Chapter 33
VALENTINA
“You’ve got a detective on your payroll,” I say.
Caroline smiles broadly. “Who doesn’t?”
“Here we are, Caroline,” Luca replies. “What’s next?”
He doesn’t seem shocked, though. In fact, his calmness is almost unnerving, as if he knows something that I don’t, as if he might still have an ace up his sleeve. Or maybe that’s just hope derailing me from reality. Given our situation, hope is all I have left, and it’s a fickle thing.
My stepfather sighs and starts tapping away on his phone, as if this entire conversation is rather boring to him.
“I’m disappointed in you,” I tell Mauro. “You made a promise to my mother that you would protect me, no matter what.”
“I tried, but you decided to run away.”
“Don’t think for a second that I ever forgave you for what you did to her,” I reply.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh, but I did understand. It’s one of the reasons why I never wanted to have anything to do with you or this wretched family,” I say.
Caroline groans in frustration. “This isn’t therapy hour. Spare me all the bitching and moaning, Valentina. We get it. Papa didn’t give you all the love you thought you deserved. Get over it.”
Luca chuckles dryly. “It’s common knowledge all over Chicago that he orchestrated Valentina’s mother’s death.”
“You should take it down a notch,” Caroline replies. “I’m calling the shots here.”
Luca gives me a look, noticing the redness on my cheek and my bloodied lip. His gaze darkens, hatred burning in his eyes as he looks at my stepsister.
“Call the shots then,” he says. “Let’s hear it. What do you want, Caroline?”
“Aren’t you going to ask me how you both made it here in the first place?”
She giggles, metaphorically patting herself on the back for her accomplishment. But Luca doesn’t grant her even a sliver of satisfaction. Instead, he gazes at her with tired eyes.
“I don’t give a shit, Caroline. You had my brother feeding you sensitive information about the organization and my movements.
You have a bone to pick with me or the Petruccis in general.
You desire power and influence because you can’t have anything else in your miserable life.
And you’re trying to use my wife as your personal punching bag.
Everything else is irrelevant, so go ahead, call the shots. What do you want?”
Caroline seems rather disappointed, almost irritated. Luca stole her thunder, and her face contorts with fury before she takes a deep breath and decides to focus on the situation before her.
“Fine. It’s simple really,” she says. “I’ve thought about what would make us happy, given the circumstances.
Consider this a lost war, Luca. We end it here.
Marry me, and we’ll raise Michael together.
We’ll unite our families like we originally intended.
You get to live, keep your nephew, and I get to save my family’s honor. ”
“And Valentina?”
“She’s no longer needed,” Caroline replies. “I’ll raise Michael as my own. The boy represents the closest we’ll ever get to continuing both bloodlines.”
“How if I’m not a Mancuso by blood?” I cut in.
Caroline’s glare is vicious. “Shut the fuck up.” She returns her focus to Luca.
“These are the terms of the deal. Take it, and we’ll sign a peace treaty right here.
Our partners in the Camorra are ready to accept and support it.
I’m sure what’s left of your syndicate will support if you tell them to.
It’s the easiest way to prevent a war, and for you to keep your nephew. ”
“And if I say no?” Luca asks, his nostrils flaring.
“You die. And Michael dies. You all die.”
Luca nods slowly, taking everything in. It sounds insane. Delusional even, and I can tell from Mauro’s doubtful frown that he doesn’t truly believe in Caroline’s plan.
“Even if you kill me, Stefano is alive. There will still be a Petrucci left standing,” Luca says, “because as we speak, my crew is storming the Mayfair house. They’ll get my brother out of there.”
“They’re too late,” Mauro scoffs.
We all hear the door open again. Stefano is brought in, looking confused and red-faced as soon as he sees us.
For a moment, I lose my breath at the sight of him—not because of some lingering feelings I might harbor toward him.
There aren’t any left. It’s merely a sense of familiarity, of disappointment, of disgust.
“Luca,” Stefano mutters. Embarrassment makes him falter and stare at his shoes, stealing glances at me from across the room. “What’s happening, Caroline? We had a deal!”
“I changed the terms and conditions.” She laughs, then looks at me.
“Don’t say I never did anything for you, sis.
See? I’m giving you a chance to confront your baby daddy.
” She pauses and turns to Luca. “Seems like I have all the relevant Petruccis in my living room. And don’t worry about the rest of your family.
I’ve got eyes on them, too. If you refuse to marry me, Luca, I will wipe you all out. ”
“I suppose you thought you could get away with all of this,” Luca replies. He keeps side-eyeing his brother, and I see the flicker of pain in his glances, the hesitation, but the anger, the grief, they’re too much to bear, even for him.
“I do,” Caroline says, then gives her father a playful wink.
The security guards pull back, lingering by the door, while Reece stays close to Luca, the gun poking my husband’s ribs.
“It all started with this piece of shit,” Mauro says, nodding at Stefano. “He just had to come after one of my own.”
“Had you told me about this, I would’ve handled it,” Luca says. “I never would’ve allowed him to do what he did.”
“Hey,” Stefano scowls, “what the hell?”
“You need to keep your fucking mouth shut,” Luca snaps. “You’ve done enough damage to last entire generations. Our father would’ve put a bullet in your head, and you know it.”
“Your son is upstairs, not that you care. You seem more than ready to let the Mancusos raise him, from what I can tell,” I add.
“You two really ganged up on me, didn’t you?” Stefano replies, shaking his head in dismay. “We were at war! I did what I had to in order to get my message across!”
But Luca isn’t having any of his bullshit.
“Stefano, you did what you wanted. And you caused already intense strife to get even worse. On top of that, you hurt Valentina and you signed a baby boy up for a life he never asked for. You don’t deserve the Petrucci name.
If we weren’t here right now, I would beat you into a pulp and send you to Sicily to spend the rest of your miserable life there, you fucking coward. ”
“Maybe skip over the family drama,” Reece interjects.
“You’ve got somewhere else you need to be?” I reply with genuine disgust. “You said you wanted to help me. That was a lie.”
“Don’t worry about him, Valentina,” Luca says. “He knows what’s coming.”
“What’s coming is a bullet through your lung if you don’t do as you’re told,” Reece tells him, pressing the gun harder into his ribcage.
Caroline loses her patience and claps her hands once. “Alright, so the deal is the same. My offer stands, Luca. Marry me, and you get to keep your nephew.”
“And let you kill the only woman I’ve ever loved? You’re delusional,” Luca replies. Caroline raises her gun. My heart stops. “Even you’re not enough of a monster to kill a child, Caroline, don’t be—"
POP
The bullet blows through Stefano’s head.
I scream.
Stefano collapses on the floor, dead. Truly dead this time. The sight is ghastly, and I look away, quivering in my seat as the zip ties bite into my skin. Sweat drips down my forehead, and my pulse races in horror while Mauro groans in disgust.
“Fuck,” Luca mumbles, pale-faced as he stares at Stefano’s corpse.
Reece shudders and shakes his head but sticks to his role as Caroline’s lackey. I wonder if he did it just for the money, or if there’s something else. I see the glances he steals at her. The hint of longing, of softness.
“You’re next,” Caroline tells Luca. “What’s it going to be?”
“How do you expect this to even work?” he asks her, swallowing the grief and the rage I can see coursing through him. “Do you think I’ll just keel over and do your bidding? You plan on killing my wife, Caroline. You already killed my brother.”
“Do I need to put a gun to Michael’s head to get my message across?”
Mauro sighs. “Luca, you’re done. We have you right where we want you. You’ve got no aces left up your sleeve, just an opportunity to make a new pact with us in order for you to survive. Either both families live or none lives. It’s that simple.”
“That’s your endgame, right? Your stupid, ancestral pride,” Luca scoffs. “A bunch of hooligans out of Sicily came here in the early 1900s and sought to live like kings, thinking their bloodline was fucking worth something. It’s not. We’re all fucking worthless without principles and honor!”
BOOM!
The blast reverberates across the entire mansion, the floor shuddering beneath our feet. I hear the crackling of wood, the automatic pops of assault rifles. Time slows down and speeds up at the same time.
My heart gets stuck in my throat.
The security guards rush out, guns blazing, but they’re obliterated by single shots to their heads. One by one, they drop like ragdolls, lifeless and motionless in pools of their own blood.
Luca takes advantage of the sudden shift and swerves around before Reece can react. Caroline ducks, hands over her head, briefly confused. It only takes a few seconds, but it works.
“Luca!” I cry out, terrified.
I catch glimpses of men in the hallway. Flashes of orange. Blood spraying out. Mancuso’s goons crumbling and collapsing in startling droves. Luca takes Reece down with a few punches and a kick to the groin.
“Fuck,” Reece grunts.
Luca grabs the gun from his hand and whacks him over the head with it, knocking him out, along with his teeth, then turns and shoots the petrified Mauro three times in the chest.
“PAPA!” Caroline screams and raises her gun, rage taking over.
Luca shoots her in the knee. I see the bones and cartilage exploding when the bullet passes through. She falls like a tree, chopped down and utterly destroyed, tears streaming down her cheeks.
It’s over.
As soon as I see Caroline on the floor, crumbling and weeping, a broken child without consolation, I stop fighting my restraints.
The silence that follows is so heavy, it damn near crushes my soul.
Luca rushes over. He cuts through the zip ties and frees me. I throw my arms around his neck and hold on for dear life, my heart thudding against his.
“You’re safe,” he whispers in my ear, then kisses me feverishly.
“Oh, Luca, I thought I’d never see you or my baby again.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t figure a few things out sooner,” he sighs, glancing back at his brother. “I could’ve saved him.”
“He couldn’t be saved,” I tell him. “Luca, I think Stefano died the night of the explosion. What was left of him was… that.” I pause as he looks at me with a deep frown.
“He would’ve made his way back to you if he really wanted.
There weren’t enough of Mancuso’s security guards on this earth to keep one Petrucci brother from another. ”
It’s a bitter pill for him to swallow.
My heart leaps when the hired sitter comes downstairs with Michael in her arms. I take my boy and she runs as fast as she can from the scene.
“Mama,” Michael moans and hugs me tightly. I hold my boy and breathe him in, catching the hint of sweat and baby shampoo in his curly hair. I revel in the softness of his little frame, thankful to have found my way back to him.
“Oh, I missed you, too, honey, but we’re okay,” I mumble and cover his round, warm face with a flurry of loving kisses.
In the meantime, Solomon and the rest of Luca’s security team handle the aftermath.
Caroline is tied up and taken away along with Detective Ethan Reece.
I don’t know what will happen to them, but right now, I don’t think I really care.
Judging by how they’re collecting IDs and wallets from everybody, I’m guessing they’re going to clean this place up and get rid of the bodies.
“It’ll be like we were never here,” Solomon says.
Luca’s gaze is soft. “It took me longer than I would’ve liked to put some of the pieces of this puzzle together.
I kept hoping Caroline’s support and push for peace between our families was genuine, but the minute I considered it all to be an act, it all made sense.
The timing. The incidents. The angle of every attack.
My brother’s captivity and the way she led me to him.
“It was all part of her plan to inflict as much emotional damage as possible before she brought me here to force me to make an impossible choice, because she understood how much I love you, Valentina,” he says.
“Caroline wanted power and control, and this was her sick way of getting it. It didn’t matter who got hurt in the process.
The woman’s heart has been hollow for a long time. ”
“I still can’t believe she was capable of something like this.”
I hear her whimpers as she’s carried out of the mansion. There’s no goodbye between us. There never will be. She doesn’t deserve that grace, yet I know she is who she is because of the man currently lying on the floor in front of the fireplace, the light gone from his eyes.
“He’s to blame,” I say, nodding at my stepfather. “He created that monster.”
“And he paid for it, for everything he’s done,” Luca says.
“What now?” I ask, while Michael melts in my arms.
“It’s time for a change,” Luca says.