Page 34 of Dark Desire

Deciding it was time to face him, I grabbed my keys and headed to Bellissimo's.

"Vincenzo?" My voice echoed off the dumpster.

“Go back inside.” He lowered his head, staring at the blood pooling around his shoes. His hand was still wrapped around the blade that he's obviously just buried into the man laying inches away from his feet.

“You know I can’t do that, Vin.” I swallowed down the bile threatening to spill.

“Yes, you can. Turn around and walk through that door.”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”

“Goddamn it! Please. If you really love me like you say you do. You’ll turn around and leave me to deal with this.”

The tears threatened to fall as I stepped toward him. “You know why I can’t walk away. Don’t make me choose.”

“Seems like you’ve already done that.” He dropped the heavy metal to the ground, the sound echoing through the alleyway. “Can you at least call my brothers first?”

“It didn’t have to come to this. There was another way, Vincenzo.”

“Another way? This piece of shit tried to ruin my life. He tried to have my sister kidnapped. And then,” He took a breath. “He nearly killed Antonio. There wasn’t another way. You know as well as I do, he would have walked if the police were involved. He was too powerful.”

“And now what? He’s dead and you’ll be a martyr in jail. You say if I loved you, I’ll walk back inside. What about you?” My voice cracked with desperation.

“What about me?” He snapped.

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t have let it come to this.” I shook my head, tears finally burning a trail down my skin.

“Sometimes we have to decide what path to take. This is the path I chose. My family means everything to me. Everything!” He balled his fists against his thighs. “I thought you realized this by now.”

“I told you I wouldn’t walk this path with you. I can’t. Your family means too much to you. Well, so does mine. It just looks a little different from yours.”

“Family? You think your so-called family is going to stand beside you when they learn you’ve been fucking the enemy?” His voice was laced with venom as he turned to face me. His face was a mask of rage, making me suck in a breath.

I stiffened at his sudden change in demeanor. “Fuck you, Vincenzo.”

“Just do what you have to. This road was going to lead here at some point. We both knew we couldn’t last.” He brushed past me, pausing beside my ear. “But never forget my words, il mio Tesoro. When I was buried inside that pussy of yours, I meant every word I said. I love you. I’m sorry it has come to this. I’ll be inside waiting.”

I couldn’t stop the sharp intake of breath as he pushed inside, leaving me alone in the dark. I was torn between doing the right thing and my love for him.

Deep down, I knew it would come to this. He hadn’t been wrong in saying our path only had one destination—he was right. Only the path was one that led to an end.

I felt sick to my stomach as I took in the bloody man in front of me. Truth be told, Dmitri Ivanov deserved everything he'd gotten. As I stared back at the closed door, I knew I had been wrong when I said my family looked different. He was my family. Not the FBI. Dmitri had taken my mother from me, and this… this was Vincenzo’s way of protecting me. I tugged my cell phone from my pocket and called the one person who could help me. She answered immediately. “Hello.”

“Remember when you said you would help me if I needed it?”

Madison replied without hesitation. “Yes.”

“Massimo needs to come get Vincenzo from the restaurant. I can stall the FBI long enough for him to take Vincenzo from here.”

“Riley, what’s happened?” Madison's voice was a whisper.

“Dmitri Ivanov is dead.”

“What?” She sounded as shocked as I felt.

“All you need to know is he’s dead. If Vincenzo was here when the police show up, I wouldn’t be able to protect him. Do you understand what I am saying? Madison, he isn’t going to leave willingly. That’s why you need to convince Massimo to come and take him.”

She was silent for a moment, but I knew she understood what was at risk. “Yes. I understand.”

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