Page 84 of Brutal Vows

Livia groans and lolls her head on the floor. I tilt my chin, instructing Vinny to take her to the car, but Loretta hisses and swats my shoulder.

“Don’t you dare try to distract me. I meant what I said. No one touches her but me,” she says with a glare at both me and Vinny.

The man steps back and props the door open with his body.

“Not even to carry her to the car?” I ask.

Loretta pushes against my chest, but I refuse to let her go.

“No. I can do it.”

By the stubborn set of her chin, she means it.

“Why?” I ask.

She huffs and rolls her eyes.

“You might be able to tell us apart, but do you think they can?”

The exasperation in her voice matches her gesture as she sweeps her arm to indicate the men in the hall.

Jeremy steps forward and gives her a slight bow.

“Of course, Mrs. Mancini. There are many differences, hair color—”

“Hair style.”

“Muscle mass.”

“The way you carry yourself.”

“Your eyes aren’t the same color at all.”

“You barely look alike.”

She blinks and looks to each of the men as she processes their individual responses.

“H-how can you—?”

“We saw you at the banquet hall. Thank you for being with Pops until the end,” Jeremy says.

Loretta swallows and grits her teeth before responding, “It wasn’t enough.”

“It was, but that response is why we’ll followyouto the end,” Vinny says in his raspy voice.

I close my hand over hers when she twists her fist in my shirt. She blinks and clears her throat.

“Thank you, but I’m not your consigliere or your don,” she says.

“You don’t have to be. We know a trustworthy woman when we see one. Plus, our don and consigliere only choose the most capable people to be around them, so all you got to do is point, and we’ll go,” Jeremy says.

After a moment of mulling over his words, Loretta clears her throat again before meeting each of their eyes.

“Gag her, bind her legs, and toss her in the trunk. Nothing else,” she says.

“You got it, Mrs. Mancini,” Vinny rasps.

Livia gives a pathetic whine, but Loretta doesn’t spare her a glance. She aims expectant eyes up at me.

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