Chapter 41
Princess
I t has only been a few hours since Lucio left me on the cold marble floor of his family’s New Hampshire mansion. He used me exactly the way I asked him to, and I should feel dirty and be disgusted over the way I willingly allowed him to humiliate me.
My fingers brush over the frames that line the wall beside the stairs.
Picture frames of a perfect family. Lucio with his brothers and younger sister.
He looks so young, probably nine in the picture, but he still has that mischievous glint in his eyes, in the way he smirks at the camera. He looks like a daredevil.
There’re more pictures of him and his brothers all together. Smiling, laughing, fighting.
Guilt is eating at me. Because of my selfishness, I put Lucio in a position where he has to choose between his family and me.
And I’m not too sure that he will pick me.
I shouldn’t have bypassed the Camorra’s firewalls and jeopardized their entire existence.
This is all my fucking fault. I should’ve just stayed the fuck away.
If I had, the Chicago Outfit wouldn’t have had the opening to gather the information they wanted to coordinate the attack.
And Lucio wouldn’t be in a position where he might lose the only parent he has left.
My vision blurs, my head spins, and my throat closes. This is all too much. I don’t even know why the fuck I thought I deserved happiness when all I do is make the people around me miserable.
What the fuck was I thinking?
I clearly wasn’t. Because if I had been, this mistake wouldn’t have happened, and neither Lucio nor I would be in this situation.
Before this, there might have been a chance for us to be together with the approval of his family, but now?
There’s absolutely no way in hell. He will be made to choose: either me or them.