Page 117 of The Sound in Silence

Erico pays his cousin no attention, reaching immediately for Vanessa, who’s since crouched by a vehicle to hide. He yanks her to her feet and growls. “You will get in your fucking plane and return to Russia. Ieversee you inFamigliaterritory again, I won’t hesitate to shoot. Go home and tell the Bratva that if they want a war, I’m ready. I’ll take them down one at a fucking time, but they willnevergo near what’s mine.”

She bobs her head in a jerky nod. He releases her with a shove, in the direction of the plane, and she all but runs toward the stairs. She passes me without a second look as I rush the opposite way and head for Erico, right as Caladin comes up to my other side. The men he brought with him linger by the car, seeing no apparent threat.

Vanessa trips going up the metal steps and pauses at the top, her gaze finding her father’s corpse, and for a moment, I pity her. It’s difficult to lose a parent, even if she deserves no empathy from me.

Her expression hardens and she becomes the woman I met at the party again. Her gaze lifts to Erico, her words a shout from the distance. “The Bratvawillretaliate, Rossi. You’ve just begun a war you won’t win.”

She turns and disappears in the plane, and another man appears, lifting the stairs. The Volkov pilot presumably, who hid during the fight.

The moment the plane’s doors shut, I crave Erico’s arms. Even when his parents claimedhewas the one sending me away, he saved me. Erico hugs me briefly but quickly releases me, only his fingers dragging over the back of my hand in acknowledgment before he approaches his parents waiting nearby.

Caladin whispers, “You okay?” and I nod, throwing him a smile of gratitude.

“Erico—” Erico’s father immediately starts only to be cut off by him.

“Leave.”

“Excuse me?”

Erico points off into the distance. “I will call a pilot. You will go home and get whatever you need. By midnight, you both will leave this country.”

His mother steps forward, crying, “Erico, we were only—”

“Silence!” Death’s sounded kinder than Erico’s tone. “There is nothing you will say to save you from my wrath. Myown parentstried to get rid of my wife!”

His father explodes, almost shoving Gia aside. “Erico, you will drag theFamigliadown with your obsession with that girl. We were trying to do what’s best for you. The Bratva is—was best for us. Power, strength, bloodlines. They had it all and you threw it away forher.”

I barely see his arm lift, but Erico slams his fist right into his father’s face, knocking him to the side and into his mother. Caladin snickers, but I don’t know what to think anymore, what to do.

“One more word out of your mouth, and I won’t hold back.”

Rubbing at his jaw, his father spits. “You’re making a huge mistake. The heads of the family will turn on you and you will have an internal war. Do you really want that after fucking with the Bratva?”

“Then maybe it’s time for theFamigliato enter a new chapter. Maybe it’s time for the old capos to be cleaned out.”

Gia steps in front of her husband, once again, crying in a whining tone, “Erico, you’re our son. We’re your parents and you can’t—”

“Parents?” He barks a single laugh, no humour whatsoever. “No, you’re not. Was I ever your son?Reallyyour child. I was a product of sex, created as an heir, trained to be Boss. You both showed me no love. I was yourtaskand nothing more.”

“You’re an embarrassment,” his father spits, and right when I think Erico’s about to attack again, he simply points to their vehicle.

“You’re done. Leave. You step foot in the States again, even our shared blood will not save you. Retire far away from here and I never want to see either of your faces again.”

He turns away from them, giving them his back, heading straight for me. I glance over his shoulder, watching as his parents climb back into the car that brought me here, but the last thing I catch is his mother’s saddened expression before Erico consumes me.

His hands grab my cheeks, his mouth descending on mine with more passion than ever. He walks me backwards two feet, pressing me into the hood of his car. His tongue finds mine, consuming, devouring.

I let him.

Somewhere behind us, Caladin mutters, “Way to make a guy feel single. I’ll help clean up.”

“Fuck,” Erico drops his forehead to mine and all I breathe ishim, “a million fears went through my head when I found Vanessa in the backyard instead of you. I died a few deaths. Never again.”

“Thank you,” I say simply, cupping his cheek. “Thank you for coming for me.”

“Always,” he replies, his tone guttural. With a single swoop of his arm, he’s lifting me by my ass and lowering me on the hood of his car, stepping between my legs, getting as close as possible. “I’m sorry the people who birthed me are monsters. I’m so fucking sorry for what they’ve done today. If there’s one positive, though, I hope you see now, when I claim I’m never letting you go, I mean it.” Somehow, he manages to bring me closer to him, no space between our bodies now. His lips stroke gently over mine as he repeats, “I’m never letting you go,sirena.”

A beautiful threat.

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