Page 153 of Twisted Vows

My heart stutters. Warmth spreads through my chest, melting the last frozen pieces of doubt.

Tears prick my eyes. “Say it again.”

He cups my face, his thumb brushing the corner of my mouth. “I love you.” The declaration sounds rough and unpracticed, as if carved from bone. “You’re the only thing that’s ever made me want to live right.”

A part of me cracks open, bringing forth the kind of emotion that steals language entirely.

“I’m not running anymore. Not from you. Not from who I am when I’m with you.”

He grins. “We need to call Marco.”

I trail a finger down his light stubble. “We will. Tomorrow.”

Outside, thunder rolls. The storm has changed its tone, growing softer, less like rage and more like release.

His eyes flutter shut, exhaustion finally catching up with him. I stay awake, listening to his breathing even out. The room grows darker as night settles in, shadows stretching across his face.

And glinting faintly against his throat, I discover my wedding ring on the chain he wears under his shirt.

He never let it go.

Chapter 32

Enzo

The morning after the failed attack, Marco arrives at the motel to pick us up just as we’re getting ready to leave.

My arm’s still in a sling, with Sophia being the absolute grumpiest caretaker, so the task of driving once again falls to Marco. The journey back to the Benedetti villa feels like sleepwalking through someone else’s memory. Same gravel crunch under the tires. Same iron gates yawning open. But the air is different. Cleaner. Colder. Like the quiet after a storm, when you realize the world has shifted and nothing will be the same again.

The road curves, familiar and cruel. This is the same path I’ve taken to deliver orders, to collect debts, to bury men. Today, it leads back to something I’ve already lost.

Security has changed. Two new faces greet us at the gate. They wear neat uniforms and stand with straight backs, their eyes sharp but untested, suggesting fresh loyalty bought overnight the Benedetti way. Loyalty is just a poker chip on the table anyway. Whoever’s winning holds the pot. I catalogue their details automatically, noting who glances away first and who holds their ground. You learn everything from the small things.

My thumb rubs the edge of my ring until it’s smooth as bone, a new habit that saves me when the world starts tilting. It’s not even on my finger anymore. I keep it in my shirt pocket, right over the heart Sophia broke open.

Inside the villa, the air hums differently. Not with tension. Not quite. Electricity. Whispers dart between rooms like insects. The great hall smells of polished oak, old money, and fresh fear. Capos line the edges of the room like dogs sniffing for weakness.

Nonna Rosa is the first face I see. Her eyes sweep over me like she’s taking inventory. No pity. No warmth. Just the faint spark of recognition that I’m still standing.

“You look like hell.”

“Hell missed me.”

Her mouth twitches in the closest thing to a Benedetti blessing.

Marco offers me a quick explanation. Gabi’s been pushed out. Izzy’s pulled off a successful overnight coup, and it was swift, bloodless, and elegant like her. For a second, justification tastes sweet. Then guilt chases it down. I scan the room. Vito leans near the fireplace, unreadable as always. Rocco whispers to Marco, probably wondering which version of me has walked in. The seating arrangement tells the whole story. Who sits near the head of the table, who’s been demoted two chairs down. Benedetti power never announces itself. It simply rearranges.

Izzy hovers by the window in a black suit and white shirt, her hair slicked back as if she’s just waltzed out of a painting and into a battlefield. She doesn’t gloat because she doesn’t need to. Her presence is declaration enough.

Nonna Rosa gestures for me to come forward. “You’re alive. That’s useful.”

“Trying to make a habit of it.”

“Don’t,” she says. “The dead are easier to manage.”

A muscle tics in my cheek. Cold truth delivered with a smile.

Then Nonna Rosa says the thing that changes everything. “The family voted. Izzy will handle external affairs. You will take Gabi’s position. Effective immediately.”