Page 67 of Rotten Men

“Take me to him,” she commands, turning away from us, dead-set on putting her eyes on her son instead of wasting another minute in this vile house.

I make eye contact with Vincent, worried that our Red isn’t equipped to overcome the hell she survived from. He lets out a sigh filled with the same regret and concern I hold to my heart. Selene steps over the deadcaposand stops at the center of the foyer, taking stock of all the death surrounding her.

“Dom, get the cleaning crew out here so they can deal with this mess,” Vincent hushes beside me, but Selene, hearing the muffled order, shakes her head repeatedly.

“No,” she whispers, taking a long, last look at the home she grew up in.

A home where she and her mother couldn’t hide from the devil, and instead suffered every twisted, macabre punishment he was eager to lash out. There are no tears praying to be unleashed, in sorrowful lament of what both women had to endure under his scrutiny. There is no frown on her lips showcasing the pain she suffered then or the horrors she faced today. There is nothing but empty emotion swimming in her eyes and darkening her features.

“Red…” I choke out, terrified I’ve lost my girl for good this time.

She turns to face us, and a calm veil shadows her broken, aching soul, while her command suffocates my own.

“Burn it. Burn it all to the ground. I want to see my nightmares in flames.”

Twenty-Four

Giovanni

One month later

I watch Vincent say goodbye to Jude and hang up the phone with a pained expression on his face.

“How are they?” I ask worriedly, leaning forward from my seat, my hands clasped together between my knees to calm my nerves.

“The same. They are both still struggling to put that night behind them. Still grieving James’ death,” Vincent explains, pinching the bridge of his nose. “They just need more time to heal.”

“What they need is us, Vince. Why haven’t we brought them home already?” I accuse, pissed we are still living in this infernal limbo.

Vincent’s face continues to hold his conflicted, suffering expression.

“Are you so eager to throw them back into this life of bloodshed? I thought I was the selfish prick between the two of us,” he snaps, leaning his head back against the chair. “Do you know what James’ last words to me were? He told me how disappointed he was that Selene sacrificed herself for a man who was too selfish to be able to do the same for her. I don’t want to be that man, Giovanni. I want to be better. She deserves better. They both do,” he laments sullenly.

“What are you saying?” I stutter, my throat closing in on itself with what Vincent is hinting on.

“I’m saying that maybe the best thing we can do for the ones we love is to give them the freedom to have a normal life and a true chance at happiness. Even if it means that we can’t be part of it.”

“You don’t mean that,” I bark, jumping to my feet in outrage.

“Don’t I?” he bellows, slamming his fist on the desk. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do to ensure their happiness, Giovanni. Nothing! That includes taking a step back from their lives and letting them live far away from the cruel realities we are faced with each day. Selene and Jude have earned their peace, and I, for one, will make sure they get it. Whatever the cost,” he adds sternly, shutting down my wants and desires completely.

Knowing when to wave the white flag in a discussion that will only end violently, I take my leave without giving him a further word in my defense. I’m so over this whole self-sacrifice shit. I’ve seen it all my life, and no one came out better because of it. Anna Maria was a freaking saint, and look how her life turned out.

Fuck that!

Right now, Vincent is just punishing himself for being unable to protect Selene against all the demons that have tormented her entire existence, and succumbing to fears that he’ll be unable to protect Jude, too. Never thought the fucker would be so insecure about his own abilities.

Fucking Ciro messed his head up good, just like he messed with our woman and kid. Thankfully thatstronzois nothing but ash in the wind now; as is Selene’s asshole of a father. I know that night was traumatic for everyone involved, but I’ve always been a glass-half-full type of guy, and with those two bastards dead and gone, my cup runneth over.

Hoping alcohol can salvage this crappy night, I head out to the club to drink my sorrows away. Of course, I’m not one tequila shot in when I feel Dom nudge my shoulder, then seat on the stool at my side.

“You look like shit,” he taunts with an amused grin.

“Feel like it, too,” I smirk, throwing him a glance.Look who’s talking. “Can’t say you look any better either.” He shrugs and orders us another four shots of Patrón. “See, you and I have the same mindset tonight.”

“What can I say? Misery loves company,” he mumbles, taking his two shots, one after the other. I wave to the bartender and ask for him to leave the bottle. It’s setting up to be one of those nights.

“You talk to Vince?” I ask him while refilling his two shot glasses to the rim.

---