Page 77 of My Sunfall

The words slam into me, making my breath hitch in my throat. Napoli…Naples.

He leans back and watches the realization bloom. “There it is,” he whispers, “the moment the pieces finally click in that thick skull of yours.”

My mind races. The shipments, the dead men at the docks. The threat didn’t come from Florida as we suspected, but from Italy. Then another realization hits me. The organization spreading like rot in our city.

“Manticore,” I growl.

His smile widens.

“You’re part of it.” I breathe with disbelief, rage courses through me, hot and deadly, permeating every cell of my body.

“Leading it,” he corrects me in a bored tone. “Your little interferences were minor inconveniences, nothing more. But once Chiara is mine…the world opens. Your group is standing between me and my plans. I will wipe your little family out and take over the docks in Boston, too. Once both ports are mine, nothing will stop me. I’ll have a direct route for my shipments through two continents.”

Motherfucker, we’ve been so blind.

“Chiara will never agree to marry you, even less when she knows that you are the one behind Manticore,” I spit out.

“Oh, but she will.” He smirks ominously. “And you will help me to convince her, she’ll obey you. Tell her you married her out of duty or whatever you need to say to make her divorce you and marry me.”

“Over my dead body,” I growl, struggling harder against the restraints.

He chuckles darkly. “I don’t even need your cooperation. Her mother assured me she was perfectly trained. She’ll obey me.”

I grind my teeth around the taste of blood in my mouth. Obey… No, she definitely obeys no one. Not my fierce little warrior. You’re in for a hell of a surprise, motherfucker. But I won’t let it go that far, I won’t let her fall into the hands of this monster.

“Of course, there is a second option,” he goes on. “I could make her a widow and force her to marry me, but where would be the fun?”

“You fucking—”

Another punch makes my head snap back, and when I straighten, blood trickles down my jaw.

“You’re going to listen very carefully now,” he says. “You will not tell Chiara anything about this conversation. Not about Napoli. Not about Manticore. If she so much as suspects a thing, she suffers. And unlike you, Romano, she’s not built to withstand pain.”

My stomach knots, but I keep my face stone-still. He watches for a reaction, but I give him nothing.

“Now, here’s the part where you behave. You’re going to play along. Sign whatever is necessary. Make the separation smooth. And in return…” He shrugs casually. “I only kill you. I can set her up in a villa in Italy and she can finish her life peacefully in her family’s vineyards. Or she will suffer misfortune just after our marriage before joining you at the bottom of the sea. The choice is entirely yours.”

I gnash my teeth so hard it’s a miracle they don’t crack.

He waits in silence.

Chiara’s face flashes before my eyes. Her luminous eyes, her soft smile, the graceful curve of her neck where I want to sink my face to inhale her. Can I give her this last gift? Her freedom. Life far away from Boston and the famiglia, like she wanted. I can barely breathe around the knot in my chest. I’m as good as dead. I won’t drag her down with me.

I force myself to meet his gaze, schooling my face into a flat, empty mask. “Fine,” I say. “I’ll play along if you promise you won’t touch her. Untie me and I’ll sign.”

He stills, lips curling up in a victorious snarl. “We have a deal.”

I swallow the acid rising in my throat. “Just…don’t hurt her.”

Lorenzo’s smile widens. “Cooperation suits you.” He steps back, satisfied.

I bow my head. Not in defeat, but to hide the murder blazing behind my eyes. I’m getting out of here. I’m going to kill him. Or I’ll die trying.

Two minutes later, I sign the papers with a shaky hand while two of his guards stand with a gun trained to my head. They tie my hands again and shove me unceremoniously back into the chair.

His phone buzzes and he casts a glance at the screen.

“Looks like our little bride has arrived.” He smirks. “Remember, you have the choice of how and when her life will end.”