CHAPTER EIGHT #2
Clemente places a kiss against my temple and moves forward, Leandro falls in step next to him while they talk.
Arturo comes up beside me and whispers, “Everything okay?”
This guy had my friendship the moment he stood up for Donya and helped me get her out of the situation she was in. And it turned out to be the perfect match for both of them. Kinda like a blind date. Well, not so much blind—he did see a picture up front—but they are a great match for sure.
I give him a beaming smile. “I’m getting married today.”
He shoots me a grin back and shakes his head right after. “You should be over at Gracy’s house, getting all pretty and shit. I dropped Donya off with them before I got here.”
“We have three more hours before we need to be at the altar. I have my time, and my priorities straight,” I tell him as we come to a stop in front of Daniel, who is tied to a chair.
“Hold my purse,” I snap when anger overtakes me.
Arturo catches my purse—which I basically throw at him—as I launch forward, ready to head for the throat of the asshole who killed Mattia and wanted me dead along with it.
But instead a strong arm catches me by the waist and I’m pulled against Clemente’s hard chest. “Not yet, mia cara.”
The way he says those words right next to my ear makes me aware he’s both proud and turned on. Which might be crazy for some people but I do have to admit, desire is also humming through my body when he turns his voice all husky while I’m plastered against his body.
“Gotta love it when my woman is out for blood,” Clemente adds on a chuckle, but at the same time it’s a taunt directed to Daniel. “But first we need to have a little chat.”
“I have nothing to say to you,” Daniel snaps and adds on a sneer, “And I sure as fuck don’t fear any whore.”
Clemente’s body goes rigid.
I instantly turn in his arms and take his face in my hands. “Darling? Please tell me I can give him a little pinch.”
Clemente’s murderous gaze slowly drags away from Daniel and it shifts to curiosity when it hits me. It’s just a tiny nod of his head before his arm leaves my body, giving me his blessing to do what I want.
Glancing around, I notice a sports bag unzipped.
When I get closer, I can clearly see all the tools shoved in there.
I have never witnessed torture sessions, though I did have some explained to me in detail during the conversations I had with Clemente’s uncle.
The man always had a glint of excitement in his eyes when he’d talked about it.
I never understood why, until now. It’s personal. What I went through is something all these men have experienced at one point in time, or something similar for that matter. It lights up different kinds of emotions and it allows your morals to shift.
The man in front of me took another man’s life right before my eyes. Someone I grew up with and who was protecting me, and he simply killed him with a twitch of his finger.
My attention goes to utility pliers and I wrap my fingers around them and move toward Daniel. I can feel Clemente’s gaze on me and this somehow makes me feel stronger.
“You know,” I start, and snatch Daniel’ earlobe with the pliers. “You were a dead man before you waltzed into the bathroom with murder on your mind.” I yank and twist at the same time ripping half his ear.
The sight of blood, nor his screams, bother me.
I glance over my shoulder at Clemente. “Darlin? Can you call Beck Roman for me? I think he’s allowed to give a few last words to this asshole before we end Daniel, don’t you think?”
Clemente shoots me another proud grin and grabs his phone. He taps it a few times and Beck’s voice flows through the air in greeting. Daniel is furiously glaring at me.
The corners of my mouth perk up and I make sure to use a cheery voice when I say, “Hey, Beck. I just wanted to ask if you want to waste a breath on some words meant for a piece of shit asshole. You know, final last words and all.” I give a fat smirk to Daniel.
“Aren’t you supposed to get married in a few hours?” Beck chuckles.
“Gotta take out the trash first, we’re all about saving the planet and getting rid of assholes who have sucked up enough of our precious time.
Time that caused scars on your sister’s soul and took a few years of your life,” I say in reply but notice Daniel purse his lips outward, anger highlighting his face.
Flashing my hand forward, I smash his lips shut with the pliers.
“Nuh-uh, D,” I reprimand. “You lost the right to talk.”
Beck’s breath come out harsher and I know he now fully understands why I called.
“Do this whole world a favor and take out the trash once and for all. I’ll see you guys later. And don’t be late for your own wedding,” Beck snickers before he hangs up.
Clemente tucks his phone away at the same time I free Daniel’s lips.
He doesn’t waste a moment and starts to rattle, “You fucking bitch. You and your asshole friends think you’re so damn smart.
You ain’t seen nothing yet. Go to your fucking wedding, have your wedding party.
But know that your time is up too. Along with that whore Ivy and her good for nothing brother.
I can promise you that. Dustin will—” His lips twist and it’s as if he wants to say more but he realized what he just said so he cuts himself off.
“Is that so?” I taunt, knowing for sure who he’s working with since it makes sense now.
“Dustin will be following you shortly since he too will receive a one-way ticket off this planet. And hey—” I lean in as if I’m about to spill a secret, but make sure to keep my gaze locked on him to register his every move when I say, “Fredo will get what’s coming to him right along with the two of you. ”
“You lying whore,” Daniel spits and tries to headbutt me but Clemente quickly pulls me back.
“You’re done,” Clemente states in a cold, harsh voice.
I throw the pliers at Daniel’ head while Leandro asks, “What do you want to do, boss?”
“Get ready for my wedding,” Clemente states and guides me a few steps away from Daniel. Clemente’s voice lowers to a mere whisper. “Do you want to stay and see it through? Or leave and let them handle it?”
My eyes slide to Daniel and for the first time in my life I’m looking forward to watching a man die.
I’m normally not as hateful but this man killed Mattia and was indirectly responsible for Beck’s sister getting traumatized and almost killed.
And to top it all off this asshole is a drug dealer who sells drugs to kids, and uses them to put his merchandise on the streets.
He’s rooted evil that needs to be ripped away.
“I happen to have a few minutes to spare,” I tell him and feather my lips against his.
“That’s my woman,” he murmurs against my lips but it sounds as if he says it more to himself than to me.
“Clean or messy?” Arturo questions as he leans over the sports bag to rummage through it.
It’s a funny sight because he’s still holding my purse in one hand and I’m not sure he’s aware he’s still holding it. I stalk toward him and hold out my hand.
His eyebrows scrunch up. “I’m doing this, Caterina.”
“Yes, but you’re not doing it with my purse still in hand,” I simply say and wiggle my fingers to rush him into handing over my belongings.
His eyes widen a fraction when he becomes aware and quickly hands over my purse. I take it and turn to face Clemente again but something his uncle said comes to mind. It’s actually the first story he told me when I started visiting him.
I turn to face Arturo again and ask, “Can I make a suggestion?”
His eyes go over my shoulder before giving me a nod. I glance over my shoulder at Clemente, since Arturo asked his permission with a glance. “Do you remember what your uncle did with the snake? You know, that hitman who bit the hand that fed him?”
Clemente’s eyes light up.
“I concur,” Arturo says and bends over to rummage through the sports bag again until he flashes up and shoves his hand in the air with a bundle of rope dangling from it.
Leandro rubs his hands. “I am so in on this idea.”
Arturo steps back and throws the rope over a large beam.
Leandro dives into the sports bag and grabs another bundle of rope.
I stroll back to Clemente and he wraps his arm around my waist to pull me close.
I bury my face into his crisp shirt and inhale deep.
His scent soothes me and the feel of his lips on the top of my head makes warmth spread through my veins.
“I don’t even want to know what my uncle and you talked about,” he murmurs.
I give a light snort. “Believe me, it doesn’t compare with some of the stuff my grandmother explained in detail.”
His finger underneath my chin makes my head tip back to connect our gaze. “Do I want to know?”
The corner of my mouth twitches when something she warned me about pops into my head.
“Let’s just say some of her chats involved advice to close your eyes when the guy starts to come on your face.
Because...and these are her words, not mine.
‘It stings like a mothertrucker if you get it in your eye, and you have to rinse the cum out with clean water because it has acids and sugar and God knows what that goes havoc on your eyeball.’”
Clemente needs to drop his arm from my body due to the whole full belly laughter ripping from him.
His eyes eventually hit mine again and I simply shrug. “Your uncle and my grandmother didn’t spare me any details about their personal experiences. Some I take as stored knowledge, others I will take to heart, but some I might need to witness and or experience for myself.”
His eyes dilate with utter lust while the vision of taking his dick into my mouth slides into my mind.
I swallow hard, point at Leandro and Arturo, while I squeak, “I’m talking about that, not—” I’m about to spit out a fat lie. I take a breath and finally add, “Whatever. But I’m not liking the sound of cum hitting my eyeballs.”
Clemente starts to laugh again and catches me by surprise when he drags me against him and gives me a toe-curling kiss. My fingers spread wrinkles in his crisp shirt from the way I bury my fists into the fabric to pull him closer.
“Keep it in your pants till after the wedding. It can’t be that hard,” Leandro snickers. “Just a couple more hours.”
Clemente pulls back but brushes his nose against mine. Such tenderness radiates from his eyes and definitely not something one would expect from the head of a mafia Famiglia. But most definitely a rarity within an arranged marriage.
And in this instant, I allow my heart to fall, knowing Clemente will always gather me in his arms to pull me close. His actions let me believe our connection is as real as our feelings for one another that starts to evolve and shift into adoration, and might someday bloom into love.
“Thanks for being so much more than I ever thought a woman could be.” Emotion shimmers through his words that are spoken on a low whisper.
His eyebrows scrunch up and it’s as if he voices an admittance on an inner thought to himself, “Let alone add value to my strength as the head of the Famiglia. A prosperous better half.”
I feel my cheeks heat from his words and tilt my head toward him to whisper back, “You’re not bad yourself either.” In an effort to lighten the mood I add, “You’ve become a little less asshole-ish every day. Either that or I’m building up a high tolerance.”
The corner of his mouth twitches as he places one more kiss against the side of my lips and turns us toward Arturo and Leandro.
One man’s death, another person’s start of a brand-new side of living. Bottom line? One should never have any regrets; embrace your own choices and face consequences, wherever they might lead you.
Though where I stand in life is a hell of a lot better than where Daniel is standing.