Page 64 of Vicious Vows

I had to have misheard.

“Lissia,” Marchello said.

“Why would Marchello accuse you of shooting at us?” I grazed my fingers along my forehead, trying to process what they had said.

Judging from the surprised looks on their faces, none of them expected me to hear them. They should have closed the door.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “What do you have to do with what happened in Miami?”

“You didn’t tell her?” my father asked Marchello.

“I didn’t have to.” The anger in Marchello’s voice startled me. “You did that by coming here.”

“Is it true?” I put myself in between them. “You were the one who shot me?”

“Lissia.” Marchello reached for my hand, but I backed away.

“You knew?” That couldn’t be right. “Marchello, how could you keep that from me?”

“I can explain,” Marchello said.

“Because he’s a liar and a thug,” my dad said. “Now do you see why I didn’t want you with him? I tried to warn you.”

My father’s presence sickened me. How could he have sent someone to shoot at me? Did he even care that I was hurt?

“I don’t want to be near either of you,” I said.

“Do you see what you’ve done?” My dad pointed at Marchello. “You took my daughter from me.”

“Don’t blame him,” I said. “You’re the one who sent a gunman to kill us.”

“Don’t be dramatic.” My father waved his hand in the air. “You weren’t the target.”

“Dramatic? Are you fucking kidding me? Dramatic is throwing a tantrum because you wouldn’t buy me a new pair of shoes. You sent someone to kill the man I love, and I was standing right next to him. It doesn’t matter if I wasn’t the intended target. If you had succeeded, you might as well have killed me anyway.”

“The man you love?” He sighed. “Lissia, I don’t know how to respond to you.”

“You know how to shoot me though.” I stood between Marchello and Milo. “Aren’t you supposed to be a professional? Didn’t your hired gun know not to fire into a crowd of people, especially when your daughter could be a victim?”

“Collins isn’t that smart,” Marchello said.

“Danny?” I raised my voice. “Danny was the shooter?”

“He was one of them.” My dad nodded at Marchello. “The man you love killed the other two.”

“And where is Danny?” I looked at Marchello. “Did you kill him too?”

“He got away, but maybe your father can tell us where to find him.” Marchello’s eyes narrowed. “I’d like a few minutes with him.”

No one should be dealing with this situation. Yet, here we were standing in the middle of a money laundering operation, discussing my father’s attempted hit. Not to mention the fact that my mobster boyfriend killed two people a few nights ago, and it didn’t appear to affect him at all.

“What is wrong with all of you?” I asked. “You know that none of this is normal.”

Marchello wouldn’t look at me, so I focused my wrath on my father.

“When is it going to end?” I trembled with outrage. “You tried to have them killed with me standing by their side. You could be burying me today.”

“You shouldn’t have been by his side.” My father glared at Marchello, then returned his gaze to me. “I’ve given you enough time to work this out, but if you don’t come home with me right now, I will have to consider you a traitor.”

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