Romero And Lucrezia : A Mafia Romance

Chapter 1

Lucrezia Sindetti stood on the unfamiliar street corner, shivering in her sensible pumps. Her plain, white dress was shielded by her light-colored duster from debris being blown from the street. It didn’t stand a chance against the early January air. The automobiles here were many, along with noise that did not exist on her small street just thirty minutes away.

Men in fabulous three-piece suits and long coats yelled at one another as the smoke from their gaspers filled the air, practically choking her as they walked by in a smoky haze.

Women in colorful, shorter dresses sauntered on their arms as they gave her looks of disdain. With their painted faces and dripping in expensive looking jewels that complimented their short hair, Lucrezia stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Best run on home, little lady. This isn’t the street for you,” One of them hissed behind ruby lips.

Lucrezia squared her shoulders in determination. Her husband was somewhere on this property, surely getting himself into even more trouble than he was already in.

Lucrezia hardened her face and approached the metal gates and men on the other side that were guarding the mansion. A tall red head, a stout balding one, and a muscular dirty blonde. They formed a man-made wall behind it as they all crossed their arms.

“Something we can do for you, miss?”

The blonde man holding his cigarette in his mouth looked her up and down.

“I’m looking for my husband. He came here an hour ago. I need to see him, please.”

Lucrezia held her head high, not hard to do when these men towered above her. But she remained in composure, folding her hands in front of her with a tight grip on her handbag.

“No one here could belong to you, sweetheart. Run along now.” The red head annoyedly shooed her away as if she were some ragged animal, enraging her.

“Carlo Russo. Tall. Brown hair combed to the left. He’s wearing a dark blue suit. I want to see him. Now.”

Lucrezia puffed out her chest but knew full well she could never be intimidating to these kinds of men. It was why this neighborhood was forbidden to her, the rule set by her Mamma and Papà.

The balding man raised his brow. “Carlo Russo? The Carlo Russo is your husband?” He pointed to her in shock.

“Last time I checked.”

Lucrezia held up her hand with the simple gold band in a huff.

With shared looks to one another, the red head nodded after taking another drag off his gasper and opened the gate for her. When he lifted his arm, a gun holster was revealed to be attached to his suspenders.

Lucrezia averted her eyes quickly, her stomach dropping as she quickened her pace to keep up with the other two.

They passed beautiful garden work and walked through four large columns. The heavy wooden doors of the stunning mansion groaned as the men allowed her to walk through first.

Lucrezia was taken aback by the beautiful grand staircase with marble statues on either side. Nude women.

She blushed and turned her attention to stunning artwork lining the walls. So much so, that there wasn’t a single space untouched. Maids were hurrying from corner to corner, dusting and wiping with meticulous speed. The archway to the left led to what seemed to be a study.

A massive bookcase greeted her, and a warm roaring fire that another man was stoking.

“She’s here to see Carlo,” the dirty blonde behind her informed another.

The man stoking the fire leaned on the mantle, cracking his knuckles and only growling in response.

Lucrezia’s stomach churned as she tried to consider what she would say to Carlo.

Mamma had always warned her not to interfere in the affairs of her husband. No man wanted a nagging wife, she claimed.

However, Lucrezia was desperate.

The bills were coming in faster than they could pay. He gave her less and less money to buy food and other necessities.

Carlo disappeared, some instances for days at a time. When he returned, he merely brushed her off as his glower warned her not to ask questions.

“The money will come. You’ll see. Card games and the racetrack will pay off.”

His attempts to reassure her were futile. If the money wasn’t going toward the house or the bills, it had to be going somewhere else.

Lucrezia feigned happiness for the outside world, the only choice she had when asked about the husband hand-picked for her by her parents.

In their minds, she had not one thing to complain about; a husband, a home, protection. What more could a woman of her day want?

Mamma and Papà were finally free of her as well. They practically shoved her in his arms when he came courting.

It was seemingly a win-win situation.

Until, one day,Carlo came stumbling through the door bloodied and bruised. He owed money, and they wanted it now.

Who “they” were, he refused to say.

But Lucrezia heard the talk on the streets. The corrupt criminals that roamed the city, holding it in their iron grip in one hand and a gun in the other.

Here she was now, being circled by them like a fish in open water.

“I don’t know where Carlo is. She can talk to the boss if she really wants to. Be my guest, but he won’t like this,” the armed man said with a sigh as he outstretched his arm, giving permission for the red head to pass through the delicate door.

He pulled down a screen, shielding anyone from seeing what was on the other side.

The large grandfather clock ticked loudly in the eerily quiet room as she stood pin-straight.

“You want to sit down?” The balding one offered her while already sitting, holding out his case of cigarettes to her. She turned up her nose in disgust.

If Papà ever found out that she, a married woman, was here cavorting with men, his palm would be across her cheek so quickly her head would spin. Mamma would surely die of grief, claiming their family’s reputation to be ruined.

If only they knew that Lucrezia was doing this to save exactly that.

Finally, the door opened and shut again, and the red head jerked his head to silently beckon her.

His smoke nearly made her gag, so she did her best to keep her distance while still following instructions.

“I’ll have to search you before you talk to the boss, sweetheart.”

Search? The Boss? Where is Carlo?

The man made a move to touch her, and she swatted him away.

“How dare you! Don”t even think of laying your hands on me!”

Lucrezia sneered and prepared to use her handbag as a weapon.

He rolled his eyes, even laughing as he shook his head.

“Look, princess, I”m not sure what made you think you could come here today, but no one sees the boss without getting searched. Now, will you be good and let me just pat you down for ten seconds? Think you can manage that?”

His eyes darkened as he lowered his head. A lascivious smirk ghosted his lips.

“Or will I have to make it a more...thorough search?”

Lucrezia sucked in a breath, unable to comprehend what she had just heard.

Before she could register it, her palm cracked against the man’s cheek, sending his head flying to the left.

The blood drained to her feet, and she prepared to receive a beating that would surely rival what the nuns from her school days subjected her to.

The corners of his eyes wrinkled as he laughed, setting off a chain reaction of snickers from the men behind her.

“Oh, you little bitch.”

His vice grip on her upper arm dragged her to the door with a gold plate nailed to it.

Romero Mancini.

That name. She’d heard that name before.

“See how the boss likes your little attitude.”

He pounded on the door with his fist before turning away, rubbing his cheek. He muttered another curse under his breath.

“Cunt.”

Tears stung behind her eyes, but she sucked them back with a bite to her inner cheek.

The door was opened by yet another man in a striped three-piece suit and beckoned for her to come inside.

Whoever was sitting at the elaborate desk was blocked by a newspaper in a cloud of smoke.

The newspaper he was holding crinkled down to reveal a clean-shaven face, wavy, gelled hair, striking green eyes, and an emerald, green suit to match. He stood to his full height before her, making him taller than any man she had ever seen.

A golden pocket watch hung from his pocket, and leather shoes appeared as the man that had been in every newspaper in town was now advancing toward her.

His hand came up to his head, smoothing back his hair and taking another drag.

“Well, well. To what do I owe this pleasure, Miss-”

“My name is Lucrezia, sir. Sindetti is my maiden name.”

His jaw twitched when she spoke. He hummed as he ruminated on her name.

“Lucrezia, that’s a beautiful name. It suits you well.”

He flashed her a toothy grin as he took another puff.

“I’m not here for formalities. I’m looking for my husband, Carlo Russo. I followed him, so I know he’s here. Where is he?”

Romero Mancini raised a neatly trimmed brow, a smile slowly forming on his face.

“A beautiful girl like you surely doesn’t have any business in this part of town. Even if she’s following her man around. Carlo never even told me he had a wife. But I can’t understand why he would keep you a secret.”

Lucrezia couldn’t deny the slight pang in her chest. Carlo was always...aloof, and their marriage was certainly not one born out of love. It made her feel even less important than she was to her parents.

She did her best to ignore Romero’s eyes marking a path across her body.

“Can you please just tell me where he is so we can settle this debt and be on our way?”

Lucrezia softened her tone considerably, unsure of what this man could do to her.

“Well, I”m afraid I can’t do that, la mia perla.”

Lucrezia narrowed her eyes.

His pearl?

When she looked down at herself in her almost entirely white clothing, it made sense. But a married woman surely could not tolerate that kind of a pet name.

Exasperated, she widened her stance and snapped.

“Listen, I have been living with my husband”s penchant for gambling for months. I followed him here because I want this disgusting habit of his to end. Today. Just tell me where he is!”

Lucrezia squeezed her eyes shut, praying they didn’t laugh at her or force her to leave. She wasn’t sure she could go on this way for much longer.

“I’m surprised, Mrs. Russo. You seem to know quite a bit about what he’s into. You know, he hasn’t heeded mine or my mens’ warnings for a very long time.”

“Yes, I’m aware! He came home one night nearly beaten within an inch of his life. Was that one of your mens’ handiwork?”

She glared at the silent man standing stoically in the corner. He held up his hands in innocence.

“It’s all business, piccola perla. That was your husband”s final warning. If he couldn’t pay me what I was owed, there would be consequences.”

Romero shrugged, raising his eyebrows.

Lucrezia whimpered, her lip quivering as she straightened her posture. She was determined to show no fear.

How could her parents have given her away to that fool?

“But I have to tell you that today out of the blue, your husband comes barging in here claiming he’s got a solution to this little situation. He was practically bouncing off the walls, he was so excited.”

Romero leaned back on his desk, and Lucrezia tried not to look at how the material of his button down stretched over his broad chest.

“Wonderful. So, I can trust that this little...arrangement between the two of you is through? Carlo and I can go on with our lives?”

For the tiniest, fleeting moment, Lucrezia felt a sense of relief. The first time she had felt it in months.

Lucrezia watched his veiny hand put out his cigar as he dismissed his guard. The man obeyed, leaving her alone with Romero Mancini, crime boss of New York City.

“Perla, you’re far too good for him. Too gorgeous. I mean, what more could a man ask for? You trailed him all the way here in your best dress, not knowing who he was with. You were prepared to pull him out by his ear, weren’t you?”

Romero shook his head with a sympathetic smile, then began advancing toward her. Too close, because she began to back up.

“Were you going to beg me to release him from the debt? Take a job yourself and put your own wants and needs aside just to help that verme?”

Lucrezia bit back the nausea, putting the thought of the newspaper with jobs circled on her kitchen table out of her head.

Yes, she was willing to do all of that. Anything to avoid returning home to her parents a failed wife and a further failed daughter.

He took her lack of response as an answer.

“Such a good little wife, the kind that every man wants.”

Romero lifted his hand to the side of her head, making Lucrezia flinch.

When he noticed, he didn’t let his fingers touch her; instead, letting his hand fall slowly down her side, admiring her form.

“Do you want children, Miss Sindetti?”

Lucrezia recoiled at his question.

“Excuse me?” She brought a hand to her chest.

“Do you love Carlo or, come to think of it, did you ever? Was he who you envisioned walking down the aisle to when you thought of your wedding day as a little girl? Do you even like wearing his ring? Not a very nice one, at that. You should have a rock that makes your hand feel heavy when you wear it.”

Romero gestured to her wedding band, picking it apart.

Lucrezia couldn’t help but hesitate. How could he possibly know anything about her?

Even more so, why did she want to scream no?

“Do you know if Carlo Russo can even give you a family?”

He began to advance closer, and she backed away, growing uncomfortable with his proximity. His cologne was wrapping her in a vice, daring her to touch him.

“Because I can guarantee he was never going to fill that belly the way it needs to be filled, piccola perla. He was never going to treat you the way you deserve to be.”

Romero purred while he caged her in with the mass of his body, threatening to set her ablaze.

“Tell me, does he even take you to bed, little girl?”

He leaned forward into her personal space. The heat that was swiftly rising within her exploded.

Once again, Lucrezia raised her hand and delivered her second slap of the day. Only this time, she was sure she would be killed for it.

The crack echoed in the quiet room, and she realized he barely even blinked. Just like his guard out there, he began laughing. It fueled her fury as he cracked his neck and reoriented himself.

Somehow, this was worse than one of his men cursing her.

“Serpente,” Lucrezia hissed at him.

His dark chuckle seeped through her skin, breaking down her defenses before he had her pinned to the wall with one hand holding her wrists above her head and the other wrapped firmly around her throat. Her handbag dropped to their feet.

All she could do was squeak as her body became petrified beneath the warmth of this stranger. Like a furnace that threatened to overheat her core.

“I dare you to do that again. You’ll be flat on your back on this floor or over my desk while I make you apologize with a sore ass, little girl. That would be something, yeah?”

The threat did the exact opposite of what it was intended to do. Lucrezia’s knees buckled beneath her as gravity came very close to failing her body, leaving only Romero to hold her up.

His pupils blew up as his gaze lingered on her lips.

”Imagine that. Me taking another man’s wife over my desk, disciplining her the way she needs. Lord knows he never would have been able to. That would have sent a better message than simply beating him to a pulp. God, I wish we had met sooner. Then my knuckles wouldn’t have gotten so messed up.”

Lucrezia’s mouth gaped as she fought against his grip. He held up his fist, showing the evidence of Carlo’s beating.

It made her sick, how she was in the arms of her husband’s assailant. What made her sicker was how her body was responding to him.

Lucrezia was forcing herself to ignore how her abdomen tightened with his words. She felt the redness travel from her chest to her cheeks in embarrassment. She was a married woman, for God’s sake.

Romero released her, only to rip her coat from her shoulders and toss it to the floor, drinking in her small frame.

She was shorter than the average woman. Standing before Romero Mancini would have been comparable to a mouse quivering before a lion.

Lucrezia sniffled back a sob, lifting her small chin until she could meet his eyes. Next to his enchanting irises, her brown ones surely looked dull.

Romero dropped his gaze to her plump lips, one of the only attributes she actually liked about herself.

He cursed in Italian, biting his knuckle as he looked at her in a way that only her husband should. That is, if Carlo had ever even bothered to.

“Don’t....”

Lucrezia covered herself, fully dressed but feeling naked all the same.

The overpowering man gently pried her arms away from her body, pinning them to her side. Now, she was defenseless.

“Carlo has got to be, without a doubt, the stupidest son of a fucking whore I”ve ever met in my life. He has it all; a home, a devoted wife. A stunning one, at that. Because you have been in this office all of five minutes, and I can scarcely take my eyes off you.”

His warm hands traveled from her wrists and up her arms, leaving a trail of goose bumps from his fingertips. Lucrezia didn’t flinch this time, but she wouldn’t allow herself to lean into his touch.

“Which is why it pains me to break this news to you. He threw it all away, piccola perla.”

Romero tore himself away and went back to his desk, leaving her strangely cold.

A panic settled over her head.

“What do you mean?”

“Like I said, when Carlo came here today, he did have something to offer me.”

“What?”

Romero procured a neatly folded piece of paper from a drawer and passed it to her.

”What is this?” Lucrezia shakily accepted it.

He wouldn”t answer, only solemnly passing her a sympathetic glance as she unsealed the paper.

Her eyes were reading the words, but her brain couldn”t comprehend it.

”No...no! This can”t be!”

What Lucrezia was reading was the transfer of ownership of her and Carlo”s home - the home her Mamma and Papà had helped them pay for when they were first married months ago. It was now owned by Romero Mancini. Both her husband and Romero”s signatures ended the document, sealing the fate of the house.

”How...how could he do this to us? To me?” She began to crumble the paper as her fists turned white, but Romero plucked it from her numb fingers.

”I”m afraid your husband is nothing but a con man, little girl. It looks to be that his gambling drove him to drastic measures; he wormed his way into your parents’ good graces to get them to agree to a marriage between you and him. I”m sure he sprinkled a little charm on you all, said and did all the right things. He got a house out of the deal; an easy way out of his debts.”

Romero waved his hands as if this were commonplace in his world. But where Lucrezia came from, honor was everything.

”I don”t understand. What did he think he was going to do after all of this was said and done? Did he think of what this would do to my family? What would have become of me?”

Romero looked over the agreement again.

”Once he was free of his debt to me, he likely would have run off, knowingly leaving you with no home or money. Carlo married you just to abandon you, perla. This would have left your fate up to me, since I now am the legal owner of your home. I”ll admit, that is cruel, even for me.”

Lucrezia wanted to be sick. She wished she could throw her ring in Carlo’s face or shove it down his throat. More than anything, she wanted the chance to tell him to his smug face that she cursed him for all his days.

”You can”t take my home! That”s all I have. I have nowhere else to go...please! I can”t return to my mother and father. Oh, God....”

Lucrezia felt overwhelming dread as she hid her face behind her long hair, unable to feign confidence anymore. If her parents allowed her to return home, she would never hear the end of it; how she surely drove Carlo away and how no man would touch her now.

In a matter of months, she had gone from eligible single woman to a jilted wife.

A familiar sense of failure set in like a black hole eating her from the inside out.

”Where is he? Can he just as well get away with this?”

She could no longer keep it together as a single tear raced down her cheek. The world she thought she knew came crumbling around her.

He passed her with an intoxicating brush of his cologne as he opened the door and called for one of his men in his mother tongue, then closed the door again to return to her side.

”Who will have me now?”

Romero blinked and tilted his head, and Lucrezia realized she said that out loud.

”I believe I have a solution to our problems.”

Romero”s hand reached up to her cheek, brushing the tear away and tucking the strands of hair behind her ears.

She wanted to find comfort in his soft touch, but he wrapped that hand around the back of her neck, forcing her to remain within a hair”s breadth of him

”Marry me, little girl.”

The breath left Lucrezia”s lungs as she stared at the striking green pools that were his eyes. She pulled away, but he tightened his hold on her.

”W-what...?”

”Be my wife. Live here with me under this roof. That takes care of your well-being and safety, yes?”

Lucrezia could hardly believe what she was hearing.

Romero Mancini, asking for her hand in marriage. Asking an already married woman for her hand was completely inappropriate, yet he was asking all the same.

And why did he keep calling her a little girl? She was a grown woman!

She wanted to pinch her arm, but her brain couldn”t formulate any more thought.

”But...Carlo-”

”Carlo was using you! He’s been gambling with the money I”ve loaned him for years, baby doll. When it was time for him to pay up, he got desperate. That’s probably when he started scouring neighborhoods like yours for a wife because no woman in these parts will have him. The rest is history. Damn him.”

Romero scowled as he looked over the document again, and she swore she saw a passing look of regret. She remembered that Romero had no clue as to her existence.

Would he have refused the offer if he knew that Carlo had a wife?

”Did you know that a man can be severely punished for deserting his comrades in war? He could end up paying a heavy fine, too.”

Lucrezia narrowed her eyes.

”I think it should be the same for marital desertion. When two people come together in marriage, they wage the battles of life together, yes?”

She could only nod as she watched Romero take a swig of a mystery liquid from a flask. The heavy scent of the forbidden drink reached her nose. He still kept a hold of her with his other hand.

”Call me an old-fashioned man, but I consider myself chivalrous and respectful. My mother used to call me her principe.”

The drink softened his exterior, and his body began to move with a slight sway.

Romero’s warm hand came up to palm her cheek.

”I could have him arrested in five minutes for deserting you. No questions asked. Just say the word and the pigs will pick his ass up for whatever charges I tell them to book him on. And once they see this enchanting little face-”

He tucked a finger under her chin, using it to turn her head side-to-side as he examined her features with a bite of his lip and a wanting groan.

”What makes you think they”d listen to you?” Lucrezia whispered, now too frightened to move.

”I”ve got some very powerful people in my pocket, sweet girl. Lawyers. Accountants. The Mayor. Hell, the chief of police himself. So, if I want someone to go away-” he snapped his fingers, ”They”re gone. I tell them who, where they’ll be, and how I want it done.”

Suddenly, that didn”t make her feel so good.

“B-but Carlo and I are still married...”

Attempting to reason with this man would do no good because he laughed in her face.

“Little girl, I can scrub any trace of your marriage to Carlo off the face of the earth. The papers print what I tell them to print. If I want your marriage certificate to disappear, if I want him shot in a robbery gone bad, or maybe I want him to have an unfortunate accident in the river, so it will be. Then, you and I can live happily ever after. You’ll be safe with me, cared for. Which is far more than that lying sack of shit ever did for you.”

The tears began to spill freely. Her mind screamed at her to run as far away as possible from this lunatic and never look back.

Romero Mancini was offering not only to marry her but also to be rid of Carlo Russo for good.

And now, she was an accomplice.

”All of this can happen if you say yes to me.”

He tightened his hand around the back of her neck, catching some of her hair as he anticipated her answer.

”If I refuse?”

Romero”s jaw audibly clicked.

”I think this is a no-brainer, sweetie, but fine.”

He took another swig of his acrid drink when he released her.

”You lose your home, and you”re on the streets while Carlo rides off into the sunset to amass more debt and con some other poor, sweet girl and her family. I won’t have that, though.”

He gestured to the space around them, the span of his arms almost eating it up.

”This is a big house. Plenty of room here for your things. Maybe with some kids running around, it’ll make it even better.”

Lucrezia”s heart ceased pounding in her chest.

”You want children?”

”Someone will have to take over all of this for me one day. I think I could get used to seeing your face in miniature versions of us. Some soft brown eyes, all this hair.” He fisted the long hair she couldn”t bear to cut like so many women were doing.

Romero growled as he dipped his head to catch her fragrance below her ear. An even more inhumane sound escaped his chest.

“I want to see you in my bed, on my arm. Hell, I want to see nothing but you for the rest of my damn life. You think you can wait a little while longer, sweetie? I know you must be aching for a real man. A real Daddy that will take care of you.”

His hands took hold of her waist, effectively trapping her.

God, she couldn’t take it anymore. He invaded every possible sense in Lucrezia’s head. His voice was everywhere all at once. She had breathed only Romero for just a few minutes, but she suddenly wanted more.

The prospect of a man who actually came to her at night, someone who would give her a family...all the things she had thought she would never have as her marriage to Carlo soured. Now, it was staring her in the face attached to a lethal promise.

And why did he keep calling her a little girl? Why did he call himself Daddy?

An endless array of questions filled her head until one finally spilled from her lips.

”Why are you doing this?”

Lucrezia”s hands planted on his chest to push him away, but when she felt his heartbeat beneath her palm, she was reminded that he was still human. Even if he seemed otherworldly.

”I did nothing, piccola perla. You have Carlo to thank for this. Our paths were going to cross sooner or later once I took possession of your home. Even then, you may still have been faced with a choice; marry me or live poor. And I’d sooner throw myself to wolves before seeing you begging on the street corner. You could have a good life here, not have a single worry in this pretty little head. Anything I can give you would be yours.”

Romero dipped his chin, letting his lips nibble on her lobe and catching her earring.

“So, what do you say, Lucrezia? Will you marry me?”

He picked up her hand, twirling Carlo’s ring around her finger.

The yes passed her lips, barely above a whisper, and her fate was sealed as he pulled the band and passed his flask to her.

Lucrezia shook her head, but his hold on her tightened even more, pressing her breasts to his torso.

”This is how we seal our agreement, perla. Allow me to worry about the rest.”

She barely had time to wonder what he was referring to before he lightly pressed the bottle to her lips, letting the liquid flow until she was forced to swallow. It tasted God awful, and he surely read it on her face, making him chuckle.

He took another sip before a knock on the door interrupted them, though whoever was on the other side did not enter.

”Come on, baby. We have a loose end to tie up.”

He took her by the hand and marched her out of his office and into the den where his men first made her wait for him.

They stopped for a brief second, and Romero tossed her ring into the roaring fire like it was nothing.

Though, to Carlo, she now knew it really was nothing.

She was once again greeted with the expanse of his mansion, noticing even more beautiful geometric style designs in the architecture. Surely, he hired only the best to build this home. God knew how many rooms it had.

She would find out soon.

Lucrezia was barely keeping up as his large stride got them to the intricate back door of the property, leading to a magnificent courtyard with a fabulous water fountain. The archway was lined with shrubbery that was prepared to bloom flowers in the spring months.

A back gate was opened in the far end of the garden, and two of his darkly dressed men were dragging a kicking and screaming Carlo between them.

”No!! I paid the boss, I did!! What are you doing? I gave him my house-”

Her husband”s cries came to a screeching halt as he unwittingly revealed what he had done right in front of Lucrezia. Carlo froze upon seeing her by Romero”s side, surely knowing his plan had been found out.

”Lucrezia, baby...you don”t understand.” He attempted to wrench his arms free as his suit was getting wrinkled in the struggle, the same suit she had pressed for him just days before.

”She understands everything she needs to, Mr. Russo. No need to worry, though, I”ll be overseeing her care from now on. So, you can go to the beyond feeling confident that the woman you swore before God to protect and cherish-” he pointed to the sky- ”will be taken care of.”

Lucrezia tried pulling away from Romero in a panic, but he firmly pulled her close. He applied gentle pressure to the back of her head to rest on his chest.

“Don’t look, sweetheart.”

Lucrezia fought his hand, looking in the direction of her conniving husband.

No...he couldn”t mean....

She felt Romero jut his chin in a silent order, and the man that had threatened to search her earlier came from behind Carlo, aiming his weapon. Her eyes closed just in time, reopening again to a world where her husband no longer existed.

All that was left was a ghostly white body with droplets of blood staining the cement.

And just like that, Lucrezia’s old life was no more.

Her own body failed her, unable to move or speak as her hands were held frozen in the air. When she began feeling lightheaded, Romero tugged on her hair to bring her back down to Earth.

”Breathe, la mia perla.” He pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek.

Lucrezia obeyed, too terrified to do anything else.

The man who pulled the trigger appeared, and instinctively, she recoiled. Of course, pressing her further into Romero”s chest.

She felt his hands tremble, but soon realized it was her own body uncontrollably shaking, and he was trying to settle her.

”Shh, I’ve got you, Lucrezia.” He kissed the top of her head through her hat.

The murderer passed her a dirty glance, just adding to the list of awful things he had done to her today. A choking sob rose from her throat.

Romero noticed because he cupped her clammy cheek and forced her to look up at him.

”What is it, sweetheart?”

Lucrezia opened her mouth, but no sound would come out.

”What”s the matter, miss? Never seen a bit of blood before?” the gun wielder teased.

She could hear the smirk in his voice. More than anything, she wanted to slap him again.

Romero”s other hand came to her shoulder in a vice grip.

”Little girl, use your words.” Her husband-to-be cupped her chin, trying desperately to read her face.

”I-I want him to go away...p-please,” she pleaded with a mouth as dry as sawdust and bile threatening to exit.

“Oh, little one.” Romero kissed her forehead with a gentleness that contrasted the brutality she had just seen.

He gently pressed her ear to his chest, covering the other with his free hand. A muffled, leathery sound penetrated through before a bang followed.

Lucrezia”s eyes filled with tears, knowing Romero shot the red head without even having to look. She couldn”t confirm herself, sure that she would vomit right here if she did.

And she didn”t dare look at the weapon that did it as he returned it to its holster.

Romero took her face in both hands, kissing her forehead again.

”I”m proud of you, Lucrezia. You’re already learning anything you need, just ask.”

The salty tears flowed down her cheeks.

”I m-meant m-make him walk awa-a-ay!!” Lucrezia pounded on his chest with what little remaining strength she had before she was pulled inside again, her blood rapidly losing its will to continue flowing to her brain.

“Why...are you doing...this...?”

Exhaustion began overtaking her body.

”I heard you slap him, and I heard what he called you. My mind was made up then that he would join Carlo once he pulled the trigger. I don’t tolerate disrespect, especially now that I have a fiancée. That’s how I run my household.”

Lucrezia’s vision began to blur as her feet started to drag.

“You’re insane....”

Romero only blinked in response.

“Maybe. But it’s only fair you know how I deal with people who cross me. Since we”re going to be married, crimes against me are now crimes against you. As for Carlo, I told you that he was a loose end. You’re a widow now, so you, little girl, are now free to marry me.”

Her legs began to buckle beneath her, but he proudly caught her just in time.

Lucrezia felt unbelievably soft fabric underneath her. A fluffy pillow was placed behind her head as the world around her blackened. Only Romero”s blurry figure remained above her as he patted her damp forehead as she pitifully whimpered.

”Shhh. You just rest. Daddy”s going to take care of everything.”

Lucrezia”s world then went black with a final damning kiss to her lips.