Page 80 of Borrowed Bride

“You really don’t recognize her?” Marco speaks tightly, his voice small. “Take a good, long look.”

“Marco, my boy. Whatever she has told you is bullshit, okay? You can’t just stand there and let some fucking cunt tie up your own fat—” His words end in a spray of blood as Fawn punches him hard across the face. He coughs and splutters as she steps back, shaking her hand free of the pain.

Then Leo moves past me and steps into the light.

I watch the pieces slot together in Dante’s mind as he looks from Marco to Leo, and then to Fawn who regards him with cold disgust. The moment Dante realizes he’s been caught,reallycaught, his whole demeanor changes. He relaxes back into the chair like he’s at a bar, and a strange smile creeps across his blood-stained lips.

“I suppose I won’t be seeing the Ricci family for some time,” he says with a soft grunt. “Figures.”

“There’s so much I want to ask you,” Marco grinds out through clenched teeth. “But I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold back my anger listening to the bullshit that spews from your lips so you better start talking, and fucking quickly.”

“So this is it?” Dante snorts. “My own son goes behind my back and teams up with the fucking Simones of all people.”

“I know, I’m just as surprised,” Leo comments. “Isn’t it fucked up what brings people together?”

“You were tearing each other apart just last week,” Dante scowls.

“Actually, Leo and I haven’t been fighting one another for longer than that,” Marco says, and he rocks back onto his heels.

My chest aches like a large pressure has settled just above my breastbone, and the air in the room feels thin when I breathe. I want to touch Marco. I want to feel his warmth in my hand to reassure myself that everything is alright, because I’m scared. Scared that Dante may reveal something so awful that this shaky alliance will crumble. Scared that no matter what happens here, the death will never end.

I wrap my arms around myself and bite my lower lip, watching as Fawn punches Dante once again. This time she grabs him by the collar and hauls him upright, then grabs a fistful of his hair and jerks his head back.

“They have more patience than I do,” she growls. “So, start talking.”

“Fine,” Dante spits, spraying bloodied saliva up at Fawn. “What do you wanna know, huh?”

“Everything,” Marco says, and there’s a touch of pain in his voice. “Why did you sell Fawn? Why the fuck did you get into bed with the Ricci’s and the Russians? What the hell were you thinking?”

“Me?” Dante cackles suddenly. “What about you, son? Every step into power, you spat on the old ways and disrespected our traditions. The ways that have kept our family on top for decades were suddenly not good enough for you, and ironically it was all my fault. If your mother hadn’t died, you’d have grown up as bloodthirsty as me.”

A chill coils down my spine as Marco speaks. “Mom? How the fuck is that your fault?”

“Becauseyou,” Dante yells, nodding at Leonardo, “were supposed to marry Emilia. Our families were supposed to merge with that marriage, and we would have become so powerful I wouldn’t have had to deal with the Russians. Instead, my wife had a few things to say about that and then she never stopped.She was so against it because she was stupid and couldn’t bear to be parted from her darling daughter.”

A union between Leonardo and Emilia? It’s hard for me to picture such an agreement since the two families have been fighting for as long as I’ve known them. It must have been very different back then.

“But your father, Luca Simone, it was the only deal he would accept. Those were his terms and he was a hard man. So I did what I had to do.”

Marco grunts like he’s been wounded. “Luca sent those assassins, didn’t he? The ones that broke into the estate that day? The ones that killed Mother and maimed Emilia and nearly killed me?”

“They didn’t break into the estate,” Dante says coldly. “I let them in. And then they were off their leash, and once they were finished with Emilia, there was barely any deal to be had. There was nothing left of her.”

Marco’s fist flies out as quick as a flash and strikes his father across the head with a solid sound of impact. The force knocks the chair off-balance and Dante crashes backward, landing on his bound arms with a cry of pain.

“Beating up an old man?” he rasps from the floor. “Maybe you’re more bloodthirsty than I thought.”

“How could you?!” Marco rages, grabbing Dante by the collar and dragging him back up. “How could you let that happen to your wife? Your owndaughter?!”

“Things got a little out of hand, I admit,” Dante chokes. “I realized that your devotion to your sister made you easy to control, but Luca still saw you as being in the way. So he senther.” He looks at Fawn like she’s the most hideous thing he’s ever seen. “Did she tell you she was sent to kill you?”

“Yes,” Marco growls, releasing his grip with a snarl of disgust. “She told me everything.”

My heart hammers painfully as Dante’s face twists. He seems to know that it’s completely over for him and now he’s just trying to sow discourse and leave behind pain as a final act of revenge.

“Stupid bitch fell in love, and Luca couldn’t bear to stomach the disappointment. It washimwho sold her, not me. You understand?” He glares at Fawn. “It was your own father. I just took the pleasure of fucking that smirk right off your face.”

When Fawn launches forward with a scream, no one moves to stop her. She attacks Dante in a fury of punches, clawing and yelling as he mocks her assault. Marco lets her while Leo suddenly doubles over as if he’s winded.

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