Page 62 of Revenge & Ruin

“I would have done it. For you,bambina,I would have.”

I swallow thickly, trying so very hard not to think about it. “I’m glad that you didn’t.”

She shakes her head. “Now you are having to deal with my mistakes. Has he approached you again?”

I carefully place my bottle on the side. “He has been…monitoring me.”

“Stalking you?”

“I suppose you could call it that.”

She hums thoughtfully. “And has he found anything of note?”

“His behavior has been erratic, if that’s what you mean,” I supply. At her gentle nod of encouragement, I tell her everything. Everything that happened after the wedding, the meeting at Eleven,the incident at the gym, the poker game, the cartel at the bar.

As I spin my tale, my mother seems to relax more. That knowing smile on her lips broadens with every recollection of our touches, kisses, almost-somethings.

By the time I’m finished, my bottle is empty, and the sun is setting outside the conservatory window.

“Well,bambina,you have been busy,” Ida offers as I recline back into my seat.

“He’s pulled back now, though. I haven’t heard from him in weeks,” I explain, somewhat bitterly.

“What is it again? About how absence makes the heart grow fonder?”

“Mamma.”

She laughs. “I wouldn’t worry. I daresay you already have him wrapped around your finger.”

I flinch slightly at that. I’d thought about it, theoretically. I’d attempted to prove it. But somehow, I still struggle to believe it entirely.

Perhaps it’s because whenever I’m with him, I don’t feel like I’m in control. It feels like purechaos.Whatever moves are made to one-up the other are countered in the blink of an eye. Whatever plans I make to overpower him are met with a knife.

If I have Teo Vitale wrapped around my finger, he certainly has me tangled in his, too. We are stuck in a stalemate. I won’t give up my mother, and he will not kill me.

Though I’ve confessed most of my sins, it is this fact that I withhold from my mother. For some reason, it’s the shame I feel that finally keeps my mouth closed.

“I don’t think it matters anymore.” I change the topic. “Leon is preparing to move in a matter of days.”

“Then I suppose you’ll have to move quicker,” Ida replies.

I swallow my protest. “I don’t know what else I can do.”

It’s almost as if I’ve just uttered the magic words. Mother stands triumphantly and turns toward her bookcase. “Aside from Teo, there are two other loose ends. The ex-don, Rocco Moretti, and by extension, his new wife.”

I frown at this. “How are they involved?”

“If Teo were to die, they would be the ones who would attempt revenge on his behalf.”

Right. Teo had been the best man at his wedding, after all.

This would be the time to mention the others as well. Dante, the redhead, the other man who tried to break into the Prince’sHand with him. Would any of them vow vengeance, too? How many other loose ends would there be?

Mother rifles through the books behind her, before selecting a large tome from the middle shelf. “But, if Teo were to be incapacitated, Rocco would surely end his little sabbatical to negotiate with us.”

Again, something uneasy stirs within me. “Rocco’s wife is pregnant.”

“I said negotiate, didn’t I?” Mother snaps as she opens the book, revealing a section cut out in the middle.

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