Kon (Trassato Crime Family Book 2)(74)

Carmela’s sobs escalated with every confession until her body shook uncontrollably. I pulled her closer, pressing kisses to the top of her head.

“Get Carmela out of here, Kon,” Gian barked, snapping his fingers in my direction. “She doesn’t need to hear any of this. I’ll take it from here.”

I looped my hands under Carmela’s legs and cradled her body against mine. “Come on, solnyshka, I’m gonna take you home. You’re safe now.”

“Kon, I was so scared. When he had that knife pressed to my neck, I thought I was going to die, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to live for you. For us,” she whispered.

“I was never going to let you die. I love you too much to let that happen.”

The second the words left my mouth, I heard the soft tick of a gun safety being released, and my gaze followed the sound.

Laney stood across from us with a sneer on her face, her body swaying. She raised a gun, aiming it at us. Time stood still as I gawked at the woman I thought I had loved for years. I felt nothing for her except unadulterated hatred and pity. She was like a cancer that kept coming back no matter what I threw at her, and no matter how many times I pushed her away.

I snapped out of my haze and dove to the floor with Carmela still in my arms. I rolled to my side, absorbing the impact with my shoulder. A gunshot exploded over my head, and white plaster dust showered our heads.

Still shielding Carmela with my body, I reached for the second gun tucked away in the waistband of my jeans.

“Wait!” Anatolyi screamed. “Don’t kill—”

With one flex of my trigger finger, I shot Laney. Her body flew back, crumpling to the floor, blood seeping out of her chest, coloring her white shirt red.

Relief flowed through me, the weight of our ugly history finally gone. Maybe I should have felt sadness for her son, but I knew deep down in my soul he’d be better off without her. Laney was a lost cause, and she’d tear apart her son and ruin his life like she attempted to do with Carmela and me.

“You killed her! She’s dead! Oh my God!” Gemma screamed over and over. She collapsed to her knees and crawled toward Laney’s body.

“Kon, go. Get Carmela outta here. Take her back to your house. I’ll call you in the morning.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, man.” He patted me on the shoulder. “I trust you to take care of my sister. I’ll clean up this mess. Sal, call Tony and tell him to get Nico’s ass over here and do something with his sister.”

Gian kept shouting out orders to restrain Renzo and Gemma. I didn’t care about any of that. I had Carmela. She was all I needed. I scooped up the woman I loved and carried her away from this nightmare.



EPILOGUE



Carmela



“Do you think they’re going to freak out?” I questioned Kon, drumming my left hand on the table, my shiny wedding ring shooting rainbows over the white tablecloth. Kon had chosen the perfect ring, but that wasn’t why I loved it. I loved what it meant more.

Kon swung his arm over the back of the booth. “Do you care?”

I dragged my gaze up to meet his stare. The corners of his blue eyes crinkled and a lopsided smile showed off his white teeth. My stomach flipped over and my heart did this double beat thing.

“No. I couldn’t stand the thought of planning another wedding. I wanted to skip to the good part.”

He leaned his forehead against mine. “What’s that?”

“The part where we start our life together.”

He brushed his lips over mine.

“I like the sound of that.”

Two months after the nightmare at Renzo DiTonno’s house, Konstantin had proposed to me. There was no mention of our earlier arrangement, what our families wanted, or any future business dealings. Only one simple proposal at our favorite coffee shop, one beautiful ring, and a merger of our lives at the courthouse shortly thereafter.

I spent a full year making preparations for my wedding to Rocco and months trying to stop my family from plotting my marriage to Nico. When Kon proposed, I knew I didn’t want any of the fuss that went into planning little details no one would remember a week later. I wanted a life with Kon, and I wanted to make it happen before anyone or anything got in the way. I was being superstitious, and I didn’t care. I wouldn’t give fate a chance to get in my way again.

Alix Trincher hadn’t breathed a word about business deals in months, and I had a sneaking suspicion Kon had put a stop to it. The few times I bumped into my now father-in-law in passing, he kept it cordial and polite, and given his history, I was okay with our less than loving relationship. In fact, I preferred it that way. He still scared me.