She fixed me with a steady hazel stare, face utterly composed and firm with determination. “We’re going to talk about what happened to your brother.”
My fists instantly clenched at my sides.
“I already know what happened,” I snapped, turning my glower on Luca. “This motherfucker murdered him.”
Luca’s jaw firmed, and his eyes darkened with guilt.
“Don’t listen to his excuses,” I warned Nora. “He knows what he did.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Luca shot back, voice tight. “Francesco is dead because of me. I’ve had to live with that for years, but?—”
“Finally, the truth,” I seethed, turning my attention to my wife. “There’s nothing to discuss. He’s guilty, and he’s admitted it right in front of you. Don’t ever beg for mercy on his behalf again, little bird.”
“Don’t you dare threaten her!” Luca barked, surging to his feet.
Nora instantly stepped in front of him, blocking his path to me. I rolled my shoulders, bracing for the attack. I ignored the flare of pain as my stitches strained. That discomfort didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but avenging my brother.
And protecting Nora.
As long as she kept her slight body between us, neither of us could throw the first punch. Not without risking my stubborn, headstrong wife.
“I’m not the one who killed him,” Luca seethed. “And you’ve tormented Nora when she’s entirely innocent.”
“Of course you killed him!” I bellowed, my entire body coiling tight with the need to throttle him. “Francesco cursed your name with his final breath. It was his last word as he bled out in my arms. You came to the raid on our estate when my father betrayed yours and attempted to take control for himself. I tried to keep Francesco out of it; he was only fifteen, and the two of us had nothing to do with our father’s coup. There was no need for us to die defending the bastard who’d beaten my mother so badly that she abandoned us. But then you arrived to help do your father’s dirty work, and you left my brother to die after you shot him.”
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” A vein pulsed in Luca’s brow, and Nora pressed her hands against his chest, directly over his heart. He halted as though she’d chained him in place. “Francesco came out of hiding to fight with me. To protect me. He took the bullet that was meant for me. He died to save my life. I’ll always bear the weight of his death on my conscience, but I’m not the one who pulled the trigger.”
My spine stiffened, my entire body locking up tight as my mind viscerally rejected his distorted version of events. “You’re lying. Why would my brother risk his life to protect you? You were always just Tommaso Vitale’s spoiled heir. He didn’t owe you any personal loyalty.”
Luca’s cheeks flushed with something like shame. “Because he was in love with me. He’d told me only a few days before, and I rejected him. I…said some things I’m not proud of. He was my friend, but I never thought about him in that way. And if our fathers had ever found out that he said something like that, they?—”
“Stop lying!” I roared, my entire body practically vibrating with the force of my rage.
“I’m not lying! You think I don’t regret the shitty things I said to him? Do you think I wanted him to die for me? Or do you not want to believe that your own brother might have loved another man?”
“Of course I knew! He was my brother.”
I’d warned him so many times to hide his true self; in our world, his sexuality could’ve gotten him killed. Our father would’ve done it himself if he’d ever found out. When the raid had happened, we were still barely more than kids. We wouldn’t have survived standing up to him back then. I’d urged Francesco to keep his secret and wait for a time when I would be strong enough to protect him from others who might not accept him.
But he’d died before that day ever came, thanks to Luca fucking Vitale.
“Dante,” Nora said quietly, calling my attention to her.
I hit her with the full force of my murderous glower, but she held her ground without so much as flinching. Her eyes shone with emotion, the intense exchange touching her soft heart. The sight of her compassion made something twist painfully at the center of my chest.
“If you knew,” she pressed, “then is it so hard to believe that Francesco would sacrifice himself for someone he loved? If your brother was anything like you, I can believe it.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.” My voice was strangely rough, gravelly. “Luca would never have been good enough for my little brother. He’s always been an entitled, cocky little shit. If I’d known that Francesco was even thinking about him in that way, I?—”
“Exactly,” Nora interrupted me, gentle but firm. “You wouldn’t have known.”
She didn’t say anything more. A tear rolled down her cheek as she allowed the silence to grow heavy with the weight of the truth.
No. It couldn’t be true. I’d loathed Luca for years. Every conniving, calculated move I’d made was in pursuit of the day that I would finally have him in my power. I’d plotted and planned and killed for this. I’d done terrible things to Nora in order to exact my revenge.
And if Luca’s version of events was true, then…
A wordless roar of denial tore from my chest, and Nora flinched toward Luca.
