I wanted to scream at them that I hadn’t suffered the way they thought I had, wished they would hate me, but I wasn’t brave enough for the truth.
“Next time you consider fucking with us, look at your niece, Dante, and remember how you failed her.”
Dante’s face was stone, but there was a flicker of something dark in his eyes.
I couldn’t meet their eyes. Burning shame sliced through me at what I had let Remo do, at what I had done. What I had wanted to do, what I still wanted to do.
Remo leaned closer, his lips brushing my ear. “I own you, Angel. Remember that. You gave me a part of yourself and you’ll never get it back. It’s mine no matter what happens next.”
Dante, Danilo, and my father looked on the verge of attacking, their body’s tense, expressions twisted with hatred and fury. They wanted to protect me when I no longer wanted saving, couldn’t be saved because I was irrevocably lost.
I turned my head slightly, meeting Remo’s cold gaze. “I’m not the only one who lost something,” I whispered. “You gave me part of your cruel black heart, Remo, and one day you will realize it.”
Something flashed in Remo’s eyes. Those cruel eyes that haunted his victims’ nightmares ... how long would they haunt me? Especially all the times they hadn’t looked upon me with cruelty or hatred but with a far more terrifying emotion.
Then he tore his gaze away from me to stare at my uncle. All I could think was that he hadn’t denied my words. I had Remo’s cruel black heart and maybe that was the most painful realization of all.
“Hand over Scuderi,” he said.
Dante gripped the rope that coiled tightly around a struggling Scuderi and dragged him toward us. I’d known my uncle all my life, but I’d never seen that look on his face. Utter fury and regret. He thrust Scuderi to the ground halfway toward us. “Release my niece, now,” he ordered.
Remo chuckled. This was a trick. This had to be a trick. Remo had said it himself: I was his. He owned me. Body and soul. He wouldn’t let me go. The worst was that deep down I hoped he wouldn’t—and not just because I didn’t want to live among the family I’d betrayed so horribly, but also because the idea that he could give me up so easily tore at me.
His dark eyes locked on mine, possessive and triumphant, and he leaned down. For a heart stopping moment I was sure he’d kiss me right in front of everyone, but his lips lightly grazed my cheek before they stopped at my ear. “I never thought you’d give me this look on the day I released you— as if giving you freedom is the worst betrayal of all. You shouldn’t want someone to cage you in. You should long for freedom.” He exhaled, his hot breath against my skin making me shiver. “Goodbye, Serafina.”
Remo released me then shoved me away from him. I stumbled forward, away from him, my heart thundering in my chest. Strong hands grabbed me and quickly ushered me away from Remo. I walked toward my family, my fiancé—freedom—but it didn’t feel anything like being free.
Dante was beside me and Danilo stepped toward me, reached for me, and I flinched, feeling unworthy of his touch after I’d betrayed him, betrayed the Outfit with Remo. Dante and my father both tensed, and Danilo lowered his arm and stepped back from me with a look full of utter hatred toward Remo. But Remo’s expression was the worst because when I met his gaze I knew what it said.
I own you.
I half fell into my father’s arms, and he hugged me tightly, whispering words of consolation that I didn’t catch, pulling me away toward their car. My eyes weren’t on him.
Fabiano loaded his father into the back of the car before he got in. With another glance at me, Remo followed and drove away. Drove away.
And again I shivered because part of me, the part that terrified me most, missed Remo.
I own you.
He did.
Dad got into the back of the car with me, still hugging me to his chest and stroking my hair, and a new wave of guilt overcame me. Dante got behind the wheel, and Danilo sat beside him. My fiancé glanced at me through the rearview mirror, and I ducked my head, my cheeks flaming with shame.
“You are safe now, Fina. Nothing will ever happen to you again. I’m sorry, dove. I’m so sorry,” Dad whispered against my hair, and I realized he was crying. My father. A Made Man since his teenage days. Underboss of Minneapolis. He was crying into my hair, right in front of his Capo and my fiancé, and I fell apart. I clutched his jacket and cried, ugly cried, for the first time since I could remember, and my father hugged me even tighter.
“I’m sorry,” I gasped out, broken words full of despair. Words weren’t enough to convey the extent of my sins. Of my betrayal.
“No,” he growled. “No, Fina, no.” He shook, his grip painful.
“Remo ... he ... I.”
Dad cupped my head. “It’s over. It’s over now, Fina. I swear, one day I’ll hunt him down. I will kill him for what he did to you ... for ... for hurting you.”
I swallowed. He thought Remo had raped me. They all did, and I couldn’t tell him the truth, was too cowardly to tell him. Closing my eyes, I rested my cheek against his chest. Dad held me tightly, rocking me like a little girl, like he could restore my innocence by doing so.
Would the truth set him free? Set them all free or would it break them worse? I wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
REMO
Fabiano kept tossing glances at his father resting on the backrest of the car, looking fucking eager to tear into the man.
“Your plan really worked. You crushed the fucking Outfit,” Fabiano said, turning to me. I stared at the road. The triumph I’d been working toward, destroying the Outfit from within, I held it in my hands. I’d seen it on the faces of my enemies. I knew they’d keep suffering.
Fabiano shifted in his seat. “Remo, you realize we won, right? We got my father. Your insane plan worked.”
“Yeah, my plan worked ...”
“Then why—” Fabiano’s eyes widened.
My grip on the steering wheel tightened.
“We can try kidnapping her again. It worked once, who’s to say it won’t work again,” he said almost incredulously.
“No,” I said harshly. “Serafina doesn’t belong in captivity.”
Fabiano shook his head. “They will marry her off to Danilo. Even if you spoiled the goods, she’s still Cavallaro’s niece, and Danilo would be foolish to refuse a marriage because she isn’t a virgin anymore.”
I wanted to kill someone, wanted to spill blood. “She won’t marry him.”
“Remo—”
“Not another word, Fabiano, or I swear you won’t get a chance to rip your father to shreds because I will and then maybe do the same to you.”
He sank back into the seat with a frown. “Should I call Nino?”
“We’ll see him in five fucking minutes,” I growled. “Now shut the fuck up.”
We met at the Sugar Trap. Fabiano dragged his father down into the basement while I sat down at the bar. Jerry put a bottle of brandy and a glass down in front of me without a word.
Nino joined me after a couple of minutes. “Matteo and Romero’s plane arrived thirty minutes ago. They’ll be here soon.”
“Good. A sign of goodwill for Luca.”
“He still isn’t happy about the kidnapping. But now that we gave Serafina back and give his brother and Captain a chance to partake in the torture, he’ll probably come back around. We don’t need a conflict with the Famiglia. The Outfit will start attacking viciously soon enough.”
“Set up a cage fight for me. Two opponents. Death match. Tomorrow. The day after at the latest.”
Nino grasped my shoulder. “Remo. We can’t have you play with your life now. We need you strong.”
I stood and gave him a twisted smile. “If you want me strong, give me someone to kill. I want blood. I want to maim and kill. And I’m not risking my life. I will fucking obliterate every fucking person who enters the fucking cage as my opponent.”
“It won’t make you miss her any less.”
I lunged at him in blinding rage. For the first time in my fucking life, I attacked my brother. Nino blocked my fist and took a step back, and I jerked to a halt, stopping myself after realizing what I was doing. My chest heaved as I stared into my brother’s cautious gray eyes.
Jerry had run off and a moment later Fabiano stormed inside but froze when he saw me and Nino facing each other, standing almost chest to chest.
“Fuck,” I rasped, taking a step back. I held out my arm, tattoo on display, my palm up. A silent apology, the only one I was capable of. Fabiano turned back around, leaving us alone. Nino linked our arms, my hand on his tattoo, on his scars, and his palm on mine.
“You walked through fire for me, Remo,” he said quietly, imploringly, “but you should know, I’d do the same for you. I wouldn’t have asked you to send her back if I’d known ... And I’ll walk straight into Outfit territory for you and get her back if that’s what you want.”
“That’s not what I want.”
“She won’t return to you of her own free will.”
“Then so be it. Now find someone I can kill and set up the fucking death match.”
Nino squeezed my arm then released me.