Chapter Eighteen
Lilianna Genovese
I ran a finger over the cool stone of my brother’s headstone.
Silas Genovese. Beloved brother, friend, and uncle.
I glanced over to my father’s stone beside it.
Alessio Genovese. Beloved father and grandfather.
The words meant nothing and everything all at once. Their headstones wouldn’t bring them back, but it would be something to remember them by. It would have to be enough for now. Maybe once we ended this feud with the Russians, we’d have a memorial for them. We’d allow them to be properly remembered.
It would be something to look forward to.
I looked over my shoulder at where Matteo stood at the top of the hill, staring down at the headstones. He looked a few inches to my right, and I turned my attention to the third one.
It was blank. Not a name, date, or engraving.
It was meant to be mine one day.
The ominous feeling of standing over my own headstone brought goosebumps to my arms, and I rubbed them away. I was here for a reason.
“Hi, Dad. Hi, Silas.” I cleared my throat, trying to remove the rising tightness there. “I haven’t talked to either of you in a really long time. Dad, I’m sorry for leaving you to deal with this entire situation. I didn’t realize it would cause such a problem for you. I really didn’t. I—I know this is my fault.”
I shook my head and took a deep breath as I felt the moisture building in my eyes. It was okay to cry. Right here and right now. In fact, the situation called for it.
“Dad, I’m sorry. That’s really all I have to say.”
We weren’t close, and talking to his grave felt cold. I didn’t feel genuine. He’d tried to force me into the mafia life for years, going as far as marrying me off as a breeder to solidify family ties and build an alliance. I didn’t think I could ever forgive him for that, but that didn’t matter. It wasn’t why I was here.
As I looked at Silas’s grave, I knew there was a lot more that needed to be said.
“Si,” I whispered, biting my lip and resting a hand on the cool stone there. “I miss you. Every day, the world feels a little colder without you here. Knowing you’re not a phone call away… well, it’s hard. I know we didn’t talk a lot in your final years, but knowing that you were there was a comfort. You were always there.”
So many memories of our childhood flashed through my mind.
“Like when Dad locked us out of the house during a snowstorm, and you climbed the roof to break into the study window,” I recalled with a teary smile. “Or when I fell off my bike and sprained my ankle, and you carried me four blocks home. Even into adulthood, you were always there. I locked my keys in my car, and you showed up within the hour. I thought I was being followed home, and you were there in less than ten minutes. You were always my protector and my best friend, and I’m going to miss you so damn much.” I sigh and tilt my head up to the sky for a moment.
“And I know your body isn’t even here,” I went on. “I’m talking to an empty piece of stone, and it probably doesn’t mean anything. But it’s all I have, and I need to talk to my big brother about this. Even if I’m not sure you’re listening up there.”
I looked over my shoulder again and found Matteo with his hands in his pockets as he waited out of earshot. He hadn’t questioned me once when I’d insisted on coming here. He hadn’t said no or tried to convince me otherwise.
“You were always my protector, and I know that’s why you didn’t want me involved with Matteo. He’s dangerous, and when I’m with him, there will always be risks. But I don’t think there’s anyone in the world I’d feel safer with, Si. You didn’t approve of my crush when we were kids, and I understand that. You didn’t want him coming near me. But things are different now, and I’m going to pursue this. I have to. Matteo is worth it.”
I exhaled sharply and continued. “He’s going to help me find the people responsible for your death, and we’re going to end this together. I promise you that, Silas. We’ll find them, and we’ll kill them. I know how precious real promises are in this line of business. People can’t be trusted, but I wanted to make sure you hear me and trust what I’m telling you.”
I pulled a small pocketknife out and opened it. I ground my teeth together before sliding the sharp blade across my skin. Blood welled there, and I held out my hand, squeezing it over the stone. “I swear I’ll get the revenge you’re owed, Silas. No matter what.”
I meant it. I stared at the stone for a long moment before giving it one more pat.
This time, it felt warmer beneath my touch. Maybe it was from the pain of the cut, or maybe the sun had warmed it in the short time I stood there. But I couldn’t help but feel like it was Silas approving of my words.
I turned and met Matteo’s eyes as I put my bleeding hand in my pocket and stepped away. My eagerness to return to him had me moving quicker than I typically would. After a few steps, I finally glanced upward and took in his expression. His eyes were lighter than usual as he looked at me and extended a hand for me, palm up. Matteo so rarely had an open expression. Darkness always lingered behind his gaze, but this moment was different. With only the two of us here, I saw behind the mask of the Don.
I saw the potential for our future.
I couldn’t believe I’d waited so long for him.
Something exploded, and my ears rang immediately as my body was thrust to the ground. Instinctively, I covered my head and balled my body up tightly. My head spun, even with my eyes closed. Whatever had happened had been big enough that the earth beneath me felt unsteady.
The silence of the cemetery morphed into chaos. Distant voices shouted things that I couldn't make out through the ringing in my ears. My attention turned to the crackling of flames that engulfed the nearest tree. The fire grew with each second, and I could only stare in shock.
“Fuck,” I heard through the ringing. “Lilianna!”
My full name on Matteo’s lips had me scanning his panicked face. He crouched beside me.
“Are you okay?” he bellowed.
Was I? I tried to assess my injuries. Every part of my body felt muddled. My vision remained unsteady, but I had a feeling my balance would be just as wobbly as my limbs.
Matteo didn’t wait for me to respond as he swept me into his arms as if I weighed nothing. He broke into a run as he carried me up the sharp incline of the hill and toward where the driver had parked the car.
I only had a chance to glance back once, and I gasped at what I saw.
The ground around my family’s graves had been decimated. The grass and dirt that had been neatly groomed lay in clumps of mud, and the headstones that I’d had engraved were shattered. Small chunks of rock lay everywhere with no hope of them ever being pieced back together. I could see where my body had been flung, as no debris rested on that small patch of grass. Other than that, though, the surrounding area had been obliterated.
I should have been obliterated, judging by the wreckage around where my body had been. I’d only taken a handful of steps away from the graves before they’d exploded, but I’d been walking quickly. More quickly than usual.
My quick pace was likely the reason I hadn’t been killed.
“Go!” Matteo shouted at the driver.
Before the door had fully closed, Matteo’s driver took off with a squeal of tires.
I stared at the decimated spot in the grass until it was out of sight.
“Where are you hurt?” Matteo asked, immediately checking every part of my body. He checked my legs and arms, and he finally focused on my face, running a thumb under my nose and bringing back a small bit of blood.
I didn’t reply, as he lifted my shirt and sucked in a sharp breath. My back felt the most raw, and he spent extra attention on it, running his fingers over a few spots that had me hissing through my teeth.
“It doesn’t look like there’s anything lodged in your skin,” he said. “but we’re going to the hospital.”
“No, we’re not,” I said.
Emotions finally began bubbling up around the fear and shock that had previously masked them. Anger. Resentment. Vengeance. All of it coursed through my blood.
“You hit your head on the ground, and any of these could get infected,” he said, concern lacing his tone.
The Don of the New York Italian mafia sounded concerned for my well-being.
But even that couldn’t break me from the cool rage I now allowed to consume me.
“Mafia members don’t go to the hospital. You know that.” His concern for me had blinded him, and a flash of frustration in his eyes told me that he realized what I said was true. “Plus, if we go to the hospital, they’ll find us. If they set this trap, that’s probably all in the plan.”
“Then I’ll have the family doctor come and check you out.”
I nodded, but it didn’t matter whether I was checked out or not. None of it mattered. All that mattered was what had just happened, and the person I knew was responsible. The Petrovs hadn’t only killed my family and kept their bodies. Now, they’d defiled their graves. They’d destroyed the only hope at a resting place Silas and my father had.
“I’m going to kill them,” I finally said.
Matteo leaned away from my back and took in my face. “That was the plan all along.”
“No,” I corrected. “I was going to talk to them first. I was going to do the honorable thing and make sure they saw us coming. I don’t give a fuck about that anymore. Not after this. Vlad is too powerful. He had too many people under his thumb, and it’s only a matter of time before he gets to either me or Callum.”
Matteo only nodded and narrowed his eyes as he waited for me to continue.
“I failed Silas by stopping you before. I should have let you kill them, but I was soft.”
“Lilianna—”
“Stop,” I said, raising a hand. “I don’t need feedback. I’m the heir to the Genovese family. I’m the last one standing, and that means I have the power to raise an army. If it means ending this and avenging them, I’ll do it. I’ll stay, and I’ll make sure the Petrovs are wiped from the map.”
“It will come with more challenges than you’re expecting,” Matteo said. “You’re pissed off and making a difficult decision without much thought. I don’t want you to be blindsided when there are people who don’t accept your reign.”
I nodded and turned to face him fully. Only one of my ears rang now as I slid toward him. “As long as there are enough people who support me to end this, I don’t care.”
“I’ll stand with you,” he swore.
The words felt like an affirmation to a question I hadn’t asked. I needed support if this was the path I planned to take. I needed allies and people to back me. But hearing that Matteo was on board melted away the rest of my reservations. I didn’t need to convince him, and that meant everything.
His declaration of support, combined with the clear concern he had for me, proved that I’d been right about him.
I’d been right to stay with him.
I rested my forehead against his. “I want you to know that even before this, I planned to stay. Before they did this, I was going to stay with you. I wasn’t sure if I was going to take over for my father yet, but I was sure about you.”
His eyes flickered between mine and my lips before he moved. His lips captured mine in a moment of outright passion, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, winding my fingers in his long curls. My heart beat faster as I moaned against his lips. I needed him.
He pulled away abruptly. “If you’re serious about this,” he started, “We have a lot of calls to make. A lot of people to contact.”
I forced myself to focus on the task at hand, not on Matteo’s full lips. “We’ll finish this later, right?” I asked.
His smirk told me all I needed to know.