Liliana Romero had just killed a member of the Outfit for Me. Our gazes met and a cold fear spread through my chest like fog. Romero wiped the knife on my husband’s pant leg before placing it back in its sheath. My throat tightened as I walked toward him. “This means war.” “We can make up a story. I’ll pretend I’ve lost my mind. I’ve always wanted you, but you’ve never been interested in me, and today I lost my mind and went into your bedroom and attacked your husband, who tried to defend himself with the letter opener, which I then used to stab him . We can make it look like I tried to rape you so no one would suspect that you were involved. No one would doubt it from your appearance.” He stroked my cheek. “That bastard died too fast for how he treated you.” I couldn’t believe he was suggesting such a thing. It was bad enough that I had dragged him into this. I wasn’t going to make him look like a disgusting rapist to save my skin. “I’m not going to pretend that you tried to rape me. You are the ‘only man I want to be with.” Romero again bridged the distance between us and wrapped me in a tight embrace. His smell, his warmth, the way my body fit his perfectly; this felt right. My eyes found Benito on the ground.
I had tried to be his wife and had failed, but I could not be sad about that. I had never wanted him, and he had known that from the beginning. He would impose himself on me, perhaps he did not deserve a death sentence , but he lived in a world where death was almost always the punishment. His eyes were still open and seemed to be staring straight through me. The more I stared, the worse their gaze seemed to get. I shuddered violently. Romero gently pushed me away. “Don’t look at him.” He moved closer to the body and turned Benito so that he was facing the ground, and no longer toward me. And just like that I felt better. He was still dead, but at least he was no longer looking at me with that reproachful expression. I staggered toward the bed and let myself fall. My legs were shaking too much to hold me up. Romero stood still for a moment before joining me. He stroked my cheek with his thumb, gathering a few stray tears. I hadn’t even noticed that I had started crying again. “He’s dead now. He can’t hurt you anymore,” he said abruptly. “No one will ever hurt you again. I won’t allow it.” “If you confess to killing Benito, you will be killed and then you will no longer be there to protect me from anything.” Perhaps it was a low move to play the guilt card, but I could not let Romero take the blame. Romero’s gaze settled on Benito and the pool of blood that was slowly spreading around him, turning the beige carpet into a sea of red. “We can’t hide it. Even if we pulled him out of the house without anyone noticing, we could never get the blood off the carpet. People would suspect something. Someone would have to take the blame for it.” I buried my face in my hands, despair clawing inside me. “I should have let him have me. I should have put up with it like so many other women before me. But I had to act like a selfish bitch.” “No,” Romero said abruptly, slipping a finger under my chin and lifting my face. “I’m glad you stabbed him. I’m glad he’s dead. I’m glad he didn’t get what he didn’t deserve . You are too good and beautiful for this bastard.” I leaned forward and kissed Romero. I would have deepened the kiss regardless, lost myself in Romero as I always did, but he was more reasonable than I was and pulled away.
“I have to call Luca. As his soldier, I must at least confess everything to him, and then it will be up to him to decide what happens next.” “What if he decides to kill you to keep the peace with Chicago?” I asked softly. “You know how angry he was when he found out about us.
Even Aria couldn’t convince him to risk the war for me.” For a long time Romero just looked at me, then picked up the phone and brought it to his ear. “Then I will accept his judgment.” “No,” I said suddenly. I pushed his phone away. “Let me call Aria. She can reason with Luca. He listens to her.” Romero smiled sadly. “This is something even Aria can’t do anything about. Luca is the Chief and if he has to make decisions that protect the Family, he will not let Aria ruin his mind. You said it yourself. He refused to listen to Aria.” “Please.” “I have to do this. I can’t hide behind you or Aria like a coward.” He lifted the phone again, and this time I didn’t stop him. He was right. Luca probably would have been pissed if I had tried to use Aria to manipulate him.
I held my breath as I waited for Luca to answer. “Luca, I need you to come to Benito’s room.” I heard Luca’s voice raised on the other end but couldn’t make out what he was saying. It didn’t sound right. “Yes, I’m there. You should hurry up.” “Damn it!” growled Luca loud enough for me to hear, then hung up. Romero slowly lowered the phone and put it back in his pocket. I took his hand, having to convince myself that it was really there. Romero cast a furious glance at Benito’s body but did not try to tell me that things would be okay. I was glad he had not tried to lie to me . I rested my cheek on Romero’s shoulder. There was a slight jolt. I straightened up, but my grip on Romero’s hand tightened. I didn’t want to let him go. Once Luke saw what had happened, I might never have the chance to touch Romero’s hand again, at least not while it was still warm.
I shuddered when I remembered my mother’s lifeless corpse. I was not going to let that happen to Romero. Romero kissed my forehead, then freed himself from my grip and stood up. I stood up too, my eyes darting to Benito. Anger for him filled me. If he had never come into my life, then I could have been happy. But probably Father would have found me another horrible husband . Fear rose to my throat as I watched Romero lower the doorknob and open the door. What if Luca had really decided to kill Romero as punishment? Romero did not open the door fully, so Aria had to sneak in. She drew a sharp breath at the sight of my dead husband, then rushed toward me and grabbed my shoulders, but my eyes were fixed on Luca who had entered after her. Her gaze rested on Benito, on the letter opener still lodged in his side and on the hole in his shirt where Romero’s knife had entered. Romero closed the door quietly but did not move. I wished he would have put some distance between himself and Luca. It was an absurd idea. He was not going to protect him. “My God, Lily,” Aria said in a shrill voice. I couldn’t remember the last time she had sounded so frightened. I met her gaze. “What happened? Are you okay?” she asked. She ran her hands over my arms, lingering with her eyes on my torn skirt. I did not answer. Luke had started to approach the body and knelt beside it, scrutinizing the scene without saying a single word. His face was stone. It was this. Suddenly I was certain that Romero and I would find no mercy from Luca that day. Maybe Aria would be able to convince Luca to protect me, but Romero would not be so lucky. I knew I would not be able to see him die. Luca lifted his head very slowly and stared at me with a look that made my blood run cold.
“What happened here?” I cast a glance at Romero. Did he want me to tell the truth? Or was I supposed to lie? There had to be a story that wouldn’t anger Luca enough to want to kill us. Luca straightened up. “I want the fucking truth!” “Luca,” Aria scolded. “Lily is obviously in shock. Give her a moment.” “We don’t have a fucking moment. We have a dead member of the Outfit in a room with us. Things are going to get ugly very soon.” Aria lightly squeezed my shoulder. “Lily, are you okay?” “I’m fine,” I said. “She didn’t have time to hurt me.” She tightened her lips but did not argue. “Enough,” Luca said abruptly. He turned back to Romero. “I want answers. Remember your oath.” Romero looked like a man resigned to his fate. He scared the hell out of me. “I always do.”
Luca pointed a finger toward the corpse. ” It doesn’t look like it. Or are you saying Liliana did it all by herself?” “Liliana is innocent,” Romero said firmly. He never called me Liliana. What was she trying to do? “Benito was still alive when I arrived. She had stabbed him with the letter opener because he had attacked her. It was self-defense on her part.” “Self-defense?” muttered Luca. His gray eyes stared at me . “What did he do?””He tried to force himself on her,” Romero said for me. “I didn’t ask you!” growled Luca. Aria let go of me and walked over to him and put her hand on his arm. He ignored her completely as he said, “And if he tried to consummate the marriage, no one in this fucking house will see that as self-defense. Benito had a fucking right to her body. He was her husband, for God’s sake!” Romero took a step forward but stopped. “You can’t be serious,” Aria said, her eyes pleading.
“You know the rules, Aria. I’m stating the facts,” Luca said in a much calmer voice. Aria always had that effect on him. “I don’t care. A husband has no right to rape his wife. Everyone in this house should agree!” I shuddered. The events of the evening were catching up with me. I just wanted to lie down in Romero’s arms and forget everything. Romero walked over to me and put his arm around my shoulders. Luca squinted his eyes. “I told you it would end in disaster. So let me guess, Liliana stabbed her husband, called you, and you finished the fucking job to have her all to yourself.” “Yes,” Romero said. “And to protect her. If he had survived he would have blamed Liliana and she would have been punished severely by the Outfit.” Luca let out a dark chuckle. “And now she won’t? They will put her on trial and not only punish her severely. They will also accuse us of organizing this and then there will be a fucking bloodbath. Dante is a cold fish but he has to show strength. He will proclaim war in no time. All because you can’t control your cock and your heart.” “As if you could. You would shoot down anyone who tried to take Aria away from you,” Romero said.
“But Aria is my wife. That’s a big difference.”
“If it were up to me, Lily would have been my wife for months.”
I stared at him surprised. He had never mentioned marrying me. My heart swelled with happiness, only to turn to stone at the sight of Luke’s expression. “Someone will pay for this,” he said darkly. He paused. “As Head of the New York Family, I have to blame Liliana and hope that Dante will believe it and not start a war.”
That would have meant my certain death. Perhaps Dante would not have given orders himself, but he would have had to submit me to my father’s judgment, and I expected no mercy from him. He hated Gianna for what she had done, and that was nowhere near as horrendous as my crime.
“You can’t do that,” Aria whispered. Her knuckles were turning white from the tight grip on his forearm.
Romero let go of me and took a few steps toward the center of the room, where he knelt and spread his arms wide. “I will take all the blame for this. Tell them I lost my mind and ran after Liliana because I had wanted her for months. I killed Benito when he tried to defend Lily and himself, but before I could rape her, you realized I was missing and went after me. Then there will be no more war between the Outfit and New York, and Lily will have a chance at a new life.”
“If this is the story we want them to believe, there is something missing,” Luca said.
Romero nodded. He met Luca’s gaze straight in the eye. “I will lay down my life for this. Shoot me.”
I staggered forward. “No!” Aria also shouted the same word.
Luca and Romero ignored us, locked in a silent staring contest. I stepped between them. I didn’t care if that went against some secret rule of the mob. I approached Luca. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Romero stand up. He seemed worried about me approaching Luca, but I was not worried about me. If Luca had killed Romero because of me, that would have been the end of me. I would never have been able to live with myself.
“Please,” I whispered, scanning Luca’s impassive face. “Please don’t kill him. I will do anything, but please don’t. I can’t live without him.” Tears began to stream down my face.
Romero put his hands on my shoulders and pulled me back against him. “Lily, don’t do this. I am a soldier of the Family. I broke my oath to always put the Family first and I must accept due punishment.”
“I don’t care about oaths. I don’t want to lose you, ” I said as I turned in his grip.
Aria placed her palms on Luca’s chest. “Please, Luca, don’t punish Romero for protecting someone he loved.
He and Lily belong to each other. Please.” She said the last sentence in a barely audible whisper. I wanted to hug her, but I was afraid to move. She and Luke were staring at each other and I did not want to break their silent understanding, especially if it would save Romero’s life. I looked up at Romero. He looked so calm, nothing like someone whose life could end at any moment.
Luca finally pulled his eyes away from my sister and gently removed his hands from her chest. “I cannot base my decisions on feelings. I am Chief and I have to make decisions that are for the benefit of my Family.”
Romero nodded, then walked past me and stood in front of Luca. I began to tremble, completely terrified.
Aria’s wide eyes rested on me.
“You are my best soldier. The Family needs you, and I trust no one with Aria as I do with you,” Luca said.
He put a hand on Romero’s shoulder. “War has been inevitable for a while. I won’t put an end to you to put it off for a few fucking months. We’ll stick together.”
I almost gave up in relief. Aria ran up to me and hugged me tightly. My moment of elation was short-lived, however.
“Of course, we may not get out of this house alive,” Luca added. “We are surrounded by the enemy now.”
“Most of the guests are drunk or asleep. We could try to sneak out. When they realize Benito is missing tomorrow morning, we’ll be back in New York,” Romero said.
A glimmer of relief appeared on his face. I wanted to be in his arms, but he and Luca had to face our dilemma, a dilemma I had started. What if we had not made it out alive?
The Outfit was far outnumbered by us. This was their territory, and we were thousands of miles away from reinforcements.
“I will have to call Matteo and Gianna. They have to come here so we can find the best way to get out of this house,” Luca said, already bringing the phone to his ear.
Romero approached me and stroked the wrinkle between my eyebrows. I pushed myself against him. Aria moved toward Luca, giving us space.
“I was so scared,” I whispered.
Romero buried his face in my hair. “I know.”
“It wasn’t you? It was your life on the line.”
“My life has been on the line since I became a Made Man. I’m used to it. The only thing that scared me today was when I had to watch you walk to your wedding night with that asshole Benito. I wanted to kill him then. I’ve wanted to kill him every day since I found out you were forced to marry him. I’m glad I did it in the end.”
“Me too,” I said, then stood up on tiptoe and kissed his lips.
“Damn it. Matthew’s not answering his fucking phone.”
“Do you think something happened to them?”
Aria asked.
Romero let out a giggle and exchanged a look with Luca.
“The only thing going on is that he’s probably fucking your sister right now and ignoring her fucking phone,” Luca said.
I wrinkled my nose. Of course I knew my sisters had had sex, I just didn’t want to be reminded of it, or worse:
imagine it. “Can’t we go to their room?”
Luca shook his head. “It’s further from the back entrance .” He redialed the number. “Damn it!”
“We should take Benito to the bathroom and cover the blood stain on the carpet with something. That way, if someone comes in tomorrow morning, we could buy a little more time.”
Luca slipped the phone into his pocket, then grabbed Benito by the feet as Romero took his arms. I shuddered as I watched them carry the body into the adjacent bathroom. My husband was like a sack of flour in their hold.
“You should take off your wedding dress and put on something more sensible,” Aria suggested softly.
She touched my arm lightly, drawing my gaze away from the corpse. After a moment, I nodded. Luca and Romero came out of the bathroom and discussed how best to approach our flight.
I grabbed jeans and a pullover from my bag in the corner , before heading to the bathroom to change in peace, but I froze in the doorway. Benito was lying in the bathtub. I did not want to be alone with a dead man. Bile was rising in my throat.
“Hey,” Romero said gently, coming up behind me. ” Do you want me to come with you?”
I simply nodded and eventually entered the bathroom. Romero came in after me. With his help, I quickly slipped out of my dress. “Somehow I always imagined it would be different when I helped you take off your wedding dress,” he murmured.
I laughed breathlessly. I unceremoniously dropped the dress on the ground. To me it was just a symbol of the worst day of my life. I was not sad to be rid of it . Maybe someday I would have the chance to have another wedding, one I wanted, with a husband I loved. I changed into my other clothes.
Romero picked up the dress and for a crazy moment I thought he wanted to keep it for our future marriage.
“What are you doing?”
“I want to cover up the blood stain in the bedroom.
No one will be suspicious if your wedding dress lies on the floor after your wedding night.” She left the room and laid the dress on the floor.
Luca nodded, “Good. Now let’s go. I don’t want to risk staying here a moment longer than necessary.” He held out his hand to Aria, who took it. I suspected that the tension between them would end after that evening. The way they looked at each other gave me hope that Luke would forgive her for her secrecy. After drawing his gun, he opened the door and peered into the hallway.
“Stay close to me,” Romero said, drawing his gun and grabbing my hand with his free one.
Luca nodded abruptly, then pushed the door wider and stepped out, Aria a step behind him. Romero led me behind them. No one said anything. The long hallway was empty, but scattered laughter and party music could be heard from below. The smell of smoke was rising.
Immediately I remembered Benito’s breath and the taste of his tongue in my mouth. I banished that thought from my mind.
I needed to concentrate. I really hoped that none of the guests would decide to head toward us. Luca or Romero would have to shoot them. What if it had been someone I knew? I didn’t even want to think about that. Aria cast a glance over my shoulder as Luca dragged her along. The same concern I felt was reflected on her face.