Page 136 of Wicked Rivals

“Doesn't look like she likes you at all.”

“Not this slut. She was my second choice. Until I realized her bastard was yours. God no, I mean my angel, Benedetta. She was perfect for me. She should have been my wife.”

“You’ll have to take that up with her father,” I said.

“I did. He doesn't care about what's best for his daughter. He doesn’t care that I’m the one to love her and give her children. He only cares about his empire. Then you came sniffing around with your disgraced family name, but yours was apparently still better than mine, honor be damned.”

He paused, looking me up and down while licking his lips, then he suddenly shrieked.

“You should’ve called off the wedding, Vignali! None of this had to happen. But you just couldn’t do what you were told.”

“I did call it off, you asshole. I’m marrying Valerie.”

Her eyes widened, and she nailed me with a hard stare.

My timing was shitty as always, but I couldn’t stop myself from flashing her a smirk.

Cozza shrieked at me again.

“You lie!”

Then Enzo made a move behind me.

God-fucking-damn it.

Now I had to split my attention between two threats.

I kept my gaze forward, not wanting to alert this fucking madman to my son’s presence. As unstable as Donnie Cozza had turned out to be, I didn’t know how he would react.

In my periphery, I tracked Enzo’s movement as he slipped through the shadows on my right before hiding behind a tall stack of magazines, likely calculating a path to take him closer.

If he’d been anyone else, if he was older and had training, I might have called this a brilliant move.

But this was my child, a nine-year-old boy who had never held a gun before I put one in his hands. He should’ve been in the car, not trying to flank some psycho to save his mother.

I had to keep Cozza talking.

The good news? Men like this one, who said dumb shit like wanting an obedient wife, all had the same problem. They always thought they were in control.

Whenever someone had to declare they were in charge, it meant they were not. This beta bitch teacher only played at what he thought an alpha male should be.

That made him stupid and easily manipulated.

Any sign of disrespect would drive him batshit crazy.

I remembered the video with Val yelling at him, saying something that had enraged him enough to make him snap. She’d been baiting him… but certainly hadn’t intended to get herself shot. Hell, I’d only taken one bullet this week. I could take another for her.

While staring the motherfucker up and down, I grinned, baiting him as she’d done.

“If Benedetta loved you so much, Cozza,” I called across the basement, “why didn't you just run away with her? She would’ve gone with you, right? Because she loved you? Wait. That’s right. You weren't man enough to take her like I did.”

His lip curled into a snarl.

“You don't know what you're talking about, Vignali.”

“Oh, but I do. Benedetta and I had many conversations before our engagement. We talked about what we did and didn't want in our marriage. She said she’d never been in love. That no one had ever made her heart beat faster than I did.”

I narrowed my eyes at the pathetic little shit.

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