Chapter 21 #3
I am capable of terrible things, I have a temper, but never with people I care about. Verona doesn’t know me, but she grew up in a home full of monsters. If she needs to know that pain isn’t going to make me fight back or hurt her, then so be it.
She can continue until I pass out for all I care.
I hold up a single finger before allowing it to drop, the signal for my brothers to let it ride.
Dario growls under his breath as he gazes around us, but this is a quiet area of Savannah.
No one walks by, and that also means no one is asking questions.
I have a love and hate relationship with blocks like this. They make for great places to kidnap people, which means I love them when someone needs to disappear quietly.
“What do you want with her?” Verona whispers, brushing aside a tear as she glares at me.
“Do you not enjoy hurting my brother?” Dario asks, his gaze anywhere but on her. “Isn’t it fun?”
“I mean, he has his obnoxious moments,” Ciro drawls. I’m going to punch them both. Fuck, using a shock collar on a dog should be illegal. This shit hurts.
“I want Rosa. I want to build a life with her where she’s safe, loved, and doesn’t have to worry about burying the people she loves under a goddamned rose bush,” I growl out. “I want her to have you. Lastly, I want to show her we deserve to serve her during her heat and life.”
“Any other questions?” Dario asks. “We’re about to have company, and it’s the kind that comes with a service badge.”
Verona returns to the bench as she shakes her head and my brothers grab my arms and haul me to my feet now that I’m free to move.
“How the fuck do you still have that thing on your neck, knowing how much it hurts?” I ask, sucking in lungfuls of air.
“I think I like it,” Ciro shrugs. “It’s also a reminder I need to be mindful of the shit I say. Maybe one day, I won’t need it anymore.”
“You’re definitely a Domino,” I rasp, sitting heavily next to Verona.
We watch silently as the police cruiser approaches, not speaking until it passes by.
“You could have stopped me at any time,” she whispers, glancing at me. Her lashes are wet, and I can see there’s remorse in her blue eyes.
“Then where would the lesson lie?” I ask. “I can control myself, and I’m not going to hurt you, Verona. I have never physically harmed Rosa either. My harm lies in being a dipshit with too few details, engrossed in what I thought I needed to do. Did you enjoy hurting me?”
“I thought I would, but no,” she mumbles.
“Good. You’re not a monster, Verona. Rosa and I hurt people for duty or revenge. I was my father’s enforcer for about three years after I turned eighteen. I didn’t enjoy it, but I was damn good at making people scream.”
“Rosa isn’t a monster, right?” Dario asks quietly.
We need to establish these things, because they spent three fucking hours torturing Eva. I doubt Pablo would have an ounce of remorse over it, not once he was looped into the horrors she brought upon Rosa. However, Verona is different.
She may have grown up adjacent to this life, raised around mafia men, but that’s different than killing someone. To watch the life drain out of a person’s eyes can change a person, and Rosa may be so used to death, she may not even remember when she was innocent.
“Never,” she says, gasping in a breath.
“Neither are you. No matter how many people you kill with Rosa or to defend her. None of that makes you a monster. You don’t hurt people simply to do it,” he says.
“Now. Would you like to tell us what all of this was about?” I ask, getting comfortable on the bench.
“I needed…to see if you were like Renzo. He has to hurt people before they can do it to him. You can’t be like her father, Nico. It would kill her.”
“I’m no closer to being Renzo Accetta than I am my own father, Verona.
It’s why I moved out of his house, and went toe to toe over and over with him to convince him to cut down on the parts of his businesses I didn’t like.
Well, the ones I knew about,” I sigh. “I fuck up a lot. However, I do my best to fix the things I break. If you need to beat me up a little, go for it.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she grumbles, sniffing as she swipes away her tears. “I’m pissed about it too.”
“Not even on the sparring mat?” I tease her, watching as a small smile escapes.
“I have a feeling I won’t do well on the mat.”
“No telling until you’re out there. You’re a damn natural with a firearm. Shall we see what you’re made of?”
Rosa runs out of the shop, her eyes wide until she sees Verona.
“I’m good,” she promises. “I told you through the bond I was okay.”
“Yeah, well, I needed to see it. I just need to pay my deposit and then we can go home, Vero.”
“Actually, can we go sparring, baby? I promise unless you’re luring me home for a threesome, I don’t want to go there.”
Rosa gazes at her for a long moment before nodding and brushing her lips, deepening the kiss until Verona definitely isn’t thinking about crying anymore.
“We’ll table the threesome, Vero.”
These two are going to kill me. I swear it. Between hormones, tears, and the dirty talk, I am way over my head.