My head twitched, my dry throat bobbing. “How badly is he hurt?”
When he remained silent, I snapped. “What the fuck, Enzio? Say something!”
He looked away for a moment, but when he stared back at me, I’d never been so afraid all my life. “No. Don’t say it.” My breaths snagged in my chest, tears choking me. “Say anything, but not that. No.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
I screamed, my soul ripped to shreds. Unbearable and excruciating pain tore at me as I sniveled and hiccupped through the tears. Cosimo was dead. My only protector. The father of my child. The love of my life. Cosimo died, and I wasn’t there with him. I’d never see my husband again.
“Why? How? Who did it? Who are these men?” I bounced with rage in the fucking chair. “Who killed my husband, Enzio?!”
“You have to calm down and listen to what I have to say.”
The coldness of his voice contrasted the fire in my chest and the burn in my wrists. “I won’t listen to shit. How couldyoube so fucking calm? This is your twin brother who was just killed. What the fuck is wrong with you? And why the hell haven’t you untied me yet?”
He sighed as if he ran out of patience. Then he reached inside the pocket of his suit jacket, brought out his silver cigarette case and lighter, and lit a smoke.
My eyes narrowed at him in disbelief. A long series of what the fuck questions jammed in my skull. Then I felt like all my blood had rushed out of my body.
“Cosimo always said you were smart. I never believed him. Smart women didn’t lead their husbands to their coffins. But you seem to have put the pieces together already, so I’ll give you that.”
My head spun, my body cold all of a sudden. “Who shot Cosimo, Enzio?”
He blew out a puff of smoke and stared at me through the trail. “I did.”
My tears froze in my eyes as every muscle in me did. Even my heart seemed to have stopped beating. It was Enzio and his men who raided our home, who kidnapped me and my son. My brother-in-law killed my husband. “You killed your brother?”
“He knew how it was,” he said. “The family always comes first, and when he betrayed the family, he left me no choice.”
“Betrayed the Lanzas? Cosimo lived for your fucking family. When had he ever?”
He jumped to his feet, his chair crumbling down. “When he decided to leave! Because of you!”
“What?” I asked, dazed.
“Four months ago, Cosimo decided to no longer be the boss and nominated me…as you fucking wanted. The family refused and insisted he remain in his position. So he…” He sucked a long drag from his cigarette.
“He what?”
“Sabotaged deals, turned our people against each other and killed a few of our own, the ones who voted no, so when he would ask to leave again, no one would object. But before the last hit, he was made.”
Oh my God. The tears returned to stream down my face. Finally, Cosimo wanted out of this horrible life. He did all this for me. For us. To protect us as he’d always vowed. To give me what I’d always wanted. And he paid the price with his own life.
But no, something didn’t add up. Cosimo said he’d only leave if we were in danger. Something must have happened. “And the family orderedyouto shoot your own brother? Why you?”
He didn’t answer me and kept blowing out the disgusting smoke.
“Let me guess. They ordered the hit on Cosimo but still wouldn’t let you take his place. To prove to them you were worthy, you had to take down the boss yourself.”
He glanced at me from the corner of his eye, the amount of hate in his glance sickening. “None of that would have happened if you hadn’t pissed poison in his ears. Make no mistake, Cosimo had to die because ofyou.”
The monster who pulled the trigger was blaming me for the kill? I wanted to snort and cry and scream and tear the whole world apart, not just this bastard’s heart, literally, but I wasn’t surprised. What would I expect from a fucking Lanza other than malice and lies…and blood?
“And now you’re not here to save me. You’re here to kill me, too,” I whispered.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Iamhere to save you,” he spat.
“Say what now?”
