Page 60 of Psycho

She holds her hands up, as we all point our gazes at her.

“Her father died tragically, and she got herself caught up with that Bianchi brother. If your father hadn’t helped her, she’d be dead. Where did you see her?”

Bones groans, knowing full well I’m not going to lie to my mother. I’m not ashamed of the things I do. And she knows the man that I am.

“I kidnapped her.”

Her eyes widen, as she slaps her hand over her mouth with a gasp.

“Oh no, figlio. Please tell me you did not hurt her. She has been through so much pain.”

Reaper speaks, before I have a chance to respond.

“She was trying to take us down. Whatever he did to her is within his right.”

I rub at my temples, hearing those words from a goddamn serial killer. Reaper has little concern over the line between right and wrong. His date nights with his wife involve murder. I’m not opposed to it, but I know his words are of little comfort to my mother.

My mother shakes her head, and wipes away a tear.

“Not if she’s Hadley.”

I turn to Bones, ignoring the glare from my mother focused on the side of my head.

“Did you know?”

He laughs, but it’s not sincere.

“I did not. I also don’t understand what her issue is with our family. She was practically one of us.”

Rubbing my temples again, I tell him the absurd truth.

“She thinks Padre killed her dad.”

After I fill Bones in on everything I know, which doesn’t feel like enough, my mother grabs my arm.

“Figlio, I won’t ask again. Did you hurt my Hadley?”

I had honestly forgotten the relationship my mother had with her. The distant memory of her playing barbies with my mother. The last time I saw Hadley was three days before her father was murdered.

Tears spring to her eyes, her hands balled into fists, as she screams at me.

“Why did you do that? Why, Massimo, why?”

I shrug my shoulders, not giving an answer, because I don’t really have much of one.

“You’re too young to have a boyfriend,” I come up with, but she’s not buying it.

Placing her hands on my chest, she shoves me backward with a grunt.

“Why, Massimo, why?”

If my brothers called me by my first name, I’d punch them in the face. Everybody knows me as Psycho, and I fucking earned that name. Yet, when she does it, I have to fight back the smile that wants to come to my face.

Leaning down, I narrow my gaze at her, meeting her glare with one of my own.

“I didn’t like it. Okay? That’s fucking why. You are under my protection, and that’s what I was doing.”

She doesn’t back down. Her back straightens, and her head raises, as she roars at me.

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