Page 73 of Brutal Mercy

If it weren’t for Hades’s arm around me. I would dissolve. Collapse on the ground and never get up again.

I hear them talking, but the words sound mumbled in my mind. The police arrive. Hades takes care of it all. The men look at me with sympathy in their eyes. Because I’m just another victim.

But it’s when Diego Alvarez’s name pops up that catches my attention. Hades has his phone in his hand and is showing the police the pictures of me after he assaulted me, indicating to the police that I was too upset and scared to press charges, and even though Hades disagreed, he respected my wishes.

“I wanted to give my wife time to recover. She’s been through enough the past few years.” They seem to buy Hades’s explanation with nods of understanding. The policemen’s eyes are flinty with anger over my assault.

I zone out after that. It’s all too much. My exhausted brain has been pushed to the breaking point. And I don’t want to do anything. I can’t. I’m exhausted on a soul-deep level. And I have no idea how to fix it.

Hades shakes hands with the police and fire marshall, and then he ushers me back into the SUV. He has me sit in the middle and buckles my seatbelt for me as if I’m a child. Then climbs in behind me and gathers me close.

And the dam inside me breaks. I sob into his shoulder. And it’s not just the store I’m crying about. It’s everything from the past four years. All the heartache, the loss, the stress, the disappointments, they all come crashing down. And I can’t stop it. I’m not even sure I would try if I had the strength. But I don’t.

And I lean.

I don’t realize we have arrived home until Hades carries me across the threshold into our bedroom. He marches over to the couch and sits with me on his lap. And I break wide open, even more than I did in the car.

I pour out years of heartache and fear, years of sleepless nights burning a hole in my belly. And Hades just holds me. Caressing my back, offering comfort as the storm of my grief rages. I don’t even know how much time passes.

Once my sobs turn into ragged hiccups, Hades murmurs against my brow, “I’ve got you. And I swear to you he will pay for his crimes. I will end him for you.”

“I don’t understand why Diego targeted me. I knew he was hitting on me, but I ignored it because he made my skin crawl.”

“I wish I didn’t have to tell you this. Truly, if I could spare you this pain, I would.”

I jerk my head back. And the solemn look on his face gives me pause. “What? You know something. What is it?” I accuse, tired of secrets, tired of everyone else having an agenda for my life. When all I want is peace and quiet.

“The other day, Diego’s second in command confessed that he’s the one who killed your parents on Diego Alvarez’s orders. Because Diego wanted you. He might have just started visiting you this past year as part of an attempt to get you to flirt with him. But the first time he saw you, you were still in high school. He stopped by the store and saw you. He made your father an offer for you. And when your father refused to make an introduction or allow him to see you, he devised a plan to make you his.”

I shove away from him as pain explodes in my chest. Diego killed my parents. It wasn’t some random violent crime.

“You kept this from me.” I pace in front of the fireplace. Rage pumps through my system. “How could you keep something like this from me?”

He finally rises from his spot on the couch. “I wasn’t trying to hide it from you, just help you get through this crisis with your sister first before laying more burdens on you. I’m trying to protect you.”

“By lying to me. What else are you hiding? Is my sister dead? Is that why you haven’t rescued her yet, even though that was what we agreed upon when we married?”

“No. But there’s more at play here.”

“Then explain it to me. Because I’ve trusted you. I’ve given you all of me, just like you asked for, and the one thing I needed from you, you haven’t delivered on.”

“I just need more time.”

I look at him. My heart is broken into so many pieces I don’t know if it will ever work properly again. “If my sister isn’t back with me by the end of this week, I want a divorce and will move out.”

“You’ll do no such thing.”

I stare with tears escaping my eyes. “You have until the end of the week, or we’re done.”

He grips me by the arms. “You don’t know what’s at stake. I forbid you from leaving me. I won’t give you a divorce. You’re mine.”

“No. Because you keep that part of yourself separate from me. You tell me you’ll rescue my sister in exchange for marrying you. I did my part and now I’m collecting. By the end of this week, my sister needs to be home with me, or we’re done.”

“You’re giving me ultimatums?” He rears back in shock.

“Yes. I’ve trusted you. But I don’t have it in me anymore. That store was the last of my parents. It’s where they spent the bulk of their time. There are things that were in that store that cannot be replaced. I’ve lost everything and everyone I’ve ever cared about. And you want me to extend you more time. For what? Because you won’t say. And I don’t have it in me to give you more time. What else aren’t you telling me?”

He clenches his jaw and stares, his expression stern and immovable. We’d gotten close. But the man I came to know isn’t in the room with me. This is someone else. This is the head of the Italian Mafia. This is the killer he professed to be.

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