Page 2 of Cage of Thorns and Blood

“Yeah, but, Teo, I’m hardly mixing with the enemy, am I?”

Teo. The name my family calls me. The name only those closest to me ever get to use. Renata never did. We had to keep our relationship a secret then. Now? Once I have her here with me? We won’t have to.

“I’m going to use her to my own ends.”

He laughs. “Yeah right.”

“What?” I clench my jaw.

“Just that if you’re thinking about her to the point of planning on bringing her here, well in advance of actually having her here, then you’re nowhere near as in control of this situation as you think you are.”

I scoff, “Don’t doubt my level of control when it comes to her. I’ve been watching her for a long time.”

“You have?” He comes and sits opposite me, and his face is a map of consternation.

I get it, his concern. Our families are ancient enemies, and she was the one girl who broke my heart. What good could ever come of tangling with her again?

Except vengeance … for me. Making her mine then breaking her apart if I so choose. Or keeping her.

“I need to do this.”

“Why, what gives? You haven't seen her since your eighteenth birthday, right? She saw you with Francesca, left your birthday present in the crapper, and ran away. Then you learned she fucked your best friend. What is there to do? Why the fuck now?”

“I saw her. A while ago. In a karaoke bar. The night I went to meet Vinny, and he never showed.”

“Ah yeah, cause he’d got his throat slit.” Clifford smirks as if Vinny getting a smile from ear to ear is funny. “Is that the night you mean?”

“Yes, then. Anyway, I had waited a long time for him and had settled into a corner with a drink. Just as I figured he wasn’t coming and was about to leave, I saw Jill. She was Renata’s best friend when they were younger. Seems she still is, as not long after I spotted Jill, Renata arrived. She was fucking beautiful. Way more than she was when we were kids.”

“I recall everyone thought she was pretty hot back then.” Clifford crosses his legs.

“This much is true. You obviously know she and I had a bit of a thing. My father hated her family and would have lost his mind if he’d known.”

“Your father would have been pissed; mine would have killed you. I say with all sincerity that Aldo would have taken your balls for that.”

I snort. “Yes, quite. You understand then why I had to play along with the family. Pretend that I was happy to be dating Francesca. I wanted Renata to be mine, and I had to keep us secret for that to happen.”

“We never really talked about it. One minute you and her were sneaking around, all hot and heavy, and then I never heard about her again, after she fucked Duncan. Until now. I don’t get it, though. You were both young, shit happened. Why are you still bent out of shape so badly that you want to use her in some sort of fucked up plan?”

I take a long sip of the scotch and relish the burn as it slides smoothly down my throat. “She came to my eighteenth birthday party, saw me with Francesca, and assumed the worst. Never fucking gave me a chance to explain. A she fucked the bathroom to hell.”

I recall the guilt I felt when I found her discarded gift to me. Guilt that didn’t last long once she hopped into bed with my supposed best friend.

“She fucked Duncan,” I say. “You have to understand how much that hurt me.”

“Well, shit. Talk about a low blow for sure, but come on. It was years ago.”

“Yeah. And? She fucked me over and came between me and a good friend. For a while I was focused on making her pay, but then life happened. Aldo got sick, and Alberto was getting weaker. We lost Bianca.” I sip at the drink again. “I never had the chance to truly teach Renata Andretti an important lesson. I also hate that her fuck face brother threatened your sister before she died.”

Clifford crosses himself at the mention of his sister and her tragic end.

“You and I had to step up at far younger ages than most in this life, and I lay the blame for some of that firmly at the Andrettis feet.” Still, he gives me no response. “We were running things long before most were aware that we were,” I add. “Your father was a broken man after what happened to Bianca.”

He sighs. “Bianca’s death was due to her cheating and her husband, not the Andrettis.”

“They set the entire thing in motion when Nico sent that fucking attack dog of his, James, to visit her and threaten her. Whatever, they’ve been a thorn in our fucking sides for ages. This way, we teach them a lesson.”

He nods, but his face is impassive, a mask. It’s an expression he wears when he doesn’t want to tell a person to get a fucking grip. I can tell he thinks I’m crazy for getting all bent out of shape over Renata again.

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