Page 106 of Ruined in Vows

“It was Nic’s idea.”

“And still you didn’t think to tell me? I am your wife,” I growl.

“Yeah, you are,principessa.” He kisses my hair. “Your brother thought it was safer for you.”

I snort out a laugh. “Safer? I’m in the damn hospital.”

Dante flinches, guilt flickering across his face. Emotion tightens my throat and I inhale, trying to calm myself.

“Leg, believe it or not, it was for your own safety. I just didn’t anticipate Riccardo having a backup plan,” Nico tells me.

Huffing, I settle back against my pillows, mulling over their words. I could argue about this until I am blue in the face, but it’s done now, and we have more important things to consider. I was shot. I could have died. Dante did ‘die’ and by some twist of fate, he came back to me.

Am I really going to sit here, wasting my time on something so insignificant now?

No, I am not.

It’s all about perspective. And right now, none of the little things matter.

“Where is Riccardo?” I ask with trepidation.

Dante grins cruelly, a manic look in his eyes. “Waiting for me to dish out the revenge he deserves.”

Naturally those words make me feel marginally better. I know how this world works.

And come the end of the week, I suspect, Riccardo will no longer be breathing.

Chapter 61

Dante

With Nico and Matteo by my side, we stride across the parking lot to the warehouse where Riccardo, the Conti siblings, and Benito are being held.

The people who are complicit in what happened to me, and Allegra.

Vengeance buzzes in my veins, the need to exact revenge in the worst way possible turning me into an unhinged animal. I am almost frothing at the mouth with ideas of how I can make their deaths as painful as possible. Nico told me many times, about the enemies I killed and the ways I executed my methods. I might not remember, but this feels natural, instinctual to me.

As if I was made to do this.

“Are you ready for this?” Nico asks, side-eyeing me.

“Yeah,” I answer immediately. I can almost taste the blood I will shed.

Seeing my wife so small and limp in that bed, after I accidently shot her, has only made it worse for Romano. I may have been the one that pulled the trigger, but if it wasn’t for Riccardo’s incessant need to take something that didn’t belong to him, then none of this would have happened.

“The heads of the other families will be in attendance – minus Riccardo’s papà for obvious reasons,” he muses sardonically. “From what we have gathered, Franco Romano has no clue about what his son has been up to and that he has been fraternizing with our enemies. The commission has assured me, everything will be covered up to make it look like the Russians took him out. Franco shouldn’t be too upset, considering he has two more heirs to take over the business. They even seem to be loyal. So, it’s a win win. He should be thanking us really.”

Snorting, I shake my head. Nico is either delusional or his ego is so big he is out of touch. Surely, there is no way any parent would be thanking us for killing their son, no matter how much of a traitorous disappointment he is.

But then, I don’t remember this world or Franco, so I could be wrong.

Approaching the door, I notice all the soldiers standing to attention, guarding the entrance.

“They yours?” I ask.

“Some. The rest are with the other families,” he confirms, passing the guards and stepping through a side door.

I follow him, entering the building. The stench of damp and death filters the air, making the blood in my veins pump faster as we stalk down the hallway.

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