Page 57 of Forsaken Promises

I know it won’t be an easy conversation, and the fact that I’ve now had not one but two run-ins with a man who seems to be his sworn enemy… well, I can only imagine how he’ll react to that.

But I have to try. I have to trust in the strength of our love, in the bond that we’ve fought so hard to rebuild. If we’re going to make this marriage work, if we’re going to build a future together… we need to be honest with each other, need to confront the ghosts and the demons that threaten to tear us apart.

I take a deep breath as I step out of the car, lifting my chin. I'm ready for this, ready to face whatever truths may come to light.

I’ll ask the hard questions, dig for the painful answers. I’ll listen with an open mind, ready to shoulder whatever burdens Dom may have been carrying alone for so long.

Because that's what love is, isn’t it? A willingness to stand by each other’s side, to weather the storms and the scars together.

No matter what secrets may be lurking in the shadows, no matter what wounds may need to be healed.

And I won’t let anyone, least of all Luca Strambo, take that away from us.

27

DOMINICO

Islump against my bedroom door, my heart still racing and my hands trembling with the adrenaline coursing through my veins. It’s been a long, grueling day—the kind of day that makes me question everything I’ve ever known, everything I’ve ever believed about my place in this world.

Today, I was reminded of exactly why I’ve always shied away from the responsibilities that come with being a Sicura. Why I’ve run from the weight of my father’s legacy, the burden of the crown that will one day be mine to bear.

Because while the Marinos may have the power and the influence to outsource their dirty work, to send faceless foot soldiers to do their bidding… we Sicuras have always prided ourselves on handling our own business. On getting our hands dirty, no matter the cost to our souls.

And today, that cost was higher than I ever could have imagined.

I close my eyes, but I can still see it all playing out in vivid, sickening detail. The look of shock and betrayal on Gaspare’s face as I leveled the gun at his head. The way his eyes widened in horror, in a silent plea for mercy that I couldn’t grant.

The sound of the gunshot, echoing through the abandoned warehouse like a clap of thunder. The smells of blood and gunpowder, thick and cloying in the air.

And the worst part? The sickening thud of his body hitting the ground, the way his eyes stared up at me in glassy, unseeing accusation.

I’ve killed before, more times than I can count. It’s part of the job, part of the life I was born into. But something about this hit, about the cold, calculated way I carried out my father’s orders… it’s different. It feels like a line has been crossed, a point of no return that I can never come back from.

I’m still not even sure whether Gaspare was truly guilty. But in this world—in my father’s empire—it doesn’t matter. Even a whisper of disloyalty gets you a bullet.

I strip off my clothes with shaking hands, stumbling into the shower and turning the water as hot as I can stand it. I scrub at my skin until it’s raw and red, desperate to wash away the blood and the guilt that cling to me like a second skin.

But no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get clean, can’t seem to shake the feeling of filth and darkness that seeps into my very bones, tainting everything it touches.

Is this what my life is going to be from now on? An endless cycle of violence and death, of sins that can never be washed away? Is this the price I have to pay for the power and the privilege of being a Sicura?

I don’t know. I don’t have any answers, any way to make sense of the chaos and the carnage that seem to follow me wherever I go.

All I know is that I’m tired. Tired of the blood on my hands, the weight on my shoulders. Tired of the constant struggle to keep my head above water, to find some shred of light in the darkness that threatens to consume me.

I just want to be normal. I just want to travel and escape my responsibilities.

I step out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around my waist and my hair still dripping from the shower. All I want is to collapse into bed and forget this whole goddamn day ever happened, to lose myself in the oblivion of sleep and pretend, just for a little while, that the blood on my hands isn’t there.

But when I see Sofia sitting on the edge of the bed, her brows furrowed in confusion and her lips pressed together in a tight line… I know that rest will have to wait. Something’s on her mind, something that’s got her puzzled and on edge.

“Hey,” I say softly, crossing the room to take her hands in mine. “What’s going on, baby? You look like you’ve got something weighing on you.”

She looks up at me, her blue eyes filled with a mix of curiosity and concern. “I ran into someone today,” she says, her voice steady but tinged with confusion. “Someone who claims to be an old friend of yours. Luca, he said his name was.”

I feel my jaw clench, a sharp spike of anger piercing through the exhaustion that clouds my mind. Luca.

How did he find her?

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