smile, but her eyes are cold, hard.
Then, her hand hauls back, and she slaps Gregorio so hard across the face, his head whips to the side, the sound of it echoing in the room.
“Fuck you, Gregorio. The only good thing you ever did was give me Dante. Other than that, you can rot in hell. I know where every penny sits, where every dirty secret you thought you hid lies. Everything you worked hard for, it’ll be gone before you’re cold in the ground. ” Then she turns, and steps away.
Sofia steps forward and follows up with a hard slap on the other side of his face.
“I’d rather shoot you, but this will have to do.
That’s for what you did to that woman and what you did to your son.
I hope you rot.” Then she moves and does the same to the other men hanging there.
“And that is for everything you did to Gia, you worthless pieces of shit. I hope you burn.” Then she takes Ada’s hand and they walk out as well.
The silence that follows is brief, but then we all grin at each other. And that right there, is why we love the women we do.
“Well, since they’re gone, I say we get this party started,” Alessio announces excitedly. “Do we just get to pick the one we want to start on, or are we going to have to pick straws or something?”
It takes a few hours, but by the time we’re done, it’s finally fucking over. They all tried to hold out, tried to keep their secrets and take them to grave, but like everyone else, they all spilled it when they couldn’t take the pain anymore.
Papa got his revenge on Esposito for the death of his wife, but considering both Dante and Papa shot him at the same time, I think it was a mutual death. Papa hit Esposito in the throat, while Dante got him right between the eyes. Execution at its finest.
Leonardo and Giovanni both tried to remain stoic, to not give in, but they begged for death before the end. Nico was the one to end their lives, his own retribution for Gia. Sinead tried to plead and beg, but Alessio killed her swiftly with a bullet to the head.
Finally, it was Orlando’s turn. We wanted all the information he had, and in the end, even he told us everything.
It was Carmen, Leonardo’s wife, who found Gia, Sienna, and Lucy’s mother’s journal.
By accident, apparently, in an old room in the house that few remembered.
Amongst the books, she had hidden it behind a stack of books, still covered in dust from the years.
Carmen wanted to take over, and she saw Orlando as the one to help her make it happen.
The two of them were sleeping together, and they came up with the entire twisted plan.
Carmen slept with Marco and Giovanni, while also still going to Leonardo’s bed when required.
Nico kidnapping Gia threw a wrench in their plans and started the blocks tumbling down on the life they were trying to construct.
It’s a fucking twisted tale of events, but finally, it’s over with one more bullet, this time from Lazaro. As was his right with it being Amara’s brother.
We walk out silently, a sense of finality moving between us. The only thing I care about now is getting to my woman, knowing we can finally move forward.