Page 3 of Bittersweet Endings
OCTAVIA AGOSTINO
The dead of night was the only time I found peace. It was the silence that calmed my brain and let my soul breathe. During the day, someone was always lurking. Watching and waiting.
The weakest link would break.
She’d never survive a man like Carmine Ragetti.
But as the days ticked by, their concern for my well-being transitioned. Suddenly, it was less about if I was okay and more about if it was okay that I was intheirhome. They didn’t trust me.
And maybe they shouldn’t.
A monster had burrowed his way into my head and my heart. The emotions ravaging my mind, body, and spirit were sending me into a downward spiral. I felt completely out of control. And I wanted fucking revenge.
On him.
On my family.
On so many people for so many travesties committedagainst me over the years. A vicious loop of bloodied scenarios was on repeat in my head. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t function.
My father had aged thirty years, and the guilt I saw on his face was making me angry. I knew he loved me. I knew he was taking all this very hard because he’d failed protecting me. But so had Lucky and Apollo.
They had no guilt for their part in this. But I couldn’t trust them either. They’d failed to protect me and their whispered accusations were following me around like a heavy cloak on my shoulders.
We can’t trust her with the kids.
We can’t do business around her.
We need to watch our backs. He’s plotting something and she could be helping him.
We need to put her on lockdown.
We need to make sure he doesn’t get to her again. We’re missing something—missing why he gave her back.
It was easier to hold on to my anger when they acted like I was the enemy. When they acted like I was the one they needed to protecttheir familyfrom. But why didn’t they protect me?
Someone did. Someone avenged you. Someone freed you from yourself and killed your nightmares.
I climbed to my feet and stormed down the stairs. Riffling through the kitchen until I found a bottle of wine and opened it. Copious drinking was the only way I fell asleep these days. It was the booze that shut my mind off for a short time.
Filling a glass and taking the bottle, I walked out to the back lanai and stared at the stars. I almost laughed, wondering what God saw when he looked down on me.
Did he see his greatest creation or his biggest failure?
An Agostino had fallen in love with a Ragetti. Real Romeoand Juliet shit right there. Except, in the end, I wouldn’t die. He would. And I’d be the cause of it.
There was no other option.
I took a large gulp of wine while the stars mocked me. I remembered the exact moment he broke me. How he’d used my feelings against me and thrown me away.
***
His tongue traced the trail of salt along my face. “You don’t have to do this,” I whispered into his chest.
Carmine held me for a moment longer before I felt the rumble of laughter. Pushing me out to arm’s length, he pinned me with a glare. And I hated it. There was a semblance of pity, but worst of all, there was amusement. My demise and disgrace—it was all so entertaining to him.
“Oh, Octavia,” he barked out, and I winced. “Once I realized you loved me, I won. You’re a fucking Agostino. I got what I wanted and now I’m done with you. Simple as that. I can’t wait till your father smells me on your skin.” Carmine rubbed his erection against me. “One last round before I send you back?” He laughed when I shoved him off.
“Fuck. You.”
