With a final look at Cat, he clasps Dante’s shoulder and walks out, his enforcer following.
Dante has still not let her go; his body curved over hers as he murmurs the same words over and over again. Begging.
Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.
But her eyes remain dazed, unaware, and I grab his shoulders. “Our time is up. We have to let her go,fratello. Now.”
We carefully lift her back onto the chair, and I press a final kiss to her forehead, studying her before I turn and walk away. I lean against the wall opposite, wiping away the emotion on my face.
Dante lingers a moment longer before he turns on his heel and strides out.
The main door has barely closed behind him before the meeting doors burst open. Matteo looks livid as he storms up to me, barely sparing a glance for Caterina. “Where are they?”
“The capos? Gone.” I lift a shoulder. “I assumed the meeting was over.”
When I glance behind him, Salvatore Asante has his finger in Stefano’s face. “What happened?”
Matteo’s expression smooths out, joviality barely covering the simmering anger still lingering in his eyes. “Nothing to concern yourself with. Let’s go.”
His gaze shifts, flitting between Caterina and my face. Assessing. And the anger dissipates, replaced by humor as he claps his hand on my shoulder. “Well. Looks like the lessons worked well, Rossi. Let’s go. I want to stop at the pits.”
Where I can work out my fury in the ring.
I give myself one more second to linger, not responding to his jibe.
One last, final glance, before I turn my back and walk away.
Shoving those dreams down, far away from where Matteo can break them out of me and rip them apart.
Soon, I promise her silently.Just hold on, Cat.
Hold on.
Day 42 – Stefano
The car is silent.
My uncle is seething with rage, his jaw locked as he sits, watching me. “You are my biggest fucking disappointment,nipote.”
A badge I’ll wear with honor. I incline my head, not saying anything, and he sighs.
Caterina stirs beside him. Without blinking, he pushes her off the seat with hard hands and onto the floor, her head banging against the carpet.
I bite back the anger on my tongue.
It’s already bad enough.
Seething, I watch the awareness trickle in. She blinks several times, before turning her head to the side and retching.
And I’m forced to watch as understanding slowly dawns on her face. She closes her eyes, the engine rumbling beneath her cheek. “The meeting… it's finished.”
“Yes.” Salvatore surveys her, his face expressionless. “You missed quite a show, wife.”
His eyes flicker between us now. And there’s suspicion there, suspicion that makes me turn away and stare out of the window as if I don’t care that she’s lying there at our feet, cold and shaking in devastation.
I don’t want to watch as her heart breaks.
We stay silent for the rest of the journey, and I ignore Caterina.
