I pat him on the shoulder when he is done.
“You did good,” I say, standing back up. “And I am a man of my word.”
I aim the gun again and pull the trigger. The bullet hits Romy in the center of his forehead and he falls sideways, dead and gone. Lucky son of a bitch. He didn’t deserve that death. He deserved death from Sisco, but Iama man of my word, and a promise is a promise.
I hand the gun off to Angelo, who wipes it down and puts it away. He’ll dispose of it for me once he gets rid of Romy’s body.
“I need to get back. My brothers will be wondering where I am,” I say, and head back to my blacked-out limo.
I don’t need to tell Angelo what needs to be done next; he already knows. He’s worked with me long enough and I trust him with my life.
Once in the limo my driver pulls away, taking me back to the home I share with my family. I have an apartment in the city, but we’ve all been staying at the mansion since my father was brutally murdered. My mother and sister need us with them.
Our family needs to be stronger than ever now.
Our bond tight, our loyalty unquestionable.
I’ll hunt down the man who participated in the murder of my father.
One by one I’ll take them all out.
One by one, they’ll all pay.
But tonight we mourn the loss of him.
My driver heads through the darkened streets of NYC, threading through the light traffic toward our family home. I’m ready for Joey and Sisco to give me shit about doing this without them. I’m ready to take on the tears of my little sister and the broken memories of my mother.
I’m ready for it all.
Chapter 1.
Natalia
I stare at my reflection in the floor-length mirror. My shimmery gold dress clings to every curve of my body, accentuating the hourglass figure my mother’s DNA blessed me with.
Tonight is the night my father is going to give his blessing to the marriage between me and Alfonso Rosso, a man of incredible power and authority. A man that has been at the sidelines of my life since birth. We’ve barely ever shared more than a handful of words up until these last few months, but I’ve always known what was coming—what must happen. And he’s waited so patiently for me.
“You should be more grateful,” my mother says from behind me. Her wedding to my father happened when she was 17 and he was 37. She’d had no choice either. It was her duty, as this is mine.
I try to drown out her words, because I don’t want to hear this story again. It’s the one she’s told me since my sixteenth birthday: She didn’t love my father but she did what needed to be done for the sake of her family. She learned to love my father eventually and everything worked out for the best for everyone.
I get it.
I do.
I just don’t like it.
I want to marry for love, not duty.
I don’t want to be bound by honoring my family and marrying a man twice my age.
I want the flutters of love and desire. First dates, stolen kisses, promises of forever.
I’ve never even kissed a man before because my body and soul has been promised to Alfonso.
But there’s no point in arguing about it again. My fate has been sealed and I have accepted it.
Mother comes up behind me, the scent of white wine and her sickly perfume mixing into one and making me feel even more nauseous than I already do.
