Page 77 of Wretched Choices

I motion with my head to the table where stacks of money are laid out by a game of poker. There is a bag with money that I don’t touch, but one look at it and I know there’s a million in it.

“Where did the money come from?”

None of them says a word. They just look at the floor.

I tsk. “So loyal.” I take a seat in the chair. I may look and sound calm, but I’m far from it. My blood is boiling, and only when I catch Sabatini will it cool down. “Your own boss sold you for quicker death,” I say, claiming their attention. I smirk.“Yes, Russo is dead, and so are the others. So, your destiny is in Dante’s hands. Quick or slow?”

“He wouldn’t,” one of the men says.

“Oh, and why is that? You think you’re special. That he would choose you over himself?”

“He promised…”

“Shut up, Al,” another one barks at the guy.

“He promised what?” I ask, interest spiking inside me.

“Don’t you dare, Al.”

“Tell me, Al,” I order, I lean forward and look at the young man.

“He told us we will become captains after they take over.”

“Figures.” I look at Dante, tired of this shit. I give him a sign with my head, motioning to him to take over and finish this.

He takes his knife and slices Al’s throat. His men do the same.

I watch as the crimson blood leaks out of them.

I watch as their bodies jerk like slaughtered animals.

I watch as their souls leave their bodies.

When they are not moving anymore, I order the men, “Erase every sign that they ever existed.” I stand and exit, with Gabriel following me. “We need to find Sabatini.”

“He’s gone,” Gabriel says. I stop in my tracks and turn to face him. “I got a call from Di Angelo. Sabatini is not in the States anymore. Nico thinks somewhere north. The guy who helped him is Canadian, so there is a good chance he’s already crossed the border.”

“Fuck!” I punch the wall near me. Rage in me rises again, the control I gained from killing all the bastards has vanished. I open and close my fist, and not even pain can relax me.

“We will look for him. Come, let’s get out of here. We need to regroup and see what Marco has for us.”

We drive back to the new house I bought for us. I tremble from the inside because the house I referred to as ours is Isabella’s.Our arrangement will end no matter the agreement with her father. After I kill Sabatini, everything will be over. And the thought of sticking to our agreement and letting her go, because of the monster inside me, is making me see red, filled with rage oozing out of my pores. Rage that no amount of violence can tame.

The longer the monster stays outside, the more everything in front of me is black, and I crave only one thing that can tame the monster inside me.

Isabella.

thirty-one

Isabella

The house is full of Salvatore’s men. He and tens of other men left in the middle of the night, leaving me here with a bunch of soldiers. My stuff was delivered early in the morning, just as he said.

Last night, I was supposed to be relaxing and catching up with Cece. I even invited Clara, who I saw yesterday in the hotel’s lobby. She was meeting with clients to plan a wedding. We clicked when she planned my wedding, and if I’m going to be married to Salvatore for the next couple of years, I will need some friends who understand how this life is. Not that Cecewouldn’t, but because of her job, I wouldn’t want to put her in danger.

I promised Salvatore I wouldn’t leave until he has the situation under control, and I won’t. That doesn’t mean I can’t find out what’s happening, though. So, I interrogated Valentino, who had no problem telling me what went wrong last night.

That’s why I’m in the bedroom, unpacking stuff that was delivered to me this morning. What catches my eye is that these are all mine. Nothing belongs to Salvatore.

---