Page 54 of Vicious Union

Once we hang up, I call Rocco. “Dante has Caterina. He’s willing to give her back if we promise to leave him alone.”

“I’ll be right over. We’re not having this conversation over the phone.”

Within the hour, Rocco and Massimo show up at my house.

“What are we going to do?” Massimo asks.

“We get Caterina back,” I say it like it’s obvious. “I hate to say this, but … we let Dante go. We stop chasing him.”

Rocco holds up his hands. “Now, wait a minute.”

“Wait a minute? Rocco, he’s going to kill my wife.”

“And we’ll save her, but we should try and save her while getting rid of Dante in the process.”

“That might put Caterina at risk.”

Rocco doesn’t reply.

It dawns on me—his need to kill Dante trumps his desire to save Caterina. She isn’t his wife, after all.

But she is mine.

And even though she’s annoyed the hell out of me, I … care for her. I realize just how much I care for her at this moment. I don’t want her to die. I want to hear her snapping back at me and making a sarcastic, witty comment. I never thought I’d miss that, but I do.

“No,” I say, shaking my head while neither Rocco nor Massimo looks at me. “I’ve been gung-ho on getting Dante. You know that. But he has my wife. We have to save her. We give Dante what he wants. We let him go. What harm is he going to do to us? We’re the Italian Mafia. He’s nothing. We’re going to save my wife, Rocco. You know if this were Lara, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

Rocco stares at me for a moment before nodding. “All right. We’ll meet up with Dante, and we’ll get Caterina back. But if he tries anything, all bets are off.”

“If you’re the reason Caterina dies, I’ll never forgive you,” I say in a quiet voice that speaks volumes.

“I know. We’ll save her, Emilio.”

Later that night, we go to the location Dante wants to meet up at, which is a rundown junk yard. I spent all day worrying about Caterina. We’ve had our differences, but now, those doesn’t matter. None of it matters if it means she’s dead.

Dante soon arrives with Caterina at his side. “I wouldn’t shoot,” he warns my brothers and me. “Or I’ll have to shoot her.” He points a gun to her head.

Caterina meets my eyes across the junk yard, pleading with me to save her. I give her a small nod, and she nods back.

“Here are my terms,” Dante says. “You stop chasing me. If you don’t, I’ll just find someone else to kidnap. Maybe even your wife, Rocco.”

Rocco growls.

“So, stop chasing me. There doesn’t need to be any more bloodshed. I’ll leave and never come back.” Dante looks at each of us. “I promise.”

“Your word doesn’t mean shit,” Rocco says.

“But I have the upper hand.” He shoves the gun harder against Caterina’s temple. “So, what’s it going to be?”

“Rocco,” I say after my brother doesn’t say anything for a good minute. “Save Caterina.”

He sighs. “Fine. Let Caterina go, and I promise I’ll stop chasing you.”

Dante’s eyes light up. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to hear from you.” He pushes Caterina toward me before he takes off running.

But he doesn’t get far before Rocco pulls out his gun and starts shooting at him. Dante manages to duck behind a pile of cars.

“What the fuck?” I snarl as I grab Caterina into my arms. “Rocco! Let him go.”

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