Page 10 of Fragile Union

Mal chuckles as he was the one who helped me with siphoning the petrol from the car.

"She's a sadistic bitch. Her best motto is, 'revenge is a dish best served cold.' I swear you could have pissed her off months ago and you'll think she'd forgotten it, until you wake up with wax strips attached to your body,” Danny says with a rueful smile.

"You're so fucked, Rome." Alessio chuckles.

"Oh, that's not even the worst she's done," Makenna announces. "She saves the best stuff for her ma. I mean putting green dye in Zoe's shampoo was probably the best day of my life. I'll never forget that bitch’s outrage."

"Ma still has no idea it was Holly," Mal says as Da joins us, he's already got a pint of Guinness in his hands and looks pissed.

"Doll face," Romero says softly and I turn to him once again. "No matter how much I piss you off, don't do that shit to me."

I smile at him. "Sure, whatever you say, hon."

If he pisses me off, he's going to know about it. As my da says, kill him with kindness and if all else fails, then fuck with them so they'll think twice about making the same mistake again.

Three

HOLLY

"This has been a great reception," Da says, "I'm sorry about your ma, I didn't think she was that stupid, baby girl."

I shrug. "It's grand, Da, it's not your fault." Well, it kind of is, he should have ended their marriage a long time ago, but he hasn't and I'm not sure why. "Are you okay?"

He flashes me a smile. "I'm fine. Are you happy?"

God, that's a loaded question, one I can't answer truthfully, so I lie. "Yeah, Da, I'm happy."

It's not fully a lie. I'm happy I get along with Rome, I'm happy I get to be around family, and I didn't have to move to a new city without having Makenna. But I'm not happy that my new husband will never love me.

I'm jolted forward slightly as a hand rests at my back. I immediately know from the heat that spreads throughout my body that it's Romero. "Doll face, are you ready?"

My body screams no I'm not, but I mutely nod.

"Goodnight, Holly," Da says kissing my cheek, "we'll see you both in the morning before we fly back."

My heart hurts, not only will he be leaving, but so will Malcolm, Danny, and Melissa.

“Night, Da.” I give him my best bright smile, the one no one has realized is fake.

It took me years to perfect. I guess that’s something I’ve learnt of my ma, and she’s great at faking shit. Her marriage, her love, and her life.

Rome takes my hand and leads me away from the last of the lingering family. Most have gone to bed, it’s almost two in the morning.

“There’s no need to be tense,” he tells me as we step into the lift. “I’m not going to maul you as soon as we get into the room, I have a little more finesse than that.”

His words make me feel less nervous, but I still can’t relax. The unknown is making it worse. I glance at him. “You? Finesse?”

His lips twitch. “I’ve learned a lot about you tonight, doll face.”

“And yet, you don’t know the half of it.” We don’t know anything about each other, he doesn’t know me, and I certainly don’t know him.

“Challenge,” he mutters. “I like that.”

I roll my eyes, of course he likes a challenge the man’s a fucking monster. I’ve heard the stories of how he’d slaughter entire families in the name of the Familiga. Then there’s the whispers, Romero Bianchi is worse than the devil, the man has darkness so ingrained in him that it seeps from his pores.

I’ve noticed something in Romero since I came to live in the States. I’ve learned he’s not what he seems; he is different to Dante and Alessio. That isn’t what scares me, no, what has me worried about what’s to come, is the fact that Romero’s darkness lingers behind his eyes, and it was also present in his father’s.

Matteo Bianchi was the worst of the worst. The man deserved to burn in hell for all the sins he committed. Thank fuck he’s dead. The man got off too easy for everything he did to women and children.

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