32. Diego
CHAPTER 32
DIEGO
I love her.
I fucking love her.
That truth has been working its way out of my chest and into my brain. I can’t deny it any longer. I left my mother’s necklace in her hands, but it might as well be my fucking bleeding heart.
I move to the bar, but I don’t see anyone as I make my way. After years of planning, I don’t get to savor it. All I can think about is the woman I left behind and the choice she’ll make. The Sinclair Gala buzzes all around me, the energy fuels me, and the impending climax teases my senses. I need a drink.
The irony isn’t lost on me. Cornelius is finally going to pay, but I’m stupidly in love with his daughter. He took something precious to me, and I wanted to take Maeve as revenge, but only now do I realize she isn’t his. She’s mine.
Hurting her will never hurt him because he’s not smart enough to understand the gift that she is. Luckily for both of us, I’m starting to. He doesn’t deserve anything good in his life, and Maeve is too good to be around any of these people. I’ve already smeared her reputation, but I gave her a new name.
“Whiskey. Neat,” I say as I reach the bar.
I planned to be sober tonight, but I need something to take the edge off. Too much is on the line, and I’m in a room full of assholes.
The barman places the tumbler in front of me. I nod my thanks, and I take a slow sip, enjoying the delicious burn.
“Diego, son? Is that you?”
I turn to the right, eyeing an older man I vaguely recognize. He’s Maeve’s “drunk loser uncle,” the laughingstock of the family, and likely the only somewhat decent one.
He was kind to me and my mom, but the past years weren’t kind to him. He’s smaller than I remember, balding with graying hair at his temples. He looks older than he should, but the smile is the same.
“Vince.” I remember.
He nods, smiling just as before. “Look at your size!”
I chuckle. I was never small, but I know what he means. Things are very different.
“Time,” I say, taking a sip.
He eyes the drink, and his face falls a little. “I heard about Angie. I’m so sorry.”
It’s a stab in an unhealed wound. Losing my mother will never stop hurting. I carry my own suffering with honor because it’s a reminder of how loved she was. As long as I hurt for her, her memory stays alive. His condolences are the reminder I needed. I stand up tall, my mother’s last months flashing through my eyes.
“Thank you.”
Those two words have much more meaning than usual, and I’m not sure if Vince understands. I’ll always be grateful for those who remember her fondly. He turns to the party, leaning on the bar as he watches the guests for a moment.
“You married Maeve.”
It’s not a question, and it’s not a secret. He’s seen the papers like the rest of them, maybe even heard about the garden party.
“I did.”
“I hoped that meant she wouldn’t be here this year. Well, maybe next year,” he says with a sad smile, but I know his hopes aren’t to avoid her.
Vince is Cornelius’s younger brother, though now he looks years older. He’s kind, so of course this family chewed him up and spat him out right on the floor. He’s Maeve from another generation.
“Maybe,” I tell him, and I try very hard to keep my smile to myself because it’s highly doubtful Cornelius will be here next year.
I don’t usually talk this much, but I’m not going to play dumb with someone I respect. Vince knows as much as I do that this place is a snake den. They are not a family but predators waiting for a weakness to pounce on and rip you limb from limb. He wished not to see Maeve, not because he’s yet another prick offended by me or the tattoo I put around her neck. He doesn’t want to see her because he knows she deserves better.
“It was great to see you again, son. Do keep her away from them,” he says with a parting pat on my shoulder.
“It was good to see you too, Vince,” I reply. He smiles, turning away before I say, “Maybe next year, none of us will be here.”
He arches an eyebrow and nods. “Wouldn’t that be a dream?”
Vince moves through the crowd until I can’t see him, but his answer burns better than the whiskey. This family took too much from too many people. I’m about to end it all, and it’s not just for my mom. Now it’s for Maeve, for Vince. For me.
This is the end, but it’s the beginning too. For all those years, revenge was the only thing on my mind. Even when I wasn’t sure how to move or if I’d ever get into the position I am right now. Before Cygnus and everything that came with that name. When I was just Diego Rodrigues, I still lived and breathed revenge.
Tonight, it all ends in flames, and I’ll finally get my happy ending.
I’d walk from this place knowing I did the right thing as a son, but nothing will be worth it if Maeve doesn’t walk with me.
Making her choose is a necessary move. I need her to choose her place beside me and take her seat with honor. The fear that she’ll choose them grips me by the throat. It takes me hostage. Tattoos can be removed just like my influence. I even considered keeping her locked up in that room until we age and she can’t run away from me anymore, but it’s useless.
I crave more now. Like a greedy child, having her is not enough anymore. I need to own every fiber of her being because I gave all of myself to her. She holds all the cards, and she doesn’t even know.
Maeve emerges from the restroom with a frown on her face but schools her expression quickly enough. She transforms in front of everyone, chin high and shoulders back. She’s the most beautiful thing in the world. Her eyes find mine, and she smiles.
She fucking smiles when she sees Cygnus watching her every move. The woman is crazy, and I just hope she’s crazy enough to accept me for who I am, gruesome murderer and all.