Page 83 of Taken By the Mafia King
Tears welled up in my eyes at the thought of my mother. I would’ve raised a hand to my rosary, but I couldn’t move. And it wasn’t there. I’d hidden it in my room for safekeeping.
A sickly smile brushed over her lips as she looked me in the eyes. “I sold her out.”
“What?” I choked, totally lost in the eyes that were identical to Killian’s but completely deranged.
Her smile widened. “I told your father of her plans. And do you know how I was rewarded?”
“Oh, my God?—”
“He killed my husband,” she screeched, clutching my shirt with both hands. My knees began to buckle as she squeezed, and my mind raced.
Memories broke over me. My sweet mother standing in our family kitchen, making me breakfast, the way she used to do, instead of letting the cooks do it. She’d smiled at me, sliding over a plate of eggs and bacon. “We’ll go on an adventure soon, baby. As soon as you’re done with school.” I’d smiled and laughed, biting into the perfect scrambled eggs.
When I’d returned from school, she wasn’t there. She was just gone, no trace of her left in the house. Like she’d never existed. Father had said she was dead. That was it. End of story.
There’d been a funeral, but the memories of it were blurry. I’d been told it was an accident. Whispers had echoed through the halls of my house. She’d been on her way to surprise me at school, to pick me up for the adventure. The car had rolled over, caught on fire. Nothing left.
It had been my fault—all of it. Mine.
Fighting tears, I refocused on Giuliani Ricci. “What do you want from me?”
“This, you stupid bitch.” Giuliana’s eyes narrowed, her face twisting into a maniacal smile before she lifted both hands and shoved me as hard as she could. My feet left the step, my hands flailing to grab hold of her, the railing, anything. My fingernails scraped wood, but I couldn’t secure my grip.
I fell—with nothing below me but the cold marble tile of the foyer.
CHAPTER 59
KILLIAN
“Stupid bitch.”
My mother’s voice was the only sound in the foyer when I rushed out of my office and looked up just in time to see her shove Sera from the top of the stairs.
Sera’s arms shot out, but she didn’t manage to grab anything. Her body sailed through the air in slow motion, like a kite riding the breeze but quickly losing the current and heading to the ground in a rush.
Instinctively, I dove with my arms out, reaching for her, praying I could cushion the fall. My knees bit into the cold, hard floor, cracking the mosaic marble. I gritted my teeth against the silent scream of pain radiating through my legs. Sera’s head landed on my shoulder, my arms beneath her back, holding her off the unforgiving floor.
Pulling her to my chest, I looked up at my mother, who stood at top of the stairs with a fucking smug look on her face.
A choked sob escaped Sera that cut me so deeply I found it hard to think rationally for a moment. I turned her in my arms to face me, still holding on tight, and reached up to hold her face in my hands. I looked into her eyes and she tracked me easily, no sign of confusion.
“Did you hit your head?” I asked.
She clung to my shirt and shook her head.
I looked back up at my mother, whose expression had shifted from gleeful to irate.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” I roared. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
Mother puffed on her cigarette and tossed it on the carpet, tamping it out with her foot. “Doing what you don’t have the balls to do, son.”
“Get back to your room,” I growled.
“I am your mother. Carmine built this house. And Imadeyou. Who the hell do you think you are? I told you to discard her. You had your chance to do it cleanly. But clearly, as the matriarch, I’m the one who has to handle business.”
I’d stopped listening after the words “made you.” I gently lowered Sera from my lap onto the marble, where she pushed up on her hands, her weight on her right hip.
I moved to the bottom of the stairs, my knees aching with every step. “I don’t give a fuck who built this house. This house ismine. This syndicate ismine. Dad is dead. I’m the fucking king now. I have warned you time and time again to stay out of my business. This is your final warning, Mother. Don’t make me regret giving you another chance. Blood is not thicker than water. You should know that by now.”
