Page 111 of Twisted Vows

They need me, but Gabi’s pride won’t let him admit that truth. I motion for the two men to stand. “You’ve delivered your message. Now you’ll escort me back.”

“You’re going back?” Sophia’s voice cracks with heartbreak.

I face her fully, every instinct screaming at me to stay. “Yes. But you’ll go to the mini villa. Marco will keep you safe, and Arya will be with you all day.”

She shakes her head. “Enzo…”

I silence her with a look, then with a firm but gentle hand on her shoulder. “Trust no one else. Not even the ones who smile.”

She winces, pain etched across her features. “You’re talking like you’re gone already.”

“I always come back.” A lie. The biggest one. My throat closes around the words.

She grabs my wrist, and her nails bite into my skin. “Don’t disappear.”

I bend down and press a kiss to her forehead. This single second feels like the last breath before drowning. My eyes burn as I memorize her, every freckle, every breath, everything I might lose.

“You’ll see me soon.”

The drive back to the estate is quiet. Rocco and Vito flank me like guards escorting a prisoner, their silence thick with guilt.

The Benedetti villa looms ahead, black cars crowding the driveway. Something has changed. The air hums with tension.

Inside, Gabi sits at the table, drunk with power and surrounded by Capos and cousins.

He doesn’t waste time. “Vincent must die. Publicly. You’ll do it.”

The room reacts like thunder, a mix of agreement, relief, and hunger. They want blood.

The order hits me like a fist through the ribs. My stomach drops, and ice floods my veins. I’m going to lose her.

Gabi’s smooth, poisonous voice cuts through again. “Do this, and Sophia becomes one of us. Protected. Respected.”

My hands clench the table’s edge. It’s not protection or possession. It’s a gilded cage sealed with blood.

I lift my gaze to his. “Consider it done.” The words taste like ash. Nausea claws up my throat.

The meeting’s over, so I step out into the night. The crisp, cold air smacks me in the face, and I raise my face toward the sky. The stars overhead look like bullet holes in the sky.

If I put Vincent down, Sophia is lost to me forever. If I don’t, we’re both toast.

There’s only one road out of this, and mercy isn’t even an option.

Chapter 23

Sophia

The bed beside me is a hollow shape, sheets tangled, cedar and smoke still clinging to the pillow. The fragrance mocks the space he left behind. Even the air feels abandoned.

The security cameras hum from the corners, their mechanical eyes watching. Marco and Gio stand guard outside, their presence more like a cage than safety.

I pick up some routine tasks at the mini villa, arranging the lilies, stirring the tea, and straightening the books no one reads. Every task is a little prayer to drown the buzzing ache in my chest.

Jasmine and honey-scented steam curls from my teacup, the sweet aroma doing nothing to fill the hollow in the chest. I’m about to take a sip when muffled voices flutter into the kitchen.

“Gabi gave the order,” Marco mutters. “Vincent’s finished. They want Enzo to do it. Publicly.”

The porcelain slips from my fingers and clatters, causing spilled tea to spread across the counter. My knees buckle, and I grasp the edge of the counter to stay upright.