Vinny is reckless. As much as he thrives on being like Cristian, it’ll never happen. Cristian is even-tempered and calculated in every move he makes. Vinny’s sloppiness and uncontrolled rage will stop him from ever being the monarch of the Lombardi family, let alone the ruler of New York City.
“I had to tell him enough to keep myself alive.” I press my hand over my chest. “Promise me, no more women, and I’m all yours, Vinny. I’ve always been yours. Cristian—no one has ever held my heart but you.”
He warily sits back down, and I scoot in closer to him.
“I’ll prove my love to you, Vinny.” I hesitate before reaching down and grabbing his hand in mine. “I want us to get married. I want to be your wife. No one else’s.”
Vinny flexes his chest. “We’ll get married and take over the world.”
I want to vomit when his lips press into mine.
CHAPTER 34
CRISTIAN
Carmela’s front door is unlocked, and I don’t hesitate before gripping my Glock and walking in.
Muffled groans are the only sound inside. My mouth turns dry when I see a body on the floor with blood puddled around it. I make three long strides and focus on the woman. My head clears at the leopard-print dress and curly hair.
Not Natalia.
Carmela.
Thank God.
A shot to the forehead.
At least Vinny awarded her a quick death.
I spit on her body and step over it without an ounce of remorse. I’ve always known Carmela wasn’t the brightest, but I didn’t think she was stupid enough to get wrapped up in Vinny’s game and double-cross me.
She got what she deserved.
The same punishment any person receives for fucking with me.
“Jesus,” Francis says behind me, holding his gun with both hands.
When we arrived here, I instructed him to stay in the SUV, but he wouldn’t allow me to go into Carmela’s alone. I talked to Benny on the ride, and he said he’d meet me here. I refused to wait. Finding Natalia is the only thought in my brain.
I follow the groans to find Rocky on the floor of the living room. As I grow closer, I see his kneecaps are shot and shattered. He’s coughing up blood and cursing as blood trickles down his cheek. A heaviness sinks onto my shoulders.
Had this been yesterday, I’d already be saving his life.
Now, I can’t.
He’s a traitor, a rat, and his actions are how Vinny has Natalia.
I’m called Monster Marchetti for a reason.
A heartless bastard.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t give a shit about my men. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t have loyal and good men at my side. I’m proud of my men and trust them with my life. I never second-guessed Rocky’s loyalty. He’d never given me grounds to.
This man has killed for me. I’ve killed for him.
And now, I must kill him.
His eyes droop when I stand over him and bow my head. He cries out in pain when I kick him in the stomach.
A snake deserves to be kicked when he’s down.
“What the fuck did you do, Rocky?” I snap, striking him again.
His eyes open and close.
He’s slipping in and out of consciousness.
He attempts to shift into the fetal position, but his body has lost all power.
Rocky thought Vinny would treat him better than me?
Provide better protection?
Within hours, all Vinny provided him was death.
His daughter’s and now his own.
“I’m sorry, Cristian!” he says, choking out blood.
I kneel, snatch him by the collar, and drag him up to the couch. Blood spreads along the white cushions, but it’s not like Carmela will use it again.
“Why am I not surprised?”
I whip around to find Benny strolling into the living room, baring his teeth. His face is red, and he’s clenching his fists. Luca, Roman, and Lorenzo are behind him. All of them have murderous expressions on their faces.
They know why we’re here.
I ignore them and get in Rocky’s face.
My body shakes with fury.
“Decades, Rocky.” I punch him in the face. “We’ve worked together for decades, and you do this?”
I shove my hand into my pocket, extract my brass knuckles, and slide them on. Rocky screams when I punch him again, and even though it’s what has to be done, it fucking hurts. But then I remember Natalia might die because of him, so I give him another punch, this one with more fury.
“Sorry,” he yells, raising his hands to block another blow. “I never wanted to betray you, but you were hurting Carmela’s feelings. Your actions were hurting my daughter.”
“I disrespected her for years,” I say, staring down at his face gushing with blood. Unless you knew it was him, he’s unrecognizable.
“Hell, I also disrespected her,” Benny chimes in.
“What you did at lunch at L’ultima Cena crossed a line, even for you. She’s my daughter, and you humiliated her.” Rocky coughs up blood. “You broke her heart, so I did it for her.”
“Rocky, you know there are no lines when it comes to me. I do what I want. Say what I want. Fuck who I want. And fucking kill who I want. Your whore daughter thought she could cross me. Then, you thought you could cross me. And now, you’ll join her in death.”
I should’ve grabbed her knife and slit her throat when she talked shit at the luncheon. That would’ve saved me from all this trouble.
“Desperate motherfuckers will do anything for money,” Lorenzo says, stepping around Benny. “Fucking pathetic disgrace.”
“It wasn’t about the money,” Rocky argues. “It was about my daughter.”
“I don’t give a fuck what it was about,” I roar.
“He won’t let her go,” Rocky tells me, and with each word, his voice grows weaker. “Vinny is obsessed with Natalia. He approached Carmela with the plan, and she begged me to go along with it.”
“Where are they?” I need to get answers before the bastard dies on me.
“I don’t know.”
I raise my Glock and point it at him. “I’ll give you the same opportunity as I do others. Seven seconds, motherfucker. Drag your rat ass up and try to flee and dodge my bullet.”
This fucking hurts.
I never thought I’d have to kill him.
Benny steps to my side. “Dad, let me do this.”
He reaches for my gun, but I stop him.
I shake my head. “This is my job.”
Rocky doesn’t argue, nor does he try to stand.
He knows his fate. He knows he can beg all he wants, but he’ll still be dead before I leave.
And it fucking kills me, but I pull the trigger and shoot Rocky in the head, leaving him in a pool of his own blood.
“Gigi is on the phone,” Benny tells me as we stand in Carmela’s living room and brainstorm on how to figure out where the hell Natalia is.
We went through Carmela’s phone.
She’d fallen right into Vinny’s trap.
He used her to get to Natalia.
“You told your sister?” I ask, seeing red.
“Yes, to see if she had any idea where Vinny could’ve taken her.”