Page 108 of Dreadful
“What do you mean?”
She cups my cheek, and I can feel her empathy rolling from her and into my chest. “Your mother has always had a hand in that garden—especially the greenhouse. She planted some of the deadliest flowers in the world there, and she still does if that bouquet the other night was any indication. Hemlock, snakeroot, oleander, nightshade. That last one—nightshade, oratropa belladonna—is the one I bet Claudio ordered for Antonella.”
The implications swirl in my head, but I can’t piece together a full picture. “But…why? Why would he have her killed?”
Tallie’s heavy, sad sigh wafts over my chest. “I was in and out of consciousness, but I vaguely remember Antonella telling Claudio I was dead. One moment I was in the Vincellis’ garden, the next I was in Antonella’s lap in the middle of the graveyard at St. Catherine’s. She held me tight against her, probably to ensure no one else knew I was alive. When it was time to dump me into a grave, she ordered the gardener to give her privacy and took me to mynonniinstead. I don’t know what happened after that, but my theory is that Claudio thought Antonella’s behavior was suspicious. He didn’t trust her, so he had her killed, and he did it in one of the most fucked up ways possible. Poison from the garden she loved so much.”
Fury burns under my skin, but one word sticks out. “Poison…Vinnie said my father was poisoned, too.”
“Sev…I have to tell you. I was the one who put your mother’s flower arrangement together on the table at dinner the other night. I’m sorry…but I don’t think Claudio was the only one behind that order.”
Dread fills my stomach as I remember the bouquet my mother was so proud of.
“Foxglove?”
She nods against my chest. “Digitalis lanata. It’s used to make heart medication…Digoxin.”
“The same medication my mother claimed my father died from.Fuck.”
“I’m sorry, Sev.”
I want to be angry, but after everything I’ve learned in the past forty-eight hours, finding out my mother killed my father is more validating than heartbreaking. I’ve hated her for a long time. I told myself it was because of her antics, but I think part of me knew.
“She didn’t react the way I thought she should. I know grief is different for everyone, but she jumped into bed with my uncle less than a few weeks later. She claimed she was protecting me from Claudio, but I never for a second believed that was her only motive. I hated my father, but he was still myfather. If she were anyone else, I’d kill her for murdering him out of principle alone. But she’s mymother. As much as I’d want her dead…I don’t think I could do it myself.”
Tallie remains silent during my confession, but when I go back to tracing her white tattoo, she finally speaks again.
“When I was a kid, I thought Antonellaletthose things happen to me. Now I understand that she was trapped like we were. She did what she could to save me the first chance she got.”
“Now what?” I mentally go over the song again. “We go after the judge next, right?”
At the word “we,” her eyes dart up to me, and that soft smile comes back as she nods.
“You know? I like the idea of you helping me. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the way you handled Percy.”
“You saw that?”
“Yup. Loved it so much that it gave me that final push I needed to mark the driver off my list.”
A cheeky smile of my own lifts my lips. “Is that why you moaned my name when you came that night?”
Her eyes widen, and she props her head up to see me better. “You were in my apartment? How did I miss that?”
“You were a little busy if I recall. The real question is how did I stop myself from joining you?”
She bites her lip. “I’d never come before that night. You’re the only person who’s made me…who’s made me feel those things.”
Pride inflates my chest. “And I’ll be the only one who does if I have anything to say about it. You’ll have to put me back on your kill list to get rid of me,vipera.”
She barks a laugh. “That’s right, Severino Luciano, you remember my kill list next time you try to piss me off.”
I squeeze one of her ass cheeks, making her hiss at the bruises my cane left last night.
“And you rememberthisnext time you try to pissmeoff, littlevipera.”
Desire flares in her eyes, and her gaze darts to my lips. Not wanting another second to go by without answering her need, I kiss her. She moans into my mouth and melts into me. Her fingers run through my hair, making my scalp tingle at the light tug she gives it. My grip inadvertently tightens on her bruises, but she whimpers against my lips this time, and a pang of guilt twinges in my chest.
“Cazzo, I’m sorry, Tallie.I promised to take care of you last night and all I did was fuck you.”
