Page 179 of Hexed
He takes a step toward me, clucking his tongue. “Figlio mio, you never learn.”
I grit my teeth and don’t reply.
He looks beyond me to Peppino’s gravestone, the one that’s now covered in Gio’s blood spatter, and then back to me. “Poetic—you’ll end up dead right here next to your brother. It saddens me to have to take things this far, but alas, what else is there to do?”
“Have you considered not murdering everyone who has your back?”
Pops laughs. A deep, head-thrown-back belly laugh. “Hasmyback? I asked you to prove your worth, and youfailed. Like usual, I had to send in someone else to clean up the mess you left behind.”
My heart stalls, panic flooding my veins at the thought of something happening to Venesa.
“You really are the biggest kind of disappointment,” he goes on. “Don’t insult me, thinking you can spin those lies, telling me you have my back. You and your brother were a risk I couldn’t afford.”
My breathing stutters, because is he admitting what Ithinkhe’s admitting?
Realization settles heavy into my bones. “You took out the hit on Peppino. Of fucking course you did, JesusChrist.”
“Ihadhim taken care of,” he snaps. “He was going to do it to me, so I beat him to the punch. You fools think I don’t know you want my empire? You want what’s mine?”
I shake my head. “I’ve never wanted what’s yoursorhis. I was just fine being your loyal lapdog.” I don’t raise my gun, because I know if I do, then he’ll get tipped off that I’m about to kill him, and I’d rather he stay on his soapbox. The thing about men like my father is they become so headstrong, so inflated by their own ego, it becomes almost impossible for them to take someone out without waxing poetic beforehand. And my pops has always been someone who loves to hear himself speak.
His overconfidence has made him deluded enough to think that he’s unbreakable, impenetrable.
So even when he moves forward, backing me into a tree with his gun at my forehead…I let him. And when he wrenches the weapon from my hand with his free one, I don’t resist. And maybe I’ll die right here. Hell, it’s been feeling like I’m on the edge of death all day anyway, so perhaps this is the way my story ends, but fuck going without a fight.
I just have to wait him out and find the right moment.
My eyes flicker behind Pops to where Gio’s splayed out on the ground, not moving. I squint, trying to see if his chest is rising, but he’s too far and my focus is too split.
“This ends here,” Pops says, the barrel of his gun cool against my skin. “You’ve always been weak. But I never expected it to be a whore who took you down, the same way she took down your brother. I won’t let you makechangesaround here. Be grateful you’re my son, because it’s the only reason I’ll show you any mercy.”
Suddenly, with those words, everything in my life snaps into focus, and the only thing I can think of—the only thing that matters—is Venesa. And the only person who deserves any mercy isher. The hurt of her omission is there, and it won’t go away overnight, but the anger dissipates, clarity replacing every fractal of my thoughts, and I’m overcome with…sadness.
“Thinking about your little slut?” Pops asks.
The disrespect makes me want to lash out, but I still don’t make my move. Let him think he has the upper hand.
He leans in close, something flaring in his eyes. “I’ll be sure to test out what makes her so special before I kill her.”
My insides are churning. I won’t let him near her.
I react as fast as possible, rage blinding my vision, mixing with the need to protect Venesa. To get the chance to forgive her. To let her right her wrongs the same way I’d want her to let me try if the situation were reversed. I grip my father’s wrist, twisting it quickly until it cracks, flipping the gun out of his grasp and into my hands until the barrel is pointed athishead. “You stupid motherfucker,” I spit. “If you had taken one goddamn second to learn anything about me—yourson—you would know that I know how to disarm someone.”
Panic flashes in his eyes now. “If you kill me, you’ll never find her.”
I pause, for just a second, wondering if he’s telling me the truth. But I’m not stupid enough to fall for his tricks, and even if he is being honest…I can’t take the risk of keeping him alive.
Shaking my head, I lean in close, spitting out the words. “I’llalwaysfind her. But at least if you’re dead, I’ll be able to sleep at night while I do.”
And then I pull the trigger, closing my eyes when warm blood sprays across my face.
There’s immediate silence following his death, and I expect to feel relief. Instead, a deep longing fills me, an ache to hunt down Venesa as quickly as possible and tell her I love her, because a few seconds ago, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get the chance.
It may take a while for me to forget about what she did, but I think I can forgive her. Her being dishonest doesn’t wash away the fingerprints she’s ingrained in my soul.
Because life’s too short to not hold the ones you love close.
So I’m going to find her, and then I’m going to spend the rest of my life loving her out loud, just like she deserves.
