Page 63 of Beautiful Vows

“I will. And my work still isn't done.”

Dante stares at Lia, confused.

She smiles and says, “I studied the original doctrine for two months before I came back here. And let me tell you, it’s a very interesting piece of history.”

"What the fuck?" Ricardo murmurs.

What the fuck, indeed. She's laying all her cards on the table.

Or she's letting everyone here know she’s always known who she is, and that now she's in charge.

Good fucking move.

“You made this personal when you tried to kill me." She looks at me. "And nobody causes my men pain,” she declares, her voice ringing with finality as fury burns in her eyes as she aims between his eyes.

“You can’t kill me. I’m unarmed. I'm the head of my family. I'm …”

“Oh, I can because…” She pauses. “I’m not only Aurelia Moretti-de Luca. I am La Capa di Tutti I Capi.”

Dominic and Antonio glance at each other and smile.

She continues, “And even if I wasn’t, I’d still do this for them. For what you’ve put my husbands through.”

Ricardo’s eyes are wide with shock and disbelief before he throws himself on the floor behind me. And crawls up the chair behind me and presses his knife against my throat.

“I’ll kill…” She doesn’t wait for him to finish.

Without a further word or shred of hesitation, she squeezes the trigger. The gunshot echoing through the cavernous space.

I almost see the bullet travel in slow motion until it hits him between the eyes.

Ricardo’s body jerks as the bullet finds its mark, punching through his brain and ending his life without question.

His knife hits the floor first, and then he crumples to the ground.

Only then does my body finally give out–and my world goes black.

Chapter 21

Lia

"Sorry I killed him," I tell Dominic as he strides toward the helicopter, his rugged features taut, but his eyes show relief at having his son back safely.

Dominic grunts, a noncommittal sound of neither approval nor condemnation. But the way his gaze sweeps over Rafe's battered form, taking in every injury, speaks volumes of his worry. He's just happy to have Rafe back, consequences be damned.

"He wanted to kill me too," I add, feeling the need to justify my actions. "I do have a personal reason and wanted revenge for Rafe, too."

“Lia. Never regret pulling the trigger,” Dominic says before his jaw tightens as we watch in tense silence as six bodyguards carry Rafe towards the helicopter with exaggerated care.

Their movements are glacially slow, so as not to exacerbate his broken body any further.

My heart breaks, not only for Rafe but for Dante, who trails behind, his head low. There's pain in his eyes, anguish at witnessing his twin so grievously wounded.

As we board the helicopter, Rafe is gently strapped to a bench, his head lolling to the side, his features almost unrecognizable beneath the swelling and bruises.

Instinctively, I move to take a seat beside him, but Dante's hand closes around my wrist, pulling my back against his chest. He turns us around and takes the seat I was about to take, pulling me onto his knee.

"You disobeyed my orders," he growls low into my ear, anger coating his tone, but I know it's not really aimed at me. "I told you to stay on the boat, in a safe place."

---