Chapter 74

A cold-hearted bastard.

I knew of Massimo just as much as I had that first night I met him. Nothing.

Yet, I knew I wanted and craved his presence. It was maddening to not be able to slip through his barriers while he'd crumbled mine.

When I woke this morning, the only clue of him making it to bed was the rumpled sheets on his side of the bed.

I hadn't heard him come in, I hadn't felt him near. But after the way he'd taken me in the lake and the empty bottle I'd picked up this morning, I'd slept deeply by the toll my body had taken and the alcohol I had consumed.

But I wanted to say, the hell to pride and go to him. It had been easier in my mind because when I stood in front of the door he hid behind, I hesitated. Yet I pushed the door wide open, looked at him in the eyes, and followed through with my terrible plan.

Terrible, because I told him I was going on a trail and the closest thing I had to shoes were a pair of designer flats. His lips curled, entertained. Massimo agreed to join me if only to see me struggle and fight off nameless insects.

But we never made it too far because Massimo took me against a tree, then he bent me against a rock and fucked me as wildly as a fucking animal.

Then the high of his skin and our lips was short lived after we returned to the cabin, and the feeling of being just a fuck settled.

He left me by the front door without a word, and I had no fight left.

Later, I drifted to sleep before the sun could set, just to let the pain go away.

My phone rang. My phone. I'd forgotten I brought it. As I hunted its shrill sound, I could only think of one person who had contacted me via phone since coming back, Aldo.

After tossing a few things around my suitcase, I found it. But it wasn't Aldo, it was our brother, Dante.

The shock of seeing his name on the screen did not even cross my mind, I only knew it couldn't be good. We barely spoke.

"Dante?"

"I swear, Alessandra, you better be far from that damned forsaken city," he roared and spoke so fast, it was hard to follow his voice.

Out of the three of us, Dante was seen as the most reckless and unstable.

Unstable by how his emotions bested his actions, and reckless as his knives shot at any living creature for the fun of it without a thought of repercussions. Dante was the definition of bloodthirsty without a mind. People feared his presence.

He was selfish without an ounce of remorse, and Aldo always cleaned up his mess. But this time, Aldo couldn't fix the problem. I had to.

"Answer me!" he screamed.

This was bad. Dante was engulfed deeply into his deranged thoughts, swimming in its bottomless pool of sin.

"I am." I wouldn't give my location over the phone, and he didn't ask knowingly.

"A fucking fire!" He laughed without humor, enraged. "He just couldn't wait, could he?"

He made no sense, and having him on the phone, unhinged, and screaming in ire, chilled my body. My sight fogged out as the scene of calm lake water and Montana's landscape from my window shifted into chaos.

"Isis Aldo-" I breathed.

"What? No, he is fine." Air filled my lungs, relieved and confused as ever. "He couldn't get a hold of you, saying you hadn't returned any calls or texts for fucking weeks!" he accused.

Okay, then who couldn't wait? Who was he speaking of, and what fire?

"Are you guarded?" he asked.

Were we?

"I'm with Massimo."

He chuckled darkly. "That bastard. Good."

It seemed Dante preferred my answer, and I could hear how he pulled away from the conversation after finding out what he needed. But I hadn't, and I needed to keep him talking.

"Now tell me what's happening?"

"Chaos. A divine one to watch but" He stopped himself.

"Damn it, Dante. I will fucking cut you up if you don't tell me!"

"Giuliani's son is dead," he snapped. "Let me guess. You think you are on a cute little getaway. Hell, maybe even on a honeymoon." Dante laughed cruelly. "Think again. Stop daydreaming and think like the damn Zanetti you are." The line disconnected.

I had been a fool and taken as one.

How fucking dare he leave me in the dark after everything, after killing a man who'd threatened my life?

How dare he treat me as if my hands were pure?

How dare he make me feel belittled!

I threw the phone in a haste onto the floor and paced.

"Ahhh!!" my scream rattled out of my chest, echoing and bouncing off each wall in anger and pain. Pain for being ridiculed and allowing my guard down.

How naive of me to believe the thought of him wanting to be with me. For believing he had planned time for us.

It all made sense. His foul mood, the endless calls, his detachment. While Massimo was here, his mind was far away, moving and scheming. Deceiving me when all he had to do was speak to me about the threats as a partner. We would've been stronger together during this time. Fuck, I would've supported and cheered his wrath on.

I believed in a lie.

And Massimo and I would never be more than a good fuck.

Shocking currents of grief stroked my heart, and its lightning burned through my veins.

I couldn't cry, I wouldn't cry.

I'd brought it upon myself.

I was blinded by so-called riches, and they were nothing more than fakes.

"Alessandra?" I heard his voice, distant and careful. "Are you hurt?"

My head flung to his standing frame, tall and unbothered by the open door. And all I could remember were the words I'd once said when he'd placed the ring that decorated my finger.

"Don't act as if you care."

With a small tilt of his head, his eyes narrowed. Guarded. It was an instinct, ready for lashes that would rip open his cruelty.

"Fine, I won't." His dark eyes slid down the shattered screen of my phone that lay on the wood floor, and he asked with a clenched jaw. "Aldo?

"No, Dante," I spat back.

His posture straightened. Yes, Massimo. Dante told me more than he should have.

"I will be packing my bag and heading back."

"No you are not."

I quickly closed the distance and looked up at his spiteful eyes with balled fists.

"Try me," my whisper warned.

Massimo smiled and scoffed. "What could possibly make you this" His head shook with his unfinished sentence.

Upset? Enraged? Fucking furious?

"I don't know, Massimo, it could be you and your lies!"

His lips curled, and his chin dipped down. "Lies are for those who fear death. I do neither."

I held my ground even if his gaze radiated retribution.

"But you have!" My hands flung at my sides.

"What? What have I done?" His temper erupted as his voice raised in outrage. Like a punch, my chest drew back, and my eyes fell away from the bile.

I broke.

"You made me believe you were taking me away to be with me. As if there wasn't a false motive behind it."

I couldn't look at him, not after my voice shook at the end.

"When did I utter such nonsense, Alessandra?"

My eyes fluttered shut, trapping the promise to not shed a tear even if my breathing took the blow of his merciless words.

"It seems to me the only one who lied to you was yourself."

Sometimes words needed to be freed.

Spoken, written, loose.

Sometimes they were never meant to create a sentence.

And sometimes, I wish they held no power.

MASSIMO

So much to do and not enough time to see it through.

Alessandra wanted to return? Fine, I assured our departure that same morning. I too needed to be back. My phone never stopped ringing, and this trip was a waste of time while I could be out on the streets and showing my face to our men.

The threats had heightened after killing Leandro. I knew this would happen, but Giuliani still remained in Los Angeles. But with my streets weeping in blood, some things were inevitable. My presence in my city was one of them.

I'd spent the entire trip back working from my phone and tablet. Not once did I acknowledge her piercing eyes that punctured my body with pain. There was nothing I could say that would take that away.

I knew my faults, and not sharing the dark side of business was one of them. Vadim had once told me not knowing the threats was more dangerous. That was before he'd sworn the oath to la famiglia. I never understood him then, and even now, I still didn't.

But Alessandra knew the war our marriage would cause. She understood the danger, and not once had she run toward it. Alessandra had been bred into this world and molded for survival. It was an instinct only those born in danger comprehended. Even with our ten-year gap, Alessandra was more mature and aware than any other twenty-six-year-old woman.

The Mafia stole innocence and peace, hers being one of them.

Alessandra wasn't a submissive woman, she was just fucking smart. She was loud and vocal with her demands but never fought when it interfered with someone's safety, including hers.

She was careful, cunning to those who only saw the beautiful exterior, and watchful. But she was also fragile, hopeful, a contradiction for only me.

I would deal with Dante when the time came, as it seemed some didn't respect the boundaries placed in ourrelationship? No. Our arrangement.

I had never lied to Alessandra. However, I omitted the real reason for our time in Montana. My reasoning had and would always be to keep her away from the filthy reality of our world. I couldn't see myself changing, or believing it was the wrong thing to do.

A black-out Escalade waited for us at the private landing strip. Elio, Nate, and Vadim waited outside the running vehicle. I'd expected Elio, not the whole welcoming party.

I stood from the leather seat, emptied my drink, and picked up her bag from the floor.

"I can get that." Alessandra's accent was heavy on her tongue. It always was when something bothered her.

Her gaze focused on my hand.

"I'm aware," I replied, and turned to the open door.

Miami's cool and humid breeze swirled in the late evening. A few streaks of sunlight fought the darkness as I went down the plane's stairs.

My brothers met me as I waited for Alessandra's descent. She didn't take the hand I'd offered on the last step, and I struggled to ignore the raging need to show her some fucking manners in front of my family.

Nate shot me a look before following her trail back to the SUV.

I watched every sway of her hips, every step she took to the flow of her long brown hair in the breeze.

"I'll get the rest of the bags," Vadim mumbled, leaving Elio and me alone.

"I'm guessing it didn't go as smoothly as you had hoped," Elio murmured as Nate opened the back passenger door for Alessandra.

It wasn't until she was safely inside that I turned my attention to Elio.

Black combat books, black-blue jeans, black tee.

"Tell me you've found a hideout."

Elio grinned.

"Nate found where some of Giuliani's soldiers are hiding," he said excitedly. "There has to be more somewhere, but for now" Elio trailed off.

For now, we would take care of the ones we had eyes on.