Page 98 of Now and Forever

The alliance with Roríguez was why Catalina was mine.

Mine.

The twisting in my chest was a weakness. Love was a weakness. It was one our father had avoided his entire life, with his wife, mistress, and sons. I hadn’t been that fortunate. In the short time Catalina had been forced into my life, she’d severed the hard outer shell of my heart in a way I never thought possible.

“What will that mean for my marriage and my wife?” I asked.

“Fucking keep her or let her go. You could put her to work at Emerald Club. She’s nice on the eyes if you like that kind.”

The hilt of my knife found its way to my grasp.

Father laughed. “You can’t kill me. If you try, you’ll never be capo. Fuck, you won’t see tomorrow, and your wife and stray will be mine. Maybe I’ll fuck them first and decide if they should go to Herrera or maybe they have what it takes to work at Emerald Club.”

The blast of the gun ricocheted throughout the living room as spatter sprayed over the window, covering the smudge from earlier. Father crumpled in the chair, his body falling to the floor as he reached for the hole in his stomach. “You bitch,” he sputtered, blood seeping from his lips.

I spun with my knife at the ready as Dante did the same, his gun cocked and aimed.

Alesia stood, shaking, the gun still lifted as tears streamed down her bruised cheeks.

“Alesia,” I said in a calm voice, reaching forward. “Give me the gun.”

As if removed from a trance, her stare met mine. “It’shisgun.” Her arms fell to her sides. As if the gun suddenly weighed too much for her hold, she dropped it near her bare feet.

Dante ran to our father as I kicked the gun to the side of the room.

Alesia met my stare. “I don’t care if you kill me or have me killed. Just please make it quick.” She moved her gaze toward our father. “I wish he would suffer more.”

My lips twitched with a smirk. “You’re under our protection. What you did was self-defense. No law enforcement officer will deny you that right, nor any member ofmyfamiglia.”

My.

The weight of responsibility fell hard onto my shoulders.

I was now capo dei capi.

After directing Alesia to a chair, I calmly walked toward my father. Dante was already kneeling near his body. Father’s fingers were covered in blood as he tried unsuccessfully to stop the bleeding.

“Get me help,” he gurgled, red covering his chin.

We could call the famiglia doctor or even an ambulance.

We weren’t going to do either.

I knelt and leaned my head over his until his orbs focused on mine. “I’ll see you in hell.”

His eyes opened wide. His words grew more difficult to understand. “You’d betray me?”

Dante turned to me. “He seems fucking surprised.”

“There’s your weakness, Father,” I said. “You taught us to be heartless. You were too good of a teacher.”

“Should have” —blood continued to slip from his lips— “gotten rid of that fucking stray” —bubbles of red punctuated his words— “long ago.” He closed his eyes. “Waited too long.”

“Josie.” Red was no longer relegated to our father’s blood. The color seeped through my vision, reddening my world.

“I took her from you.” He coughed. “Catalina is next.”

“You’ll never again harm what is mine.”

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