Then Medusa ducked her snout underneath the white material and lifted it as she came to us, blood all over her face from getting her revenge against Darius for breaking her leg ... and to protect my mother.
Aurelia didn’t care about the blood at all and brought her into her arms like Medusa was our child, a seventy-pound baby covered in fur. She got blood all over her dress as she snuggled Medusa, sobbing into her fur because she was relieved she was okay.
I’d fucked up again. I’d never gotten the irrefutable evidence that Darius was actually dead, and it had nearly cost me my entire family. “I’m so sorry.” Tears sprang to my eyes when I mourned what I’d almost lost. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
Chapter 30
Constantine
There were no further casualties other than the family seated together at that table. It was the Renaldo family, who operated one of the souvenir shops in town. My mother had gone to school with the father, so he was an old family friend.
They were brave for trying to help, but I wished they hadn’t.
When Tommaso and the other guys moved Darius’s body, my mother was still stabbing it, creating a huge pool of blood underneath her that soaked her dress and got into her hair ... everywhere. She was literally soaked in blood, sweat, and tears.
The brightest day of my life turned into one of mourning.
When they took Darius away, my mother started to scream because apparently she wasn’t quite done massacring his remains.
I kneeled down next to her and grabbed her by the shoulders as she tried to yank Darius by the arm to continue her carving. “Ma.” I pulled her into me. “Ma, it’s done.” I took the bloody knife out of her hand and handed it to Tommaso, who set it on one of the tables.
She still looked pissed off as fuck, glaring at the body like it was still Darius, living and breathing, and she wished vengeance upon him like the head of the mob.
“Ma.” I tried to bring her back to me, tried to help her process the rage that couldn’t be satiated. “Ma ...” I rubbed her shoulder and then her back.
She finally calmed herself and looked at me, blood splattered all over her beautiful face.
“He’s dead. It’s done.”
She shook her head slightly. “It’ll never be done for me, Constantine.” Then her eyes started to water as the grief replaced the rage. “I don’t care what Edric did, if he deserved it or not, it’ll never be done for me.”
I continued to rub her back. “You aren’t alone, because it’ll never be done for me either.”
Her eyes watered so much that tears dripped down her cheeks. She closed them before she nodded.
“But you gave that asshole what he deserved and saved everyone here, Ma.”
“I wasn’t trying to save everyone,” she said quietly. “I just ... I heard what he said ... and I fucking lost it.” Tears continued to stream down her cheeks. “Like I’d ever let him walk free after what he did to my boy. I’d do it again ... and fucking again.”
“I know,” I said gently.
She breathed and sniffed, her eyes on the tile, and it was only then that she looked at herself and realized she was soaked in another man’s blood. “How’s Aurelia?”
“Shaken up but okay. She’ll be all right.”
“The baby?”
“I felt them kick a couple minutes ago.”
“Good.”
“I’m sorry about all this. I thought I’d killed him, but clearly, I hadn’t.”
She watched me, eyes still watery.
“Lost some good friends today because of my stupidity—”
“And you’ve served this country and protected our people for a long time, Constantine. I’m sorry that it ended this way—but atleast it ended.” Now her hand moved to my arm to console me. “I know you’ve hunted this man for a long time for what he did to your brother, and I want to apologize for taking a life that you should have taken—but I can’t.”
