Chapter 20
Aknock on the door jolted Lucrezia from her thoughts, and she quickly stopped the record.
Tony popped his head in the doorway, a somber look on his face.
”Just checking in on you, ma”am. Romero should be up in a little while.”
Lucrezia nodded.
”I-is he-the man who shot at us, is he...”
She gulped, unsure if she”d be able to say the words.
”Out of your lives forever, ma”am. No more information he could give us. I imagine you and the boss will be having a discussion about this whole mess later. Are you okay?”
Was she?
Could she even put into words what she was feeling right now?
This was the third time that her husband had killed for her. Her religious upbringing told her that what Romero had done was a sin, that he was damned. And she supposed, by association, she was damned as well. Tried as he did to shield her from his world, she was in it now. Whether they liked it or not.
But it was for her. Make no mistake, Romero shed blood for her each time.
The first, to rid her of Carlo.
The second, on the same day, as retaliation and an example to all his men that she would never be disrespected.
And the third, well, it was self-explanatory.
So far, Romero had upheld his vow to love and protect her as he did on their wedding day, before God and the world.
How damned could he be for doing exactly as he swore?
Her bodyguard began closing the door, but she stopped him.
”Tony?”
”Ma”am?” He swiftly moved again, ever vigilant of her needs.
”Can I ask you something and have you be completely honest with me?”
He pocketed his hands. ”I suppose I can try, ma”am.”
”How bad can it get?”
He cocked his head in confusion.
”How bad can this life get? How many times exactly have you and Romero been in danger of dying? How many times has he killed, and why?” Lucrezia listed off an endless array of inquiries that she was sure Tony either couldn”t or wouldn”t answer, ending it with a final question. ”But most importantly, how can I help him?”
Tony scrubbed his face, clearly overwhelmed by her bombardment.
”All right. Give me a second.” He exhaled, letting his head fall back.
”For starters, in general, it”s extremely bad. To put it in layman”s terms, Romero has seen things that you couldn”t imagine. I highly doubt he would tell you about those things because he”ll choose not to relive them. Romero is a man who lives for the here and now. Always has. Always will. It”s been this way as long as we”ve been cousins. He”s taken bullets for me, I”ve taken some for him. To my recollection, he”s been shot maybe half a dozen times. Doc does good work to fix him up. Romero ends lives that deserve to be ended. But I will say this-”” Tony took out a cigarette and lit it up. ”I don”t think I”ve ever seen him as lethal as he was tonight. He was different, I can tell you that much. But I think it”s because of you, ma”am.”
”Me?” Lucrezia pointed to herself.
”Yes. Now, he has more at stake. He”s a husband now, possibly a father one day. He lived for all of this before.” Tony outstretched his arms to the space around them.
”But now, he has a family to think about. I believe that weighs on his mind more than ever. So to piggyback on your last question, I would say just be with him, ma”am. Just be with him. Because I”ve never seen him so happy-but after tonight-” he took another long drag of his cigarette. ”I pity the poor soul that”ll feel his wrath if something like this ever happens again.”