Page 142 of Devious Kingpin
Dante exhaled a heavy breath, his brows drawn tight over his eyes. “And I killed my mother.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it, unable to find words. Although in my humble opinion, she seemed to deserve it.
“Is it because she hurt you and Priest?” I asked eventually, my heart squeezing for the two little boys I’d met in those letters. He nodded. “Why didn’t your father help?”
He stared out the window, his face stony. “He was busy running the Syndicate and Chicago. He was rarely around, and when he was, he was absent. It’s the DiLustro curse. Obsessing over women we cannot have.”
Bitterness laced his voice.
My appetite gone, I pushed my plate aside.
“You drugged me,” I breathed. “I just can’t—” Move past it. Forgive. Forget.
Dante flinched. “I wish I could turn back time and change what I did,” he said hoarsely. “I never meant to hurt you.” My chest ached. For him. For me. It made it hard to breathe. Determination crossed his face. “But I’m not giving you up.”
“What if we’re just not meant to be?”
Dante’s chest heaved like he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs. “Wearemeant to be. You and me. Why would fate keep throwing us at each other?” I shook my head, unsure. Hesitantly. “You saved me, Wildling. Just like you said you would. But not from the bullet. You saved me from the darkness.”
His eyes met mine, his face full of determination. He stood up and made his way to the door.
Without looking back, he called over his shoulder at me. “I have men watching the hotel. You’ll hear from me, wife. I’ll make it up to you.” He turned to face me. “I’ll wait until you trust me again.”
And with that, he left me.
CHAPTER58
Juliette
ONE MONTH LATER
Three boys who started my nightmare. A single man who ended it—my husband.
Brandon Dole
Sam Dallas
Travis Xander
The Russians who destroyed my birth family.
Petar Soroko
Raslan Rugoff
Igor Bogomolov
Yan Yablochkov
Vlad Ketrov
Nikola Chekov
Jovanov Plotnick
Edward Murphy
Sofia Volkov—not yet dead, but will be very soon. One last name remained an enigma.
