Page 55 of Brutal Vows

“Even without a bowling ball for a belly, I hate violence. But maybe Camilla, my sister, might want to once she recovers a little more.”

“Oh. Is she sick?” I ask.

My thoughts wander to Pops and his illness, but Serenity shakes her head. A tear escapes her lashes. She wipes it away with an annoyed swipe of her hand.

“She survived a horrible attack. Lots of traumas. Lots of injuries. Lots to heal from. She’s at a facility upstate and is taking it one step at a time. I’ll ask her when she seems stable enough.”

Her pain and worry for her sister strike me through the chest, and the urge to soothe her pulls my hand across the table without my permission.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

To my surprise, she takes my hand and gives me a firm squeeze.

“Thanks. It’ll be a long road to recovery, but I have a feeling you’ll be around to help, so thank you. Truly,” Serenity says.

I stare in disbelief as her words slowly sink into my psyche.

The men converge on the picnic table.

Pops and Ermanno say a quick round of farewells, and I fumble along like an awkward teen despite how nice everyone was to me. Ermanno tucks me against his side as we head back toward the elevator. Dread settles in my gut as I realize Ermanno is asking me to keep a secret from the most powerful mafia family in New York City.

The Russos don’t know his father is sick.

I school my features as the elevator doors shut, despite the misery threading through me.

My new friendships won’t last once they learn of my deception.

They’ll hate me just like my family does.

It hurts.

A lot.

Chapter 14

Ermanno Mancini

Loretta pushes past meand blocks my father from opening the back door before leaning over and pulling the handle for the passenger door.

“If you say some dumb shit about the sick elderly man needing—”

She interrupts him with a quirked brow and the fearless attitude I lost my heart to.

“You’re his father. You get the front seat. Father always trumps side piece.”

For the first time since I became an adult, my father pierces me with a scathing look. He keeps his eyes locked on mine as he speaks to Loretta.

“A side piece stays in the pocket. That’s not what you are, girl, and if that’s what my son led you to believe, then it must be time for me to use mine on him.”

I hold eye contact with him until I grab Loretta’s shoulder. She grunts and resists, but I push her into the front seat and pull the seat belt over her lap. I snarl and wrap my fist around her braid when she reaches for the buckle.

“He’s right,gattina. I should let him add to my collection of scars. This is where you belong, right beside me.Capisci?”

She covers the yearning in her vibrant green eyes with pure obstinacy but drops her hands into her lap and grinds her teeth.

I click her buckle into place and steal a kiss. She balks, but when I nip her bottom lip in reprimand, she opens her mouth and invades mine. My head spins, and with a few demanding strokes of her tongue and her fist in my hair, she takes control of the kiss and nearly tips me over the edge when she bites my bottom lip.

I pull back and study her flushed face before smirking and brushing the escaped tendrils of hair back, silently promising to repay her the first moment I get her alone.

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