Page 37 of The Killer Cupcake
Kathy blinked twice, her mind struggling to process words that made no sense. She had envisioned murder and mayhem, but this didn't register in any reality she could comprehend. "Dead?"
Carmelo's stare turned cold as steel, his voice stripped of all emotion. "That federal agent who told you I was in witness protection—the one who met you in Jersey at our safe house and helped get you here to Quebec? He was a paid actor. It was all a lie to get you out of New York so I could blow up your car with a dead woman's body inside. Someone we dug up fresh from a grave in Queens. To make the police think it was you."
Kathy's mouth fell open, and the world stopped spinning. She took an involuntary step backward, her hand falling away from the ring she'd been unconsciously twisting for strength.
"I did it for me and Nino. They all think we're dead now. That's why there's no phone here. That's why you've beenisolated with me for over two weeks," he finished, each word driving another nail into the coffin of her trust.
"You wouldn't do that. Not to us. Not to Sandy." But even as she said it, she knew from the set of his jaw that he absolutely would.
He nodded with the terrible certainty of a man who'd crossed every line. "Matteo and Debbie have Sandy. In two weeks, Marco goes for our girl, after everything settles around your 'death,' Sandy will get a similar message. She'll tell everyone she's going back to D.C., then she'll let my men take her to us. And it will be done—myfamiglia—you, me, Nino, and Sandy. We'll disappear together. For good."
"Are you fucking insane! You are! You're completely insane!" The words tore from her throat like a primal scream.
"I waited, Kathy. I waited for forgiveness, for acceptance, for my chance to be your husband, to have my family…”
“...I’m married to you…” Kathy protested.
“All because of me! Because of what I had to do to make you love me!” he shouted.
“No… no, that’s not true…”
“I waited for any chance to have what's been stolen from me over and over again. I begged you for years to walk away, to run away with me."
"Stop talking! Shut up!" She pressed her hands to her temples as if she could physically stop the horror from penetrating her skull. "I need to think. Oh God, my baby thinks I'm dead. My family thinks I'm dead. Oh God!"
Carmelo walked over, and she stepped back. He kept advancing, refusing her space or time to deal with her emotions. He was close enough to touch her, and if he did, she would scream. She felt cornered and terrified. "Wearefamily. You and me! Not them! It’s just us!”
The slap cracked across his face like a gunshot, jerking his head back with savage force. She'd only struck him once before in her life—when he'd kidnapped their daughter after discovering she'd lied about Sandy's paternity. She'd never regretted that slap, and she didn't regret this one. She struck him this time for everything he'd done since then to own her, to possess her, to fight against every attempt she'd made to be free of their toxic past. Everything he'd done until she finally understood the terrible truth—that without him, there was no her. He was her soul, her damnation, her salvation, just like Debbie could never escape Matteo. Just like Willa could never escape Jean-Baptiste. Just like Janey and Carmine Boanno.
She stepped back from him in absolute horror. "You can't do this, Melo. Not again."
"I've done it!" His voice exploded with finality. "And I'm not sorry!"
Overwhelmed by the magnitude of his betrayal, she pulled off the ring he'd just noticed her wearing. With deliberate precision, she placed it on the table beside the wedding ring he'd given her when they'd officially renewed their vows, and she agreed to convert to catholicism. He stared at the abandoned jewelry, then at her, his face crumpling with hurt.
"You never understood," she said, her voice breaking like glass. "You never had to make me love you. You just had to let me love you."
"Kathy…you won’t go. Not this time. I’m not going to let you.” He reached for her desperately.
She threw up her hand to stop his approach, then turned and fled up the stairs to the yacht's upper deck. She ran from him and from the truth, seeking escape in the night air. The fresh lake breeze filled her lungs, the scent of pine and cold water sharp in her nostrils. All of it sobered her even as the tears refused to stop falling.
She felt trapped—not just by his suffocating love, but by her own inability to stop the Wolf from consuming the man she'd wanted back so desperately. Every chance they'd had at happiness, this anger, this pain always returned, always brought out the worst in him, the most destructive impulses. He’d killed for her. He’d done even worse and said it was all for her. She never wanted any of it.
Her blood sang with rage and the ancient knowledge of what was to come if she didn’t join him. If the Wolf didn’t get his way.
She kicked off her heels, the expensive shoes clattering across the polished deck, and went barefoot to the yacht's railing. The dark water below looked like liquid obsidian, promising oblivion.
"Kathy!" His voice behind her carried pure panic.
She ignored him completely.
Without hesitation, she vaulted over the railing and plunged into the night-black water. The lake was shockingly cold, stealing her breath as she sank beneath the surface. She closed her eyes and let herself drift deeper into the abyss, weightless and free for the first time in weeks. The silence was absolute, peaceful, a temporary escape from the chaos.
Of course, he was there within seconds, his powerful arms wrapping around her waist as he hauled her back toward the surface. The yacht's floodlights blazed to life, turning the dark water into a stage as he swam them both back to safety, cursing himself in rapid-fire Italian for hurting her, for making her hurt herself.
It wasn't suicide. She could swim. It was just her desperate need to be free.
Strong hands pulled her from the water, her soaked dress clinging to her body like a second skin. The crew tried not to stare at her exposed curves as Carmelo hauled himself aboard, water streaming from his hair, his eyes wild with fear and rage.She fled from him again, racing to their cabin and slamming the door behind her, turning the lock and securing it.
