Chapter 75

I glanced at the running SUV. We needed to drop Alessandra and Nate off at home. We only had four days before the wedding, and if I wanted Giuliani eliminated, I needed to focus on getting him in the city. Therefore, I removed any distractions from my mind.

One in particular.

Alessandra.

Because after his son's death, the word out on the streets for the head of Los Angeles had shifted. It was now smeared with wild madness. Unpredictable, and I needed him to fall into the trap I'd set.

A part of me knew he was coming, and soon. But I needed to keep pushing and hurting him until every breath he took was with me on his mind. I had cornered and broken him by killing his son. Weakened him in the eyes of his syndicate. Although, I needed him shattered to leave the safety his throne provided and to enter the hell my city would greet him with.

Alessandra didn't stir when we all huddled inside the vehicle. Even with her sitting in the middle and me on her right, she never allowed her body to touch mine. She didn't utter a sound or a glance in my direction. Vadim tried making conversation. It was one way. Everyone felt the tension in the cabin. The annoyance and wrath she radiated.

I ignored it.

Inside our bedroom, Alessandra beelined to the bathroom while I changed into another dress shirt. I debated on leaving without a word, but my feet carried me to the sound of running water. The valves squeaked shut, and I stared at the wooden door for a second longer before I knocked. She didn't respond, so I let myself in.

Alessandra leaned back on a plush towel as her body soaked in cherry scent. The lights were dimmed, and a few candles flickered in peaceful waves. Bath bubbles covered her silhouette, and I traced her necklines.

In silence, I watched her.

The strands of hair that had fallen from her updo. The way they tickled her collarbone and teased the water. Her parted lips and gentle breaths. Flushed cheeks and sun-kissed nose.

Striking.

Breathtaking.

Infuriating.

Then, her eyes opened, and her vivid greens watched me. They roamed from my face and down to my feet until they landed on my chest for another second.

I had changed into all black. She was aware I was leaving.

Our eyes met again.

Our eyes fought.

And neither one of us said a word.

I turned and left her alone with the silence. No goodbye, no regard for her feelings.

That night, I killed three men and tortured another.

That night a total of eleven Giuliani soldiers met hell.

I was drenched in death and taken by depravity. And when I got home, I was greeted by an empty bed.

It was the last thing I expected, and in my immoral state, it was dangerous. The ideas and visions my mind lured me to execute. The evil punishments my demon shook with.

The things I wished to do to her.

She wasn't safe from me. Not right now.

I headed back to work even if the distraction was all I could think about from that point on.

ALESSANDRA

I hadn't spoken a word to Massimo since we landed in Miami. Not on the plane ride, in the car, or inside his home.

After his eyes glared down as if it was an inconvenience in his life while I had sought a peaceful bath, I didn't want to be near him. Near his essence or scent. For the past two days, I'd slept in a separate room. I doubted he even noticed because even a glimpse of him was nonexistent.

In those days since our return, security had increased, and countless men were gathered around the house. I felt unease by the amount of precaution and urgency everyone carried. I wasn't the only one. Wix and Vine were also highly alert and unfriendly to the bodies roaming around the premises and within the halls. It was safer to keep them away, as I too didn't feel friendly or calm enough to prevent slitting someone's artery if they glanced at me the wrong way.

The boys and I had something in common. Raging impotence.

While I didn't want to worry or care, with every hour and minute that passed, I wondered about Massimo's wellbeing, and with every second that passed, I detested myself for it.

This morning, Mrs. Carmine knocked on my door. Her old ways didn't seem pleased to find me in a guest room. Even as she hid it terribly, she announced the last thing she needed to mark off for the wedding.

The marriage class and meeting with the priest at the church.

I chuckled at the marriage class. The one every famiglia member had to attend in order to be married in the eyes of God.

My heart didn't feel pure or ready to face the church I had been introduced to, so I didn't get ready. I didn't leave the house when the time came, nor did I move away from the bed.

I was too hurt to care.

Too sensitive to face reality.

Massimo's words still ricocheted in my mind, and since nothing I could do or say made him feel the same way he'd hurt me, this was my way of pushing back.

"Alessandra." Two knocks bounced urgently at the door.

"Go away, Nate."

"I'm coming in," he quickly added, and the door opened.

Nate stood by the entry in a full light-gray suit that complemented his striking blues. He had an umbrella in his hand as the upcoming storm the news had warned us of had arrived in haste on the Miami coast.

"We were supposed to leave ten minutes ago to meet Massimo at the church. Why aren't you ready?"

I sat up and ran my fingers over Vine's white coat.

"The weather."

"Damn it, Alessandra! I know I said to give him hell when you arrived home, but this is not the time." His head shook, and his lips thinned in frustration. "Fuck!" Russian flew from his lips as I watched him pace.

When he stopped to face me, his shoulders straightened.

"This wasn't it." His fingers waved around. "If anything, this was the worst thing you could have done."

I stood up. "Good."

Nate's eyes lowered, and his nod was reluctant. "I will tell him you are unwell." Nate didn't utter another word. He walked away, closing the door behind him, and I suddenly felt unconfident about my actions.

In the time I'd spent with Nate, the short conversations, the looks, the warnings, and even the quiet moments where words weren't needed, he'd slowly crawled into my trust. The kind I didn't even have with Aldo or Dante. Somehow, the disappointment in his eyes was the one I would've thought an older brother would feel.

It was uncomfortable to experience it. The compulsion that crept in to find him and ask for him to talk to me. To tell me what he truly thought, to confide in him.

To have someone in this fucking hell who cared.

Instead, I stayed in the room as thunder rumbled from above and waited for the storm to barge inside.

The door burst open, and Wix and Vine quickly stood alert. Their growls were loud, and their bodies were ready for the threat.

Massimo.

"Are you dying?"

I moved away from the desk and stepped farther away from his ire.

Two days. We hadn't seen each other for two days and this was his greeting. Of course he wouldn't come in trying to work through our issue before we said I do. No. It was Massimo. He wasn't done hurting. Punishing.

"No."

"Are you running a fever?" His chest bounced while he stood in outrage.

"No," I whispered.

His jaw clenched, his palms turned to fists, and a deep rasp bubbled from his throat as his teeth shone briefly. When he stepped closer, so did the four-legged beasts.

Massimo's eyes snapped down at Wix and Vine, their reaction infuriating him further.

This was a disaster.

He opened the door wide and ordered them in Russian to leave. They listened to their master with apprehension. Their slow steps and snarls weren't timid. They wanted to be heard, wanted to remove the cause of tension.

Massimo slammed the door, and his gaze fell on me.

"You made me look like a fool." His voice was slow, even, dangerous.

The calm in his tone sent a shrill up my body, and my fingertips ran cold as I faced his eerie hate.

I'd seen Massimo lose control when memories of his mother resurfaced. I'd experienced his vicious words and the evil that emerged after staining his hands red, and I'd face his demon when freed. But there was something different about this calm, silent loathe.

It didn't matter how many sides of Massimo's anger I confronted, this one was by far the one I hated.

I didn't fear him. I feared the damage and gravity of what I had consciously done.

I only wanted to push and fight back one last time before it was all over. Before I took the name of the man who didn't care for me as I did for him.

Meanwhile, I added to the weight that was dragging us apart.

"Do you know how it feels to be sitting in front of a priest, watching as minutes pass by without the woman you are meant to marry next to you?"

I breathed in through my mouth as he spoke deliberately.

"Why now, Alessandra?" He trapped my name between his teeth. "Why, when I waited for you in my church?" Lost was the calm. His voice mingled with the thunder's roar.

"Your church!" I finally fought back, pointing my finger.

"Look around. You are not in Italy anymore." His dark-navy suit opened as his hands waved furiously all around. "My church is now yours, and I'll be damned if I allow you to come in between."

"That was never my intention, Massimo. I-"

"You have fifteen minutes to meet me downstairs." He took one last step closer, and even with our distance, his low threat was clear. "Don't fight me on this, or so help me God." He looked around the room, and as he turned his back on me, he gave his last order. "And don't let me catch you sleeping anywhere else than in my bed again."

Tears rolled down my face, finally setting them free.

Free to escape the pain and the shackles I couldn't break free of.

Broken.

I no longer lived on my own. I wasn't an architect or had the business I'd worked so hard on. I was just a shell, property condemned to do as told. Even my fighting was in vain to win a sliver of freedom, and even my name would soon be gone.

I was suffocating and painfully dying as my mind harmed and my heart ached.

I was drowning for my future.

In the unhappiness and pain I couldn't shake away.

Was this what my mother felt?

Was this what drove her into madness?

MASSIMO

It was the second time I'd stepped inside the church's front doors today. It should have only been once, but earlier I'd sat inside the priest's office next to an empty chair while watching the minutes go by alone. As soon as Nate's text had flashed across my screen, I excused myself and left straight for my place, where I knew I could find and drag Alessandra's healthy body back with me.