When we got to the mansion, I grabbed the envelope I’d prepared earlier from the dashboard and stepped out. Diablo greeted me with his usual energy. I crouched down to pet him, letting the moment ground me.
Facing death in a steel cage had been easier than what I was about to do, facing Emily.
I glanced up at her window and noticed the curtain shift. She was watching me. Whether that was a good sign or a warning, I had no idea. I spent ten more minutes out there, playing with Diablo, trying to gather the courage to go inside. Eventually, I stood, took a deep breath, and walked in.
Giorgio appeared almost immediately. His arm was still in a sling, and though the bruises on his face had faded, they hadn’t disappeared. They were a reminder of what I’d done to a man who was only trying to do what I’d told him to do: protect her.
He hadn’t even defended himself when I lost control. He’d stood there and taken it and now regardless of what I did, he greeted me with quiet respect.
“You’re a trustworthy and loyal man, Giorgio,” I said. “I won’t forget that.”
He held my gaze. “I swore an oath to you, Don Carlo. Loyalty is my duty. I didn’t do anything beyond that.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Still. Thank you.”
I turned toward the stairs, each step feeling heavier than the last. When I reached her door, I experienced something new, fear. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have the courage to open that damn door.
My hand hovered over the doorknob for a long moment before I finally knocked, softly. If she didn’t want to see me, I’d understand. I’d earned her hatred.
To my surprise, the door creaked open. Emily stood there, framed in the soft light of her room. She wore a long-sleeved blue top and tight jeans, her hair falling in loose waves around her face. But her skin was pale, her eyes shadowed with sadness. Her gaze landed on my face, probably the cuts, and widened a little. I looked at her too, taking in every beautiful detail of her face.
Neither of us spoke until I finally found the courage to break the silence. “Can I talk to you?”
She hesitated, her fingers tightening on the doorframe before finally stepping aside. I walked in, leaving the door open behind me. I didn’t want her to feel cornered, or worse, afraid.
She moved to the far end of the room and sat on the sofa, eyes fixed on the floor. Her breathing was shallow, every rise and fall of her chest a silent scream of anxiety. I sat on the bed, keeping a deliberate distance.
“How are you?” I asked.
She looked up, her expression a mix of exhaustion and hurt. “I’ve been better,” she said quietly.
The silence returned, thick and strained. After a long moment, I leaned forward, elbows resting on my knees, and started to say what I’d come here to say.
“When my father proposed Lucia for marriage, I said no. Not for me, for her. Carmen had already killed my first two wives. I knew Lucia would meet the same fate.”
Emily was silent, listening to me with no fear in her eyes.
“I’d only seen her once before, at a New Year’s party. She was seventeen, and everyone called her the Sun Princess. She was beautiful, yeah, but that wasn’t what caught my eye. It was her innocence. In our world, innocence like that is a death sentence. She didn’t belong there. She was a lamb walking into a slaughterhouse.
My reputation was not a big deal to Lucia’s father. Two wives already dead, whispers that I’d killed them myself, it didn’t matter. He wanted a tie to the next Capo. A future for himself and his sons.”
I drew in a breath. “At first, I refused. But my father didn’t give me a choice. He announced the engagement without even telling me. Saying no would’ve been treason. So, I married her.
On our wedding night, when we were finally alone, she was shaking. She’d heard the rumors, thought I was going to rip her apart like everyone said. She sat on the bed, staring at the floor. When I stepped closer, she looked up at me. Her face was soaked in tears. She couldn’t stop crying.
I had every right to take her. She was my wife. But what I felt wasn’t lust, it was pity. She looked so fucking terrified, I actually felt sorry for her. So I left. Didn’t say a word. I walked out, went to the bar downstairs, called one of the maids, one of Carmen’s spies, and fucked her until sunrise.”
She tensed at that last part. I noticed. But she didn’t interrupt. And I wasn’t done.
“The next morning, I summoned Maxim. We had a little chat right in front of the maid. She was pretending to sleep, but I made sure she heard every word. I told him, loud enough for her benefit, that I didn’t like Lucia and wouldn’t touch her unless I decided I wanted a child. Carmen needed to hear it. She needed to believe it.”
Emily’s eyes widened, and I drew in a long breath before continuing.
“I hoped it would keep Lucia alive. If Carmen really wanted her dead, there wasn’t a thing I could’ve done to stop it. The only way to protect her was to make it look like she meant absolutely nothing to me. So I played the part. I even ate in my room to avoid sparking Carmen’s suspicion. In the two years Lucia lived under this roof, I barely saw her more than a few times. And it worked. She survived.”
Emily’s brows furrowed slightly, and I had no idea what she was thinking. Still, I pressed on.
“But I was wrong about her. So fucking wrong. I thought she was worth it. Worth all that effort. I gave her a chance because I believed she deserved it. But she didn’t. While I thought she was keeping her head down, she was betraying me. Sleeping with my worst fucking enemy.”
