Chapter Eight
ROCCO
Ibarely know her, and I’m already lost to her perfection.
Shay Cayden’s an inescapable drug that hooked me from the very second I laid eyes on her.
Her beautiful face, her incredible body, and the way she calms me down when I feel out of control.
Even now, as we sit beside Vincent Lombardi’s hospital bed, listening to the life support machines beep steadily, I can’t stop staring at her.
“Do you think he’s going to be alright?” Shay asks. Her eyes haven’t left Vincent’s lifeless body.
“I don’t know. I sure hope so,” I reply. “You might not believe me when I say it, but he’s a good man. Somewhere deep inside, anyway.”
It’s easy for me to say. Vincent gave me a new life when all hope was gone.
He might’ve used me as a weapon, but he sure as hell isn’t the man who made me one.
That blame falls on my father, the sick fuck who thought training me to kill was better than giving me an education.
But that’s the way of the world. If you live by the sword, you better be prepared to die by it, too.
“You seem to think highly of him for a man who’s done a lot of bad things,” Shay says.
“As I said, the good side of Vincent Lombardi is tucked deep inside. He took me away from a bad life and gave me a good home. He taught me strong values,” I chuckle. “Even though it might not exactly seem like it.”
“He made you a killer,” Shay says.
“No,” I shake my head. “Vincent didn’t have any part to play in that.
That blame goes to my old man. He was a drug dealer back in the eighties and didn’t think raising a book-smart kid was worth the hassle.
He kicked the shit out of me, taught me to fight, and taught me to kill.
Said it was the only way I’d survive in this messed up world. ”
The thoughts of my father stir some unwanted emotions inside of me. Instinct takes over, and I chew on a nail. It makes me feel weak in front of Shay. Chewing on my nail like a damned child, because I don’t have any other outlet to release stress.
Shay reaches out and takes the hand I’m nibbling on. She caresses my knuckles with a few of her fingers. The motion is soothing.
“He sounds like a real dick,” Shay says.
The comment pulls a laugh from both of us.
“He was, but his tyranny didn’t last long once Vincent picked me up.”
Vincent executed my father for the real Rocco’s death instead of me. I killed him to defend my father, and where the Lombardi organization smiled on me, they didn’t extend the same mercy to a drug peddler on their turf.
“Well, isn’t this cute? The bulky brute and his little princess,” Emilio’s voice hits my ear. He’s leaning against the doorway with crossed arms, watching Shay and me with poorly concealed malice.
We were so lost in conversation that I didn’t even notice his arrival.
“Crying on the old man’s death bed, eh?” Emilio adds.
His lack of concern for his father’s well-being pisses me off.
He doesn’t care what happens to Vincent.
His own father, and he doesn’t give a shit.
He’s more interested in grabbing the title of next leader of the Lombardi empire, than he is in wishing his father a speedy recovery.
I’ve hated him for a long time and I know the feeling is mutual.
The only good thing that will come out of Vincent’s death, is the thought that I may someday be free to put a bullet in Emilio’s skull.
“We’ll leave you,” I say, getting up from the flimsy plastic hospital chair. Shay joins me, still clutching my hand.
“Leave me? Why would you go and do something like that?” he asks.
“I’m sure you’d like to spend some time with your father.”
“Nah, not really,” Emilio shrugs. “I’m not here for him. I thought I’d come and have a little chit-chat with you two.”
“Us? What for?”
Nothing good, I imagine.
“I just thought I’d let you know, you two better start praying Daddy dear wakes up,” Emilio says. “Because you see, if the big bad does happen, and he dies, you two are fucked.”
I hold my ground and stare him down.
“I’m going to get a lot of joy in putting a bullet in you, Rocco.
Watching as the life drains out of your eyes.
I might even take you back to that God-forsaken beach all of this bullshit started on.
” Emilio jams a nail between his teeth while he speaks.
He digs between two teeth, picking out some non-existent gunk.
“And you, Shay. Christ, you’re pretty. I’m going to enjoy shoving my cock straight down your throat until you pass out beneath me.” He winks at Shay.
He can threaten me all he wants because I’m not an easy target. But when he speaks to her, white-hot rage courses through my blood.
As much as I want to defend her, I can’t. I still know my place. Armed guards sit outside Vincent’s bedroom, and if I attack his son, they’ve got reason to strike.
Emilio laughs at his own crudeness and pushes off of the door. He flattens down the front of his shirt and takes a step out of the room. “That’s my message and that’s my warning, big man. You best heed it.”
Again, I hold my tongue. There’s no use in fighting with words.
But when the day comes, and if he truly believes he can stand against me, I’ll enjoy watching him die.