Page 101 of Thrill Me (Dark Odyssey 3)

“How are you?” he asks.

“Numb. I can’t believe it. I just can’t. So evil and cruel. Wicked. And… they would have killed Timothy too. And for what Salvatore? Money? Power? What did Vincent do that was so bad that Sorcha deserved to die, and their two month old placed at risk?” I’ll never understand. More and more I see why Mom hated our way of life. I see it so clearly.

Salvatore gives my hands a gentle squeeze.

“That’s… it’s the way Mimi.It doesn’t matter how reasonable or unreasonable something is. The intended blow is always the worst. There’s no question on who deserved what and if what you did was reason enough to be so evil.” He hangs his head down then lifts it back up and looks at me with tears brimming inside his dark eyes. A tell of the storm that must be raging inside him. “I was real proud of you for holding her like that. Sorcha. I was real proud of you, Mimi for being the person you are and being a friend to her in that moment. She loves Vincent and she would have been floored to see you do that for her and for him and he trusted you to hold her. His babygirl.”

I’m all cried out but fresh tears slide down my cheeks. “I did it because I knew she would have wanted me to.”

“I know baby. I know. The sadness is too much for all of us. This is the second time this man has come for us and it’s big. It’s bigger, different.” He straightens up but doesn’t let go of my hand.

“You’re capo… now.”

He nods.

I heard Gabe talking to Charlotte. He came by in the night to check on her. That’s when I heard.

“I was going to tell you. I’m glad you heard though. Mimi… a lot is going to change and um… I’m just going to be real with you. I don’t want you to be a part of it.”

I stare at him, not sure I heard him right. Not sure I heard what he said or if I understand.

“What do you mean? I’m already a part of it. I always have been. I’m with you.”

When he shakes his head my heart squeezes.

“Baby, you don’t have to be. You don’t have to be part of anything. We’re targets. All of us, but you don’t have to be here. Charlotte and Mia are married to the mob. You have a choice.”

“I choose to be with you,” I point out, not liking where this conversation is going. “Salvatore, I chose you.”

“No… you can’t. You can’t Mimi. It’s too dangerous for you to be with me. Yesterday I got a head in a box. Cora… from the club.”

My hands fly up to my mouth and my breath hitches right there in my chest.

“What? What are you saying to me?”

“They killed her Mimi. She said she was mine. I was never with her like that, not once so I don’t know why she would have said that. But that is what being with me will do to you. Stephanou killed Sorcha to send the biggest message of all and to destroy Vincent.”

I start crying because this is all so awful. “Salvatore…”

“Babygirl… I can’t do it. I can’t do that to you. I can’t put you in that kind of danger. Iwon’tdo it. I won’t allow them to kill you just because you’re with me. Not you. Not you Babygirl. And not when I know better and can do better.”

“I want to be with you. Salvatore it’s real between us…”

He nods. “Yes. It is. I love you Maria Cipriani. I always, always have. And I told you I would always put you first. Even if that means letting you go.”

I cry harder and move to him, throwing my arms around him and holding him.

“I love you,” I tell him. “I love you, Salvatore. Don’t let me go. Don’t, don’t let me go.”

He buries his face into the side of my neck and kisses me there.

“I have to Mimi. It’s better this way. I have to. It’s too dangerous for you to be mine.” He pulls away from me and just walks, leaving.

Leaving me.

I watch him go and the numbness turns into a void.

The tears fall but it feels like pieces of my soul weeping. Weeping and reaching for him. The only man I ever loved.

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