Page 41 of Spice and Revenge

Uncle Pedro continues. “You could have easily defeated them, but you pretended to be defenseless.”

“Being shadowed constantly was exhausting,” I say casually, even though my heart is pounding harshly against the walls of my chest.

“I commend you for being able to run away and stay hidden from me. I would admit, it was difficult to find you at first. For two years, I searched for you. When I later found you, I decided to let you live your life the way you wanted. You know, I could tell that you were no longer happy with those missions I sent you on…”

“I was never happy,” I interrupt him. His green eyes darken slightly, but the expression quickly disappears as he blinks.

“Yes. And I must say, I was pissed when you left. Remember when I used to say that your destiny is to end the lives of those who ruined our family?”

His words were mere manipulation to coerce me into eliminating his adversaries for him. I never got to end the lives of those who actually killed my parents and sister.

“Maybe it was once my destiny, but that changed when I left,” I say in a soft and careful tone.

My uncle might be treating me nicely now, but I know what he can be like if he doesn’t get what he wants.

Uncle Pedro smirks, and a sinking feeling hits me.

“Your destiny never changed. Instead, the universe led you straight to it,” he says with a gleam in his eyes.

My stomach churns. “What do you mean?”

“You've been consorting with the enemy.”

He chuckles darkly when I continue to stare at him blankly.

“Leonardo Vitale, your new boss, is Leonardo Rizzo, the son of Ares Rizzo…”

The man who killed my parents.

My stomach churns, threatening to throw up everything I just ate.

This cannot be possible. It can’t be…

“After Ares died, Leonardo changed the family name to Vitale, his mother’s surname. Ares Rizzo had acquired a lot of enemies in his lifetime, so his son wanted their business and mafia empire to start on a new slate…”

Uncle Pedro’s words go over my head as my breathing becomes labored. I’ve been living with my parent’s murderer for weeks, working for him, letting him touch me and bring me pleasure.

“Leonardo was the young boy with Ares that day,” I finally manage to whisper.

My uncle nods. “They wanted to wipe out our family so that they could take over the Cuban empire. Ares didn’t succeed, but his son has taken over, and he has started hatching plans to take over the empire again. You need to go after him. You need to get revenge.”

I don’t fucking care about the Cuban empire. The moment I left Florida, I left the mafia and everything that had to do with it behind.

The only thing I care about is ending the life of the man who killed my sister.

My breath hitches as I’m thrown back to that day. I’d watched the way he raised the gun to her head before I closed my eyes. When I heard the gunshot, I imagined he had shot her in the head, just like his father had shot my parents.

“The moment I trained you for all those years has finally fallen like a platter into your hands,” Uncle Pedro says.

His chair screeches against the tiled floor as he gets on his feet. Coming to stand beside me, he places a heavy hand on my shoulder.

“It is time to finally get revenge.”

After dinner, Uncle Pedro drives me back to the hotel. When I enter the penthouse suite, I see no signs of Leo. I retire into my bedroom, and not even a wink of sleep crosses my eyes till the next morning.

The next morning, I emerge from my room to find Leo has flown separately. He's secured a first-class ticket for my journey home—a relief, as I doubt, I would be able to sit in the same space with him for hours without killing him.

That would ruin the already perfect plan I spent the night hatching.

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