Chapter 27
DARIO
“ A pussy right up to the end.” I snarl at the piece of shit on the floor as I turn around the old, rusty chair and straddle it. Looking down at Silvano Fabriano, he doesn’t look nearly as confident as he did ten minutes ago. The plastic sheet on the floor is turning redder by the second as his blood continues to seep from the slit I’ve made in his throat and I wonder why I even bothered trying to interrogate him.
“Are you sure you got the right guy? He was pretty adamant it wasn’t him.” Cassio opens up his jacket and hands me his hip flask.
“The evidence was stacked up against him.” I knock back the flask and then hand it back to him. Looking at the tray on the table beside me I see all the items I didn’t use on him.
“It’s a shame really, he would have been working on the order of his father,” my brother reminds me.
“Perhaps that's why he insisted this was not his fault until the end.” Cassio looks down at the Fabriano boy with his own look of distaste.
“Yes, well, the skid marks from the motorcycle wheels at the crash site matched his perfectly, and he had no alibi. He didn’t have to say anything, I saw it in his eyes.” I take a cigarette out of my pocket and light it up. I stopped smoking the day I married Madalina, apparently, it can affect your sperm count, and I also know it’s bad for pregnant women to be around. But being apart from her feels like torture, and I’ll try all I can to take the edge off. Neither nicotine nor alcohol seem to be working.
Scarily enough, neither is killing the fucker who tried to hurt her.
“I take it you’ll be bringing your girl home, now this is dealt with?” Cassio smirks at me as he takes a hit from his flask and tucks it away again.
It surprises me that I haven’t found it awkward spending time with him. After years of being treated like an outcast, my father has finally given him his own district. Of course, I’ve been enlisted to steer him on the right path and show him the ropes. I’m just hoping his newfound appreciation for his son will take some of the pressure off me. Especially now that the babies are getting closer to arriving. Madalina is going to need me in the last few weeks of her pregnancy and I’ve already decided I want to be a hands-on father, unlike my own.
“That’s the first place I’m heading,” I tell him, unable to hide the smile from my face. It’s taken way longer than I thought to get to the truth and, although I’ve spoken to her every night on the phone, nothing compares to holding her in my arms. There’s just one more thing I have to try and make right before I pick her up.
“Have you heard anything from Nicolas?” I check. It appears no one’s seen him since Vito dropped him home the night of Madalina’s birthday party. There was no sign of him at the Queens mansion when Cassio arrived to claim it.
“Nothing, he’s gone completely off the radar. I’m still waiting for him to stab me in my sleep.” Cassio knocks back another drink. “I didn’t even get the chance to make him the offer you suggested.” He shrugs.
I may not have spent much time around my brother growing up, my father always made sure of that, but in these short, few weeks he’s spent learning from me, I’ve learned a lot about him, and I can tell that he’s keeping something from me.
“What’s on your mind?” I cut to the fucking chase.
“You’re still going with the assumption that because Fabriano shot Lucian, he killed Conte too? What if that’s not true?”
“Are you saying that you think Nicolas killed his own father?” I frown back at him.
“He wanted to run this district, Dario. You know that. He thought he was going to inherit it, right? I can’t think of anyone else who would want Conte dead. He was a good man from what I hear.”
“And what about your Fabriano theory?” I look down at the man I’ve just killed.
“Yes, well, we kind of have to move on from that now.” He scratches the back of his head nervously.
“What do you mean, ‘move on’?” I narrow my eyes as I stand up from the chair.
“I agreed to marry Gabriella.” He hangs his head so he can avoid my reaction
“ You're getting married to this guy's sister?” I check, looking between him and the dead man on the floor.
“Father calls it fixing the mess you made .” He cocks his brow at me before lighting up a cigarette, and when he offers me another one I shake my head. “I’m not happy about it, but I had to do something to make the old man trust me,” he admits, looking defeated.
“You just watched me kill her brother. Hardly a good basis to start a marriage.” I shake my head, unnerved by the fact this is the first I’m hearing about this.
“Not all of us have the balls to stand up to Daddy the way you do. And the Fabrianos are never going to find this fucker’s body.” He kicks Silvano in his ribs. “Gabriella Fabriano is so far up her own ass I doubt she’ll even notice him missing.” He makes a valid point.
“I feel bad leaving you with this but?—”
“Just go get your wife, tell her I said hi.” He gestures his eyes to the door and I slap him on the back before I leave.
As expected, it's calm and peaceful when I pull up outside the lake house. The guards were made aware that I was coming but they’ve been sworn to secrecy. I want to surprise Madalina, I want to see the smile on her face when she realizes I’ve come to take her home.
I step quietly through the house and when I find her laying out on a sunlounger that overlooks the lake, I get a shock when I see how much she’s grown.
“Pretty girl.” I crouch down beside her and brush the hair out of her face. “Wake up, it’s me.”
“I’m mad at you.” She croaks back with her eyes still firmly closed. I smile to myself as I wrap my arm around her huge tummy and kiss it through the cotton dress she’s wearing.
“You’ve gotten bigger.” My hand slides back and forth under her belly while I admire its growth.
“Well, it has been two weeks.” I move my eyes back up to hers and note how she’s staring down at me, judgingly. She’s being bratty and I love it.
“I know and I’m sorry. I just had to–”
“Did you kill him?” she interrupts me, gripping the side of the lounger and using it to drag herself up into a sitting position. I take the elbow of her other arm and keep my hand on her tummy to aid her.
“Yes, I killed him.” I kiss her forehead and smile to myself when I realize how normal she made that sound. I know Madalina was brought up among a crime family, but I can guarantee she’d have been sheltered from it. She’s had no such privilege since becoming my wife, and it never fails to surprise me how accepting of me she has become.
“Look at you, you're beautiful,” I tell her, still unable to believe how much she’s changed in just two short weeks
“I’m fat.” She rests her hands on her bulging belly. “And they could be in there growing for another ten weeks. Ten weeks feels like a lifetime.” She blows out a deflated breath.
“You're not fat. You're just very pregnant, and very pregnant happens to be a massive turn-on for me.” I manage to get a smile out of her when I lift her dress and kiss her belly button.
She can never stay mad at me for long.
“Serena called, she’s settled in her new place and grateful that you found somewhere so close to us,
she informs me as she strokes her palm over her bare stomach.
“I’m glad she likes it.” I smile.
“And have you heard from Nic?” She looks at me hopefully and I hate that I have to shake my head.
“Serena tried calling him during that first week she stayed here and he wouldn’t answer. She was sure he was just sulking but it’s been a long time, now. I’m worried about him.” She looks worried too, and I can’t have that.
“What did I tell you about worrying? I’ve dealt with my father, and as soon as your brother stops being stubborn, he has a position under Cassio waiting for him.” I try to offer her some reassurance.
“It won’t be enough. You know Nic, he’s always thought he’s destined for great things. Losing the district will be a massive blow to him.”
“Did you ever wonder if he was a little too desperate to be in charge?” I think about what Cassio said and decide to test the water.
“What do you mean?” The way she frowns back at me suggests she doesn’t like where this is going, so I quickly shake my head.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s safe for you to come home, and when you do I may have a little surprise for you.”
“Oh, I like surprises.” She smiles again when I kiss her.
“Holy shit!” I stare down at my hand when I feel a hard lump poke out under my palm.
“Oh yes, that's a thing, now.” She smiles at me.
“Does it feel weird?” I check.
“At first, but I’m getting used to it.”
“Where’s Lorna?” I search around noticing how quiet it is.
“She had to go back to the city early this morning for a lecture. So the girls and I have just been chilling out and doing some reading. We should come here more often, the view is beautiful. But next time, together,” she warns me.
“Are you ready to go home?” I kiss her again because I’ve missed how it feels.
“ More than ready.” She lets me help her up off the couch and starts making her way to the door.
“Don’t you dare laugh,” she calls out over her shoulder.
“Now, why would I do that?” I catch up with her.
“Because I’m very aware that I waddle now and knowing you, and your ridiculous kinks, you’ll be getting off on it.”
“Damn straight I’m getting off on it. You just keep on getting sexier.” I squeeze her ass. “So sexy that…I don’t think I can wait till we get home,” I whisper.
“Felix, have someone pack Mrs. DeMarco’s things.” I glance over my shoulder at the two guards I had follow me here.
“Come on, I have an idea.” I take her hand and lead her toward the boat house.