Page 118 of Impenitent Claim

Please don’t be Gio!I couldn’t bear that.

“That will be the doctor,” Cecilia sniped.

“Come in,” Aldo growled, releasing his son with a final sneer of disgust.

Alonzo dashed forward, but Cosimo shoved him away.

“She’s my problem now,” he crowed.

I turned my gaze to the distraught soldier who stood stammering in the middle of the room. He was…wringing his hands. “The curse found us. Come and see, signori! It’s like a wild animal was unleashed in there! Everyone’s dead.”

“Everyone?” Aldo clarified.

“Everyone! It’s the curse, I tell you. The curse!” The soldier crossed himself.

Absently, my fingers ran over the horn charm on my necklace. The cornicello pulsed hot against my touch. What fresh hell was this?

It wasn’t so bad, however. The urgency stole both the don and newly appointed capo, which left me alone with my friend, and probably ex-fiancé, who helped me back to my room despite his aunt’s vehement protests. Good boy that he was, Alonzo didn’t cross my threshold. I doubted very much it had to do with his aunt’s waspish presence hovering behind him, and more from the lack of ferocity no amount of life would give to Alonzo.

Chapter 44 – Isabella

Iknew exactly how Ilya would react if he saw the mess I was. So I did what any sane woman would do. I tore the sheer skirt from one of my dresses, shrouded myself in the veil of secrecy, and read my Kindle while I waited for him to appear.

And he would appear.

I wouldn’t accept another alternative.

His dead body had been noticeably absent from the Fabrizi mansion. Every other bodyguard was a victim of the massacre. It was said their bodies were mauled. The garish detail only made me smile. The bear—that was what they called the cage fighter. Well…I’d seen the bear skull tattooed on my lover’s back. How the soldiers of the famiglia didn’t assume it was Ilya, I couldn’t fathom. The connection was obvious to anyone with brains—apparently our soldiers lacked those. It wasn’t like an animal broke from the zoo to target my enemies. It was safe to assume that it was a man embodying a beast that attacked last night.

No, they said the Scorso family killed the underboss and his guards, unleashing dogs on their corpses. The moresuperstitious soldiers whispered about hellhounds or zoo animals.

Since the wedding was off, the restrictions on my diet were suspended. I pigged out, eating foods rich in proteins and calories, not cutting carbs. Most of the following day, I spent hiding in the kitchen. No one bothered me. They bustled about the house, always hurrying, constantly shouting. In the aftereffect of the underboss’s demise, my scandalous behavior seemed to have been momentarily forgotten.

But the marks were there, the bruises terribly swollen despite the ice I kept applying.

There was nothing left to do but hide from the living, breathing monster I knew would come the moment the sunset. I flicked the paperwhite pages, not seeing the words nor losing myself to the story. The escape I so often craved was no longer in the inky marks on the page, but rather a tangible part of my life.

I want a future…with him.

The man who was currently destroying my world.

When that low, rich voice finally growled behind me, a bolt of pure bliss shot through me. “What’s this?” Ilya demanded.

Madonna! The way he could sneak in here, and I never heard the window open. Creepy. Eerie.Otherworldly.

“It’s another costume,” I said with a flourish from my cozy throne.

“It’s not Halloween anymore,” he pointed out, gripping the chair back beside me.

I shrugged, turning my face up to gaze at him through the gauzy barrier. “Costumes aren’t just for that. Haven’t you heard of fantasies?”

His voice dropped an octave. “What are you tonight, little siren?”

Madonna mia!It was suddenly hot under this cover. “I’m a Vestal Virgin, and you’re the god Pluto come to ravish me.”

There was a long pause as he considered me. I shut the cover of the Kindle, extinguishing the light.

Please play along!

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