Page 82 of Ruthless Reign

One of the Caputis stepped aside so another could come through, hauling Della with him by the arm. She’d been beaten and bruised, bloody tears running down her cheeks. She must have just had enough time to text me a warning before they did that to her. I started to stand, to go after her, but Lenny held me down by the shoulder.

“Oh, there she is,” Gabriella said, turning to me again. “Your rat.”

I swallowed, but kept my composure. I’d already knownwhoit was, but I didn’t know what information she’d been feeding them. It must have been the plans for the wedding. It must have been the catering crew we’d hired so that they could sneak in like a Trojan Horse.

“Did you know she was the one who sold you out?” Gabriella raised her eyebrows. “Gave you up in a heartbeat. All I had to do was threaten her beloved Matteo, and she sang like Pavarotti.”

I sympathized with my dear cousin. Gabriella always knew how to use a person’s heart to get them to do whatever she wanted.

Della sobbed and wilted into her captor’s hold, murmuring, “I’m sorry,” over and over again.

“Well, what should we do now?” Gabriella turned back to Roman and clutched her hands behind her back. “I’ll admit,you’re not the Montgomery blood I wanted to spill, but a Rose by any other name and all that. I suppose you’ll have to do.”

“What makes you think you have the upper hand in this?” Roman scoffed.

“Oh, I know all about your trap.” Gabriella stepped toward him. “I know my nephew is lurking around here somewhere. I even know this was a charade to lure me out.” She turned around, glancing at the tense crowd. When she didn’t see him, she looked down at me. “Well, here I am. What do you want?”

I sat back on my haunches and stared up at her, my nose dripping, the space between my eyes pounding. “I wanted you out in the open.”

“For what, my darling liar?” Gabriella smiled like a monster. I trembled, my entire body shaking with the weight of what I knew I had to do. Hatred brewed in my gut, spewing through my molecules in a hot, disgusting wave.

The skirt on my dress hid my legs well, and they’d shoved me so haphazardly to the ground, they hadn’t thought to bind my hands. They’d been distracted, and I had gone for my knife without them noticing. Now, I had my opportunity.

Memories of me as a child floated to the front of my mind, when my mother was still alive and Gabriella had been someone I’d looked up to. She always gave the best presents at Christmas and knew how to make anyone laugh. When Alessandra died, a piece of Gabriella went with her, and after Benito, there was nothing human left inside my dear old Zia. Putting her down would be a mercy.

My hand shook. I stared up at her, my jaw clenched, tears in my eyes, knowing I could slash her across the throat and it would all be over. A queen for a queen.

Just as I went to do it, menacing laughter came from my right and I stopped. My brother weaved in between Frankie and Sulli’smen, patting Chesco on the shoulder as he passed him. Then, he stopped and clapped in a slow, degrading rhythm.

“Look at you,” Leo said, glancing around. “All this posturing. All this scheming. And for what? Why not just ambush the wedding and shoot everyone? Why not kill Julia while no one would see you?”

“There you are,” Gabriella said, her features softening. She turned to one of her minions. “Grab him.”

No one moved, not even Lenny. The Hell’s Knights and the Kings of Carnage seemed unsure about what to do. They looked at each other, confusion etched between their brows. They must be hesitant about who to follow. Their allegiance had been with Gabriella, but if the Caputis weren’t behind her anymore, was it still advantageous for them? Everyone else looked to Frankie, who pursed his lips and tilted his head.

“What are you waiting for? Grab him! Bring him to me!” Gabriella turned, aghast at how her orders were being ignored.

And now the time has come.

The walls were closing in on her, and the reign of her mania had finally ended.

“Gabriella,” Sulli said, holding his hands out to either side. “I didn’t want it to come to this.”

Her jaw dropped, her face turning a pale shade of ash as reality caught up to her. No one was on her side anymore. Maybe one or two of her goons would protect her. Maybe she would even have someone willing to go down with her. But the family had rallied behind Frankie and Sulli, and they’d put their faith in Leo. She’d been outmaneuvered.

“No,” she whispered, shifting her wide eyes between my uncles, my brother, and me.

“So you see,” Leo said, crossing his hands, “it’s over. The war, the bloodshed, all of it is over.”

“It’s time for a new reign. A time for peace,” Chesco added.

“I’ve got all of the underbosses,” Leo said. “The uncles, the Morellis, the Vitales, the Romanos. The only one here who wants the war to continue is you.”

Gabriella looked around, waiting to see if someone would stop them, and when no one did, not even Lenny, she let out a loud, mocking laugh. “Him? You’re putting your trust inhim?”

A few things happened after that, and time seemed to slow down and speed up simultaneously. Gabriella lunged for Lenny and grabbed his gun. Roman must have thought she was coming for me, and he fired. I lurched to my feet, my knife in my right hand, ready to pounce. Gabriella started to turn toward my husband, aiming at his head, but Roman’s bullet hit her in the shoulder and she stumbled, her finger clenching around the trigger.

I stabbed her in the throat just as her gun went off, a bright white blast blinding me. Suffocating smoke filled my nostrils and coated my tongue as it went down my esophagus. Something hot and fiery burned through my dress, into my gut, and when I glanced down, I saw a bright crimson patch spreading over my beautiful wedding gown. It was completely ruined, of course. I’d never be able to get that stain out.

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