Page 53 of Taken By the Underboss

‘Face it, Alessandro. She’s made her choice.’

‘Bullshit.’My tone reached an unnatural pitch, and I lowered my voice before continuing.‘She would never have made that choice if she really knew what she was choosing. No one would.’

‘Which is my point exactly. We’d never know if we could trust her.’

‘Teo, I care about her,’I said in a pleading tone meant for Teo, my friend, not Teo, my don.

He cast me a pitying look that made my stomach drop.‘I know. I will have one of the men take care of everything tomorrow.’

‘No,’I said before thinking and Teo’s brow lifted.‘I’ll take care of it myself. This is my mess, I’ll clean it up.’

‘Good. And for what it’s worth, I really am sorry that it turned out this way.’

I’d given a nod, unable to say anything more.

I finished buttoning my shirt and picked my gun up off of my nightstand. I took a moment to weigh it in my hand, to look over my weapon of choice. I'd pulled that trigger countless times before, but my pistol never felt so foreign to me in my life.

With a heavy sigh, I tucked my gun into the waistband of my slacks and grabbed my keys from the dresser before heading for my car. Memories from my time with Sienna ran through my mind like one of those sappy movie montages the whole way to the Venturi compound.

I was greeted by Teo the moment I stepped inside.

"Are you doing okay?" He looked at me with concern and I nodded.

"I'm good." I could barely force the words past my lips.

"It's okay not to be okay. It's even okay to not do this yourself. I can still have one of my men handle this."

"No. I'll do it. She at least deserves to have it be someone she knows, to not have a stranger's face be the last one she sees."

Teo gave a sharp nod.

"Where is she?"

"Upstairs finishing packing."

I silently nodded, already finding myself out of small talk. It wasn't long before Sienna appeared at the top of the stairs with her suitcase in hand.

I ran up the stairs to meet her. "Here, let me get that for you."

"Thank you." She smiled and my heart sank.

I turned away quickly so that she wouldn't see the pain in my expression and headed down the stairs.

Silently, I led her out to the car, and helped her get in before loading her luggage in the trunk. Every move I made felt like fighting through water. It was everything I could do just to go through the motions. I tried to convince myself that it was just like every other time we've gone anywhere. I was just taking her to the airport. But I wasn't and every time I laid eyes on her the pain of what I had to do nearly consumed me. I couldn't breathe. My chest was tight as I climbed in the car, buckled my seatbelt, and started the ignition.

I didn't speak as I revved the engine and let on the gas, flying out of the compound and onto the road. Sienna was quiet too. About ten minutes down the road, she finally broke the silence with a sigh. I glanced her way and she finally spoke.

“I know you're upset with me. You're disappointed because I'm going home and not going to stay here. But this is for the best."

I looked over at her on a straight away, pleading with my eyes. "Are you sure that I can't change your mind? You will have the money, a house, and we will find the best medical care for your father. I will make sure that neither one of you wants for anything if you stay."

She offered me a sad smile. "Mafia life is not for me. I'm too by the book to thrive in this life."

I silently cursed myself. How was I going to convince her to stay? How was I going to do what needed to be done if she refused?

I spotted the sign for the airstrip coming up in just a few kilometers and my heart began to race in my chest, adrenaline shooting through my veins like a drug. I’d killed people before, but nothing had felt like that. It wasn't that I was a cold-hearted killer that didn't feel any remorse for his kills but none of them felt so wrong. Every other time it had been someone who deserved it, someone who was threatening me or my family. Teo saw her as a threat because she knew things. But I didn't see Sienna ever spilling our secrets. She just wanted to go home and live like she had before I disrupted her entire life. I cared for her. I was falling for her. How was I going to look into her face and pull that trigger?

“I can't do this,” I said in a panic as I swerved over two lanes to pull up into the emergency lane.”

---