Page 160 of Dirty Mafia Torment
He chuckles. “Renzo has his hands full with you.”
“Renzo,” I scoff, muttering the name like a curse, “will never know what a handful I am.”
“Why am I even subjecting myself to his bullshit?”
“Then leave. Tell your brother I will fuck half of Rome before he lays a hand on me again.”
“Only half?”
I glare. “Do you not have better things to do? Kiss Massimo’s assand make friends, maybe?”
“Dante’s in California but sent a message.”
My fingers curl tight. I know what this is, and if I’m honest, am slightly disappointed he’s not here for Renzo. My entire life I’ve craved the truth about my mother’s death, but how could I survive it? How could I live under the same roof, eat at the same table, breathe the same air, if I admitted the only family I had left was her murderer? I buried the suspicion so deep I almost convinced myself it wasn’t true. But I can’t run anymore. Not even from this.
“There is no gentle way to say this,” Sandro warns.
Gentle and Sandro don’t belong in the same sentence.
“Dante promised you an answer. Your father had your mother killed. Shot in the back of the head. Quick. Clean.”
My eyes squeeze shut. The words crash through me, shattering what little hope I clung to. I always knew, somewhere deep down. But knowing and hearing are two different blades, and this one slices me wide open. I can feel Sandro’s gaze on me as I splinter apart.
“Shit,” he mutters under his breath while I struggle to find air.
“If it helps, Renzo got revenge for you.”
My head jerks up. “What?”
“Dante is taking California from your father. Part of a deal my brother made with our father on your behalf. Your father’s out. No longer part of the famiglie. Ruined.”
A tear rolls down my cheek as my mind struggles to keep up. “Renzo did this?”
“Goddamn it. You fucking crying?”
“No.”
“It looks like you are.”
I blink back the rest of my tears to glare at the asshole.
He smiles. “Much better.”
In the moment, he’s so like Renzo, he’s nearly likeable. My heart tightens at the thought.
“Look, Riley’s upset for running her mouth.”
“She only told me the truth.”
“It was his fucking brilliant idea. He was never engaged to Alessia. I was. And Riley wasn’t exactly happy when she learned the truth.”
“That the Beneventi twins are liars?”
His expression darkens. “Keep pushing, and I’ll leave before clueing you in and giving you reason to thank him.”
“Clue me in?” I demand.
“Why are you really mad at him?” he asks, eyes narrowing. “Don’t tell me it’s because he broke his promise?”
