Page 62 of Vow to Me

“I can’t do it, Enzo. I can’t give myself to him, when I can’t trust him to give me himself in return,” I whisper, my voice cracking and I will myself not to cry again. I’m so fucking sick of crying.

“I know it’s fucked up how he didn’t have faith in you Izzy, but can you imagine how he felt when he saw those images? The videos? I know Alec gave you the copies. And then the thing with Tomasso too. It was all too much,” he says, giving me a sympathetic smile but my brows wrinkle in confusion. “What does Tomasso have to do with anything?”

Enzo pales. “Fuck, Izzy, didn’t they tell you? Tomasso was found dead in an alley, with one of your knives embedded in him. Luca was always close to him, he was one of our most trusted men, that’s why he had him guard you.”

Tomasso’s dead? Fuck, why the hell didn’t I know this?

“I… it wasn’t me Enzo, I’d never…” I stutter, and he grabs my hand, giving me a gentle squeeze. “They know that now Izzy, but at the time? At the time, it was a lot of information. A lot ofincriminatinginformation.” He gives my hand one last squeeze before getting up and heading to his bedroom. Leaving me to think about how Luca lost someone so close to him, and how he thought I had killed him. He must have fucking hated me for everything he thought I had done. Even though it wasn’t true, can someone really come back from that hate? I don’t think I could.

Istand and stare up at the building in front of me, not knowing if I really want to be here or not. So much has happened, so much has changed, everything is broken, and this is the only thing I can think of to fix it.

I take a deep breath and walk into the building. It’s busy, people scattered around the lobby as I walk up to the reception desk.

“I need to see Alaric Dean.” I tell the receptionist and she abandons whatever she’s doing on her computer to glare up at me. “Do you have an appointment?”

“Nope. If you could just point me in the direction of his office, that would be great.”

Her sharp gaze narrows on me, as if she can’t quite believe I have the gall to say something like that.Oh, honey, you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into if you keep looking at me like that.Luckily for her, her mask of professionalism slips back into place before I lose my temper.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, unless you have an appointment you can’t see him,” she says, and I roll my eyes at her and walk away. I’m not fucking around waiting for an appointment, I’ll find his office myself. I take the elevator up to the executive’s floor and glance around until I spot a door with his name engraved on the front.

I walk up to the door and knock before I walk in, he sits behind his desk and looks up at me with his brows furrowed when he sees me. His assistant, who was sitting outside at her desk scurries insideafter me, clearly flustered with my unexpected arrival. “I’m so sorry sir, she just walked in, I couldn’t stop her,” she says, and he waves her away without even glancing her way, she side-eyes me before rushing back out of the door, closing it behind her.

“Who are you and what the hell are you doing just walking in here?”

“I’m here because I need to divorce my husband.”

“And you couldn’t have made an appointment?” he asks and arches one of his brows. I walk over to the floor length windows and gaze out at the city below. “No, I couldn’t. I need the papers drawn up today, I don’t want any assets, I just want the marriage ended.”

I’ve thought a lot about this over the last few days and I’ve realized that this is the only way to fix this shit.

“I see. Is there a reason you’re in such a rush Mrs…”

“Romano,” I finish for him and turn my head to see his eyes widening in recognition before he masks his reaction.

“Alright… assuming your husband doesn’t shoot me for representing you, is there a reason this needs to be done today?” he asks, and I bite back a laugh. If only he knew I was more likely to end up shooting him than my husband.

“I love him, that’s why it needs to be done today and he won’t shoot you if I ask him not to, don’t worry.”

Chapter Forty-Six

Luca

After I left the cemetery, I came to the warehouse used by Alec’s organization. Last night, after he told me about how hard Izzy is being on herself, I wanted to do something to help them, so I asked Alec if there was anything I could do. Which is why I’m standing here, covered in another man’s blood after I’ve just beat the shit out of him to get him to spill his secrets.

Alec knows I have a knack for gathering intel—just not in the same way he does. The guy in front of me was one of Bianchi’s most trusted men and I’ve been asked to find out everything he knows about my now dead father-in-law’s dealings within the skin trade.

We left the Chicago outfit in the hands of our family friends, the Rossi brothers. They weren’t actually part of the Mafia; they just have the same values and thirst for violence as us. They’ll clean up the city and keep things on track. We’ve done business with them numerous times and we know they can handle it. The four brothers will be an unstoppable force in Chicago.

“P-please… just stop,” he whimpers, and it sends a thrill through me. This is the first time that losing Izzy hasn’t been at the front of my mind, and I’ll gladly take the distraction.

“Who else was Bianchi working with?”

“I d-don’t know much… just that he…h-he was trying to make a d-deal with O’Brien, but he refused… the boss didn’t tell me much, I s-swear,” he cries, and I roll my eyes at his dramatics. So, Bianchi was trying to make a deal with the head of the New York mob, everyone fucking knows that none of the leaders of New York tolerate sex trafficking.

“Who else in New York was he in talks with?” I ask and kick him in the stomach as an incentive to hurry the fuck up and start answering my questions with good enough answers.

“There were whispers about a low-level gang… Blue Vipers, I swear that’s all I know.”

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