Page 55 of Of Vows and Betrayal

Tiago steps forward, his eyes filled with a mix of anger and sorrow. “Justice, Javier, not vengeance. There’s a difference.” He tosses a tea towel across the counter, the weight of his words landing heavier than the cloth.

“We don’t speak ill of the dead in this family, but we’ll start because as much as you weren’t ready to listen before, you are now. Paloma was the world to an impressionable teenage boy. She’s the one who pushed you into dealing—she had luxurious tastes and needed them fulfilled.” He raises his hand in surrender. “I won’t lie—I enjoyed the easy money too. The cars, the watches, the fancy apartment, and all the women that came along with the money and the status. But I also remember that you were worried. After the Gambino warnings about you growing too fast, taking too much of what didn’t belong to us, you wanted to pull out. And that’s when she told you she was pregnant. How convenient.”

I see red… rage bubbling up inside me. “What are you saying, Tiago? Just spit it out.”

“She was never pregnant. She just said that to you… to us because she wanted you to commit, to keep the lifestyle.”

I let the towel fall, feeling a crack in my chest. “We’re done. I never pegged you for a liar.”

“I’m not lying!Madre de Dios! I would never lie to you. I saw her sniff coke a day before the wedding. I told her off because of the baby. She told me there was no baby, that she would tell you she lost it the week after—once you stole the Gambino shipment. How—” He shakes his head. “She was not innocent, Javier, and when she died on those steps, as my whole life shifted and my heart immediately broke, I realized that justice had been served after all because she had been killed by the same man she was sleeping with to get ahead in the game.”

Nausea hits me, and I barely have time to turn around before vomiting in the sink. Paloma, my Paloma, was sleeping with a Bergotti.

I grip the edge of the counter, my knuckles white, my mind reeling from the betrayal. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” I manage to choke out, my voice hoarse.

“Because you weren’t ready to hear it,” Tiago says quietly. “You idolized her. You saw her as perfect, and I didn’t want to take that away from you. But now… now you need to know the truth.”

The room spins, and I lean heavily against the counter, trying to steady myself. “I’ve been living a lie,” I whisper, more to myself than to Tiago. “I’ve based my whole life on a lie.”

“No, Javier,” Tiago says, stepping closer. “You’ve basedyour life on love and loyalty. That’s not a lie. But now it’s time to live for something real, something genuine.”

I look up at him, my vision blurred by tears I refuse to shed. “And what is that, Tiago? What do I live for now?”

“You live for Ophelia. You live for yourself. You find a way to make peace with the past and move forward. Let go of this vendetta before it destroys you and everyone you care about.”

I take a deep breath as his words sink in. “How do I do that?”

“By being honest. With yourself and with Ophelia. You tell her the truth and let her decide if she wants to stand by you. You start fresh, without the lies and the revenge.”

My vision sharpens, and suddenly, all I see is red. “You need to leave,” I say, my voice dangerously calm.

“What?” he asks, taken aback.

“I said you need to leave,” I repeat, my tone hardening. “Right now, I’m not seeing my best friend. I’m seeing everything that’s wrong with the world. I need a break from you.”

“Javier, come on?—”

“No,” I cut him off, my voice rising. “Get out. I can’t look at you right now. All I want to do is hurt you, and I think I have enough black marks on my soul that I don’t need to make a man of God bleed.”

Tiago stands there for a moment, shock and hurt etched on his face. Then he nods slowly, backing away. “Alright, I’ll go. But think about what I said. This path you’re on—it’s not worth it.”

I turn away from him, unable to respond. As he leaves, thesilence in the room feels suffocating.

This isn’t going to be easy, letting go of this boiling revenge that has been keeping me going for so long, but I have to do it. For Ophelia’s sake. For both of our sakes.

Because I’m not an impressionable teenager anymore, I’m a man—a man who knows what he has found and will not accept losing her.

I have found the love of my life, and I will spend the same energy I had used to destroy everything to build us a future.

I walk back and look toward the bedroom where Ophelia had slept, feeling a newfound determination wash over me. The path ahead is uncertain, fraught with challenges and danger, but for her, I will face it all. For her, I will change.

As I clean up the shattered pieces of the coffee cup, I make a silent vow: my vendetta ends here. From this moment forward, my life is dedicated to protecting and loving Ophelia. No more lies. No more revenge. Just us against the world.

With that resolve burning in my chest, I take a deep breath and prepare for the hardest conversation of my life. But as long as she’s by my side, I know we can face anything. Together.

Chapter 14

Ophelia

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