Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Iam about to perform the most important show of my life.
When the elevator stops on the ground floor and the four of us get out, my broken heart is being held together with barbed wire, and I have the scary calm of the angel of death flowing through my veins.
Suzy is carrying some grocery bags, since that’s where they were returning from when Mickey called them and told them to wait for us.
We are discussing what’s for dinner, acting like nothing is wrong, when Gio appears in the kitchen, looking pale and sweaty.
“Suzy, we have some guests for dinner. Please place four more settings at the table, and keep that in mind when you’re preparing food.”
“Gio,” I snap, pretending to be oblivious. “It’s a little late notice, don’t you think?”
He turns to me and gives me a dead stare. It’s like all the light in his soul has faded. “Please join us in the lounge. Our guests would like to see you.”
I feign a frown but nod. “Who is it? Why do they want to see me?” I argue.
“Because I said so,” he snaps before turning his attention to Sage. “You too.”
“But I was going to go play GTA,” Sage whines convincingly. If we gave in too quickly, he would suspect something.
“Fine, let’s just get this over with.” I roll my eyes, and Gio glares at me before turning and leading the way from the kitchen.
Sage and I walk side by side, and he reaches out and gives my hand a little squeeze. Ben and Suzy stay quiet, knowing not to tip Gio off to anything that we have planned, but they will be waiting just in case we need backup. I don’t doubt they will hover around the lounge in time for their cue.
“You didn’t say who was here, Gio,” I nag him, and I hear him sigh with exasperation, before holding the door open.
“Because if you knew, you wouldn’t have come,” he says sadly as Sage and I enter the lounge, and this time, I am truly shocked, so my reaction is actually genuine.
I thought it was only Penny and Mario in the car, but I hadn’t looked at the back seat, because sitting on the couch next to Casey, who looks as pale as Gio does, is a smirking Stacey.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I demand as Mario stands up, as does the other man in the room. I recognize Stacey’s father, who looks at me with great disdain.
“Watch your language,” he snaps.
“Now, now, Vincent,” Mario says jovially. “I’m sure Tori was just surprised to see her old school friend in her house, especially considering how badly their friendship ended.”
Stacey scoffs. “Friendship, please. You paid me to be friends with her. I couldn’t stand her. The gatekeeping bitch never thought I was good enough for her brother, otherwise I would have already had a ring on my finger.”
Mario’s smile turns brittle. “Yes, well, I certainly didn’t get value for my money.”
“Why are you here in my house? Gio, what’s going on?” I demand, but before Gio can respond, Mario claps his hands together in an exaggerated manner.
“Why, we’re here to celebrate the engagement of my niece to your brother, of course,” he announces, gesturing to Casey and Gio in a way that I think he’s hoping will shock me. He would have if it hadn’t been for the phone call from Mickey in the nick of time.
I turn my attention to Gio, and he grimaces. “I didn’t know they were related, I swear,” he mutters quietly, and strangely enough, I believe him. I turn my attention to Casey, and she shrinks behind Gio, out of my line of sight.
“At least this one was successful where her cousin failed.” Mario’s smile is slimy, but it soon drops as I pull out my gun and aim it at Casey. Mario and Vincent shout, and Stacey scrambles back over the couch out of the way, but Gio jumps in front of her.
“Wait, Tori, wait. She’s pregnant,” he announces, and my trigger finger twitches ever so slightly when I feel Sage’s hand on my back.
“Don’t do it. You will regret it,” he mutters, and I sigh and drop my gun.
“You stupid fucking idiot,” I snap at Gio.
He nods and shrugs sadly. “I love her, and she loves me.”
“Pfft, it’s all fake. He put her up to it,” I counter angrily, stabbing a finger in Mario’s direction.
“No, Tori, it’s not, I swear.” Casey steps from behind Gio with a determined look on her face. “I do love him, I promise. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“Like I’d believe any words from your mouth,” I sneer at her. “So what now?” I ask Gio, but he looks to Mario like he’s deferring to him.
Mario’s smirk has returned now that he knows I’m not going to put a bullet in Casey’s skull… Yet! My mind whirls as I adjust my plans slightly.
“Well, I guess it depends on if you want your boy toy to live or not.” He points at Sage who has moved around the couch and is opposite me now. He has a drink in his hand and has been quiet through this whole exchange.
“Go on,” I encourage him, wanting to know what else he has schemed before I pull the pin on his plans.
“Well, everyone likes a double wedding. If you agree to marry my son, we will let your boy toy live.” My heart races as the four people I had been expecting to appear at any moment do so.
“Which one? You have three of them,” I ask flatly, giving the four people who wormed their way into my heart and then ripped it to shreds like it was tissue paper a dead look.
Vienna has red eyes and looks like she has been crying, but the three boys have stoic looks on their faces. Gone are the college student outfits they were wearing when they left this morning, and all of them are wearing elegant suits, perfectly suitable for members of the Maricuso crime family.
We were played, and Gio and I waltzed neatly into the honey trap.
“That would be me,” Xavier says, stepping in line with Mario who claps him on the back in greeting.
“Once the two of you are married into our family, we will absorb the Russo empire into the Maricuso’s and rule the west coast like kings.” Mario’s delusions of grandeur reek of desperation. “After all, it’s what your daddy promised me,” he says with a growl.
Through all this, Penelope has been sitting quietly and wringing her hands, but at that, she looks up with guilt in her eyes.
“It’s true. I’m sorry, Tori. He was going to tell you on the day the limo exploded.
He signed a marriage agreement promising you to Xavier.
If you reneged, he would have forfeited this house. ”
I thought I had been hurt and blindsided before, but Penny’s words almost stagger me.
“No, he promised me a choice,” I argue, and she shrugs.
“I don’t know what to tell you. He changed his mind.”
“Because Mario told him that if he didn’t sign the agreement, we would make war against him, and we had five other families in our pocket.
When we won, he would see you passed around to each man who wanted to take a turn at the Russo family princess.
” Vincent chuckles and takes a sip of his whiskey, eyeing me like I’m a piece of meat.
“Maybe I will have a turn before the wedding.”
Xavier glares at Vincent, but Mario just chuckles. “You’ll have to take that up with my son.”
Vincent glares at Xavier who stares back with a look that says over his dead body. Well, isn’t that a relief?
“And I get Tristan, don’t I, Uncle Mario?” Stacey asks, pawing at the man in question who looks a little green and keeps trying to push her hands off him.
“We will see. It would make sense to marry him off in another alliance, but let’s focus on this one first.”
Stacey pouts, but Tristan’s face stays blank. I guess hearing he’s going to have an arranged marriage as well isn’t news to him.
“No,” I state flatly, my attention turning to Sage. “I love you,” I tell him, and he nods, comprehension crossing his face.
Colton must realize what’s about to happen, because he screams, “Tori, no!” as I lift my gun and put a bullet through Sage’s heart. Everyone starts screaming as blood explodes from his chest, and he falls to the ground. Ben and Suzy come running at the sound of the gunshot.
“What did you do?” Suzy screams at me. Ben puts his hands on Sage’s chest like he’s trying to stop the blood from leaving his body. “Somebody call an ambulance,” he cries.
Vienna screams, so Colton wraps his arms around her and carries her away from the sight. Tristan is muttering words of disbelief, and Xavier stares at me in complete shock.
“Tori, what the fuck?” Gio tries to push his way past Mario and Vincent to get to Sage, but they don’t let him. Mario stares at Sage’s body in surprise before an impressed smile comes to his face.
“Well, that was unexpected. Well played, Tori.”
“He’s not breathing,” Suzy screams.
Ben leans back, his hands covered in blood, shaking his head. “It’s too late, he’s gone.”
“What did you do?” Gio shouts, and I look him dead in the eye.
“What I had to, to survive.”