Page 70 of Bittersweet Endings
“You won’t touch me. Ever again.” The vehemence in my words seemed to finally break through.
For a moment, that soft, endearing gaze remained. As if he was waiting for the joke to end. Years of me terrified and alone because of what he did. That was years of longing and building a world inside his mind for him. This wasn’t a fucked-up revenge plot to Peiro but an actual love story.
I’d watched Apollo for as long as I could remember him. The way his brain worked. How he tried to adapt to the world around him, but it was a constant battle to stand on the line between his natural psychotic inhibitions and adhering to societal norms.
But with Peiro… It was no longer so easy for him to bury it. His insanity was dripping through his every pore. Crazed. That was the best way to explain it. It wasn’t fake. He really believed I belonged to him.
“Enough, Octavia. You’ve done it. Okay?” He stepped closer, and I stood my ground. “You want to show everyone how strong you are. We get it. It’s over now. Let’s go.” He waved me over.
Without thought, I stepped towards Carmine, who quickly placed a reassuring hand on my waist. I didn’t have to see it to know this gave him the slightest hint of a smile. With the way Peiro’s head throttled backwards, I knew he saw it too.
“You fucking bitch,” he seethed. “Him? The asshole who kidnapped you? Guess you’re notthatstrong. You’re weak. So fucking weak.” Peiro shook his head. “Just remember you did this. This is all your fault.” His gun turned towards me.
“I’ll take him over you, asshole.” Moving fast, I snatched Carmine’s gun and pulled the trigger.
The bullet went a little wide, but it was enough to graze Peiro and throw him back. His men rushed forward and the restaurant doors flung open. Lucky. Apollo. Matteo. Lorenzo. And varioussoldatos.
They stood around the room, a silent force of one fucked-up alliance. If I wasn’t so angry, my heart might be warming to their concern. Except, once again, I was the last one to know this was all part of their plan.
Lucky forced Peiro to his knees, a barrel pressed to the back of the bastard’s head. My brother leaned forward and growled into Peiro’s ear. But he heard none of it. He was too laser-focused on me.
As I approached, he smirked. “You’ll never be rid of me.” Peiro glanced at the scars on my stomach, my skirt still unzipped.
I pressed the gun between Peiro’s eyes. “You’re already gone. Carmine erased every part of you. All these scars will remind me of is that I am a hell of a lot stronger than anyone gives me credit for.” I glanced at my brother. “And that I’m not a fucking traitor. I’m the one who protected this family.”
“You’re a fucking traitor for choosing that motherfucker.” Peiro spit at my feet. “Doesn’t matter if you pull that trigger, Octavia. I am stuck in here.” He tapped his temple. “I’ll never. Never. Be gone from there.”
Carmine slipped behind me, his hand ensnaring my wrist. “Let me do this for you.” He tucked a loose curl behind my ear and pressed a finger to my lips when I tried to respond. “Shut up. I know you’re strong enough to do this on your own. But I want to do thisfor you.End your last goddamn nightmare.”
“I sleep just fine these days,” I muttered, my cheeks burning red from all the attention on me.
“Even without me?” Carmine’s finger stroked my cheek, chuckling when I slapped him away and looked at the ground. “Any last words, motherfucker?”
“Wait.” My brother stepped forward, his men moving closer. “Who else is working with you?”
Peiro sneered at him. “My dad was right. You’re fuckin’ weak. All that shit you confided in me. Pathetic. I took what I wanted. You don’t have the balls to do the same, you mother?—”
A shot rang out, and I jumped. Peiro gripped his thigh, howling in pain as a red pool bloomed across his skin. Lucky smirked over his shoulder, Apollo’s gun smoking at the end of his hand.
My brother laughed. “I don’t enjoy sending my men into a battle without proper preparation.” He paused. “Like you just did.”
“I took what I wanted. I wasn’t a fuckin’ coward.” Peiro’s eyes softened on me until he saw Carmine’s hand still on my waist. “And now I’ll take something precious from all of you.” Peiro rolled to his side and attempted to pull another gun from his back.
Carmine moved fast, tossing Peiro onto his back, and I pressed the gun to his forehead again. My chest heaved as the pain from all those terrible memories started to resurface. “You haunted me. Little did I know that behind your fake smiles was a true brutality buried deep. Why didn’t you show me thereal yousooner?”
“Because my fath—” Peiro paused, showing his cards.
“Because daddy was playing a bigger game. You wanted me. Daddy wanted an empire.” I laughed, squatting to meet him at eye level. “You were the patsy in a bigger game and he didn’t care if you lived or died. Was the sex worth it?”
“Every. Fucking. Second.”
“Shame.” I paused. “Besides the sharp jab, it was unremarkable for me. And I mean from the knife, not your little cock.”
The men around me sniggered.
“Do you know your daddy cried in the end? When I put that knife to his throat, he bawled like a baby.” I pressed the barrel harder against Peiro’s head.
“You’re going to regret this.Thatbeast will take and take until there’s nothing left.” He leaned into the gun. “Kill me, but I’ll never leave you. And now you’ll be trapped with him, you weak little bitch. At least that pussy was tight.”
