“I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”
“You weren’t the monster who savaged me and broke my spirit. You weren’t the one who shaped the vengeful creature I became. The people responsible are dead, and I was trying to put it behind me and move forward with my life. I always knew it had the potential to come back at me.”
“She shouldn’t be punished,” Leo blurts, eyeballing Ben. “Fuck the rules. This isn’t right, and you know it.”
Eerie silence reverberates off the walls until the door slams open claiming everyone’s attention. Massimo and Fiero race into the room, quickly followed by Natalia and Sierra.
Ben stands as Leo turns around.
Massimo rushes to my side.
“What are you doing here?” Ben asks his wife and his sister as Massimo crouches in front of me.
“What did you tell them?” he whispers in an urgent tone.
Although I’m shaking and upset, I know well enough not to say this out loud. I press my lips to his ear. “Everything except your involvement and Cruz and Anais’s.”
His eyes burn with anger. “Why the hell—”
“That’s enough!” Don Maltese roars, jabbing his finger across the table. “They are getting their stories straight. This is a fucking outrage.” He turns his venom on Bennett. “You are the president. Act like it!”
Very calmly, Ben rounds the table, coming to a standstill in front of Don Maltese. His arm whips out, and he wraps it around his colleague’s neck, lifting him up in his chair. It’s an incredible display of power and strength. A vein throbs in Ben’s brow as he glares at Fiero’s father, pressing his neck tight. Don Maltese grabs Ben’s wrist as he gasps and struggles to breathe.
Everyone else has stopped talking, waiting with bated breath to see how this goes down.
“I am fed up with your lack of respect toward me. I am the president, and I’ll handle this situation. Careful or my next action will be to raise a motion of no confidence in you.” He shoves him back into his chair, and Roberto pants, sucking air into his lungs. “We are ascertaining the facts, and then we’ll deliberate the best course of action. Unless you have anything valuable to contribute, keep your fucking mouth shut.”
Fiero’s lips twitch as he watches his father eat a large helping of humble pie.
“I mean no disrespect,” Maltese says, rubbing his sore neck. “I just want to ensure we aren’t letting emotions overrule us. What happened in the past should have no bearing on this, and all outsiders should be asked to leave. They can’t get involved.”
“I disagree,” Gabriele says.
“As do I,” Accardi adds.
“This isn’t a typical situation,” DiPietro agrees.
“It’s true?” Natalia asks, walking toward me with tears in her eyes. “What Massimo told me on the way here is true? You were Rocco’s daughter? The one Carlo kidnapped and tortured?”
Massimo stands behind me, placing his hand on my shoulder. I reach up and link my fingers through his, siphoning some of his warmth. “It is true. I am Noemi Cabrini. We met once as kids.”
“I remember,” she says, clamping a shaky hand over her mouth. “I see it now. I see the resemblance. I was very fond of your father. I used to sneak him cannoli.”
“And apple cake. He loved it so much he asked you for the recipe. I used to bake it for him.”
Sobs rip from her chest as she falls to her knees in front of me. “My God, Rina. I am so sorry. I feel partly responsible.”
“Please don’t.” I let go of Massimo’s hand and reach down to take hers. “It was in no way your fault.”
“Carlo terrified me. He assaulted me several times, and I was sick at the thought of marrying him. He was a monster.”
“He was the worst kind,” I whisper.
She grabs me into a hug, and I cling to her. Behind her, I see Ben comforting his wife. Silent tears roll down Sierra’s face.
Natalia breaks our embrace and climbs to her feet, pulling me with her. She holds my hand firmly as she addresses her brother. “I know Catarina has done things that are deemed unforgivable in our world, but I am begging you, Benny, please make allowances. The things she has endured are things no little girl should ever go through. You have to appreciate how that would transform a person. Can any of us here honestly say if we’d been in similar shoes that we wouldn’t have been hellbent on vengeance? Because I know for damn sure I would have.”
Sierra walks toward me, enveloping me in a hug. She stands on my other side as she turns to face her husband. “I support what Nat has said. Rina came here initially to kill you. I have a very good reason to want her to die for her crimes, but that is the last thing I want to see happen.”
