Page 86 of The Killer Cupcake
"Are you fucking out of your mind?People like him? Like what, Melo? Where is Pa?" Matteo turned to head to his office. “Fuck if I let him get away with this shit!”
"Gone. He left me to deliver the message," Carmelo said.
Matteo stopped. He looked back at the mocking smile on his brother’s face and the fury in his brother's eyes. He didn't understand it. He paused. "Who are you angry at? Me? Is that what this is? You blame me for Kathy?"
"You let her run from me. Let her escape. Let her play with me for two days, and didn't give me a fighting chance to make things right with her. You did that, big brother."
"Me? You were shitting your drawers and drooling all over the place. I brought her back to you to save your life!"
"NO!" Carmelo stood up. "You brought her back to me to save your deal. To make the Marcellos happy. To get Vegas so you and Debbie can live happily ever after. You didn't give a shit about me losing Kathy!"
Matteo's eyes stretched wide. "What have you done?"
Carmelo's smile turned wicked. "I killed it. All that work and negotiating you were doing with Pa and the Marcellos. Investing in Vegas. You’re not moving down there to run the investment. It’s dead. If there is no me and Kathy, there is no you and Debbie."
Matteo charged at his brother. His fury exploded hotter than dynamite. He punched him first and then threw him into the door. Matteo grabbed him by the throat and started choking him. Carmelo didn't fight back. He just smiled as he choked, wanting to die. So enraged at the laughter Matteo could see in Carmelo's eyes, he drew his pocket knife and put it up against Carmelo's throat instead.
"You're fucking with my family! MY LIFE! For what? For that demon who killed our mother? You turned on me!"
Carmelo shrugged. "If I can't have Kathy, you can't have Debbie! That’s the way life works. We are brothers. The same.”
Matteo stepped back, and Carmelo dropped. His neck bleeding from the tiny cut the knife left. He choked for air.
In tears, Matteo shook his head. "I was going to spare you. Going to protect you. Even though nothing I do or have done for you, Melo, is ever good enough. So fuck ya. Kathy is getting married today."
Carmelo's head shot up. "Fucking liar! Fucking liar!"
"I'm not lying. Call your contacts. Call Bonano. She's marrying Ely."
"You're lying!" Carmelo kicked his feet and shouted.
"Already done. And let me tell you, I'm not losing Debbie. She's mine. She loves me, and only me. I'm the only man sheever let touch her. Wonder what Kathy is going to be doing for Ely tonight."
Carmelo launched himself up from the floor and charged Matteo, who ducked and swiped his blade across Carmelo's arm. Carmelo dropped in pain and gripped his bleeding arm.
Matteo wiped his brother's blood on his shirt. He folded his knife. "That shit that happened in Memphis? That's your one and only, little bro. I'll fucking carve you like a Christmas turkey if you ever come at me again with your fist, or with business.” He then turned and stormed out.
Carmelo was left sitting on the floor in pain and agony, not from the wound to his neck or arm, but to the one in his heart. He dropped back on the floor, turned on his side, and folded inward. He lay there dying.
CHAPTER 34
THE DROWNING MAN. - 1978
Present.Kathy approached Carmelo on silent feet. Her hand hovered just above his shoulder. On the paper, her face surfaced with each savage stroke—captured perfectly.
She touched him.
Carmelo’s pencil stopped mid-stroke. He froze, his breath caught in his chest. He couldn't bear to turn around—what if she disappeared again? After decades of phantom Kathys haunting his nights, how could he trust that this one was flesh and blood?
"Melo, I need you. I can’t sleep without you.” Her voice was barely a breath as she kissed the back of his head. The confession came from a place so deep in truth it hurt—the most valid words she'd ever spoken. “I’m trying, Melo, you have to meet me halfway. Do you want me to leave you alone?”
In one swift motion, he turned and wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to him. His face found refuge between her breasts as years of pain finally broke free. She cradled him like a child, feeling his shoulders tremble and heave beneath her hands.
"Don't go,” Carmelo said, voice muffled against her. Raw with old terror. “I’m tired of dreaming. Don’t go.”
“Dreaming? Never." She held him tighter. She kissed the top of his head. “I’ll never leave you again."
His fingers explored upward from her thighs, skimming over bare hips that told him everything about what she'd chosen not to wear beneath his shirt. He pulled her to him with practiced strength, positioning her on his lap while the barstool spun lazily beneath them, somehow holding steady despite their precarious balance. She could feel him fiddle with his pajama pants beneath her to release his cock and bring it up into her opening as she kissed his face. She gasped when he aimed and drove the head of his cock up into her, and he bit down on her bottom lip. Kathy shuddered and moved in slow rhythmic waves, trusting that he’d keep her balanced. Up and down she went. All for him until they both began to breathe in sync.
