Page 55 of Wedlocked

I untied the rope around my wife’s slender ankles, wincing at the red chafe marks. I straightened and threw the length of rope at Valentino, nodding at him. He smiled a hard smile, understanding what I wanted without me having to voice the command.

As he retrieved the rope and proceeded to tie Lorenzo’s wrists together behind his back, my father struggled against the enforcer’s implacable strength. “Ethan, what the fuck is this about? What are you doing?”

I ignored him to focus on my wife, snaring her eyes with mine while my knot of hidden emotions unraveled fast, becoming exposed as I realized just how much I wanted her…needed her. “Now that you’re no longer tied up—and your abuser is—you’re free to hit him as many times as needed in retaliation.”

She flexed her hands, her eyes not leaving mine. “Really?”

I nodded, my heart shifting in my chest as I croaked, “Positive.”

She stepped toward my father even as Valentino held him upright. My father’s eyes narrowed at Sabrina, and he barked out a laugh. “Do you really think I’m scared of a piece of shit Costa who—“

Thump.

She punched him in the jaw, his head snapping back and his laugh cutting off. I crossed my arms, impressed by her strength. But then, she had a lot of anger issues to expel after learning he’d killed her mother.

Crunch.

Blood sprayed from my father’s nose at her second punch, and he inhaled a liquid breath even as he curled his lip at her. “I’m going to kill you for this, bitch.”

Whack.

Her third punch got him in the eye, and he grunted at the unexpected force of her hit. She hit him again and again, over and over, until her hands were bloodied and had to be hurting and her muscles had to be turning into jelly. That my father’s face was turning into pulp was a secondary concern. He deserved every single blow.

It wasn’t until Sabrina was too weak to throw even one more punch that I nodded at Valentino. He released my father and he dropped to his knees, spitting blood and panting.

Carlo stood back, though his mouth was white with tension. He knew his former boss deserved the punishment, but it clearly wasn’t easy for him to watch. My father was more than just his ex-boss, he was a friend and confidant too. I only hoped that wouldn’t get in the way of my consigliere’s loyalty to me.

I looked at my brothers. If they were shocked or disturbed they didn’t show it, if anything they appeared to enjoy the show. None of them would protect their dad now they knew the truth. He was a coward who’d broken our code of honor. Even worse, he was a hypocrite of the highest order.

Sabrina turned away and stepped hesitantly toward me. Though her face was blanched of color and her knuckles scraped raw, though she’d been through hell and back, it was me she trusted even knowing why she was here.

She’d once said she trusted me—and what had I done? I’d thrown it back in her face. I could even recall my exact words. I’m going to pretend you never said those last three words. I want you to do the same.

I was never going to take her trust for granted again.

My whole body jolted as realization struck me. I wasn’t going to end her life. Not today, not tomorrow. Not ever. I only hoped her trust might one day turn into something more. Because I knew now, without any doubt, I loved her, had loved her from the moment I’d first seen her in the elevator.

It wasn’t until I’d found out who she was—a Costa—and understood she’d been at my home to trick me into giving her information by fair means or foul that I’d been in denial. But true love, love at first sight, it really did exist. How I felt about my wife was proof of that.

I’d been so strictly disciplined against emotion, against losing my heart to my wife at the risk of then losing my position as don—and likely my own life—that I’d not been seeing clearly. Now the blinkers were off I realized none of my fears had mattered. What was the point of living if my angel was no longer a part of my life?

I reached out and clasped her shoulders, my eyes holding hers. “I brought you here with the intention to kill you, to rid the world of a shining light I should never have wanted to snuff out…and I won’t. Not anymore. You mean the world to me, Sabrina.”

She gaped at me and I was only half-aware of the genuinely relieved looks my brothers cast each other. Even Carlo smiled. It seemed I was a slow learner and all my fears had been unfounded. It was only my father who sucked in an enraged breath.

I curled my lip, my chest tight. I’d lived to please my father and play by his rules, but no more. From now on I made the rules about my personal life, with or without my consigliere’s support. Though going by Carlo’s warm reaction he wouldn’t try to advise me otherwise.

“I…do?” she asked tremulously. “I thought you hated me.”

I smiled at her. There was a fine line sometimes between love and hate, but I’d yet to step over the precipice into beckoning darkness. She was pure, shining light and I was the relentless moth banging against her halo. “You’re my angel, my wife. I love you.”

I cared less if my family heard me, if the whole fucking world heard! I didn’t want to keep it to myself. I’d shout it from the rooftops if necessary.

She blinked up at me, her eyes shining like stars. “I love you too,” she said softly, but with enough clarity that everyone else no doubt heard too. “I think I’ve always loved you.”

I scooped her up with something between a growl and a groan, then swung her around, stopping only when my dad coughed, blood spraying. I put her back onto the ground carefully even as my father refocused on Sabrina and said, “How touching. Just know, angelo, your brother is a dead man.”

She held my stare, her eyes dulling. “No one threatens my brother, not ever. And no one calls me angel, except for you.” She grabbed my gun from my holster. I didn’t move or try to stop her, not even when she turned and aimed it at my father. If this was what had to play out, then I was more than willing to see it through.

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