My vision blurs for half a second, but the bloodthirst fog over my eyes turns to mist when I feel Alberto’s eyes on me. Our gazes clash, hate and venom spewing out of me, and snaking across the floor. I will make him pay. I will make all of them pay if it’s the last fucking thing that I do. A shocked gasp falls from Dove’s lips, but that’s the only response I get letting me know that she knew nothing of this incident. Matteo blindsided both of us.
Before anyone can see Dove’s shocked face, she skews her expression and pulls her lips up into a tight smile. Like the perfect fucking couple, Alberto wraps an arm around her and tugs her into his side, his lips grazing her ear.
To anyone, they look like the perfect couple, together and in love, and that’s the last straw for me. I won’t sit here and watch this. I can’t. I already feel the bile rising up my throat, the anger in my veins fueling my rage. I have to leave before I do something stupid.
Tugging off my tie, I toss it to the ground and exit through the doors. Anger ripples through me like a seismic wave cracking through the earth. Rounding a corner, I clench my fists and try and breathe through my nose, but nothing is helping me at this point. I’ve left Dove back there with Alberto and Matteo, even though I didn’t want to because I just can’t stomach seeing it. Watching her act as if she doesn’t love me, as if that shouldn’t be us getting married.
Fuck! Knocking shoulders with some asshole, I continue stalking wherever the fuck it is I’m going until he opens his mouth.
“You could say excuse me,” he sneers. I almost chuckle as I turn around and stare him straight in the eyes.
Cocking my head to the side, I except the challenge reflecting in his eyes. “I could, but I don’t really give a fuck.”
“You need to be taught a fucking lesson on manners, don’t you?” This time, I do chuckle. I laugh hard enough that my abs tighten and my belly trembles. This asshole can’t be but a little older than me. He’s slim, with an athletic body, but he’s nothing to a killer like me, and worse yet, he’s just signed his own fucking death certificate.
“Don’t do this, Seth.” A girl tugs on his arm, her eyes pleading.
“Maybe listen to your girlfriend,” I say with a sneer, nagging him on. I want him to hit me first, to make the first move because as soon as he does, I’m going to knock his lights out.
Shrugging her off like I had hoped he would, he rolls up the sleeves of his shirt and stalks toward me. Clenching his fist at his side, he rears back and aims for my face, but being the amateur that he is, he misses his mark by a mile.
My vision turns black, and all I do is react, my movements are fluid, and I’m aware that my knuckles are colliding with skin and bone, but I don’t care. Screams pierce the air, pierce through my ears, but all I see in that instant is Alberto, his arm wrapped around my girl, his lips whispering into her ear.
All I see is the woman I love slipping through my fucking fingers.
39
My father couldn’t have said what I think he did. My stomach churns, and bile rises up my throat at the knowledge. I do my best to keep it together, shoving all my emotions into a tight little box that I promise to let out later.
I have to be strong in front of Matteo. I can’t let him know that I’ve been caught off-guard by his announcement. Alberto, of course, takes full advantage, leaning into my side, wrapping his arm around me as if we’re a couple, and I don’t want to stab him with the steak knife in front of me. His lips are so close to my ear, I can hear every inhale and exhale that passes them. “Don’t look now, but your little boyfriend looks like he wants to kill me. Should I reach for your tit, or do you think that would be pushing it?”
I can’t even get the word no to come out of my mouth before I’m shrugging his arm off my shoulder. “There is one thing Zane will always have, and that’s my love.” Twisting around in my seat, I glance over my shoulder and to the spot where Zane is supposed to be standing. There’s no one there. The spot is empty, and I know… I just know that something bad has happened. Where did he go?
Panic claws at my insides, wrapping its slimy hands around my heart.
“We will have more news to share, but just know the Castro family is strengthening its ties, and soon, we will be the strongest family this side of the Mississippi.” The people around us erupt with cheers, and my father descends the steps, coming back down to the table.
Pushing from my spot, I meet him around the side of the table.
“Zane is gone. I need to go and find him.” I say, leaning into his face. Matteo’s features become harsh, menacing.
“No, you need to worry about your obligations to this family. Zane is no one to you. In fact, I was going to wait to tell you this till after the event, but I figure there isn’t any point in elongating the heartache that will ensue.”
“What are you talking about?” I bite out, afraid of what he’s going to say next.
He smiles, and my heart clenches in my chest. “Look, I gave this whole Zane and you having a secret relationship a chance, but obviously neither one of you can handle it. He is a liability.”
“But… I don’t understand. What are you saying?”
“I’m saying if you do not get rid of Zane, I will have no choice but to get rid of him. And by that, I mean, I will kill him. I honestly planned to allow him to stick around and be by your side, but his antics have made me think twice about that. He is now more of a risk than he is an asset.”
Shocked, my mouth pops open before I can snap it shut. My biggest fear is now becoming my reality, and all over again, I’m faced with losing Zane.
“I…” I don’t even think my brain hasn’t quite comprehended what he’s said yet. “I… I love him,” I whisper harshly.
Matteo leans in, a single finger tracing down the side of my cheek. “I know, sweetheart, which is why I’m giving you the chance to end things with him. Make him go away so that his death doesn’t rest on your shoulders because, I promise you, if you don’t make him leave, I will end him myself. The choice is yours, Daughter.”
The world beneath my feet shifts, and I grab onto the nearest chair to steady myself. Zane will die if I don’t make him leave, but making him leave isn’t going to be easy. It will mean breaking his heart. It will mean having to lie to him. Protecting him, will ultimately end everything that we have, and still, there isn’t a way around it. Matteo isn’t lying, there isn’t a doubt in my mind that he will kill Zane. We’ve been heading toward this scenario since the day he went to him to rescue me.
I have to do this because the alternative is so much worse.
“I understand,” I whisper to my father.
A smile splits across his face, and he nods. “I knew you would. You’re a smart girl, Dove.”
Before he walks away, I grab him by the arm. “Give me at least three days, please?”
Matteo looks as if he wants to say no but then opens his mouth to speak. “Three days. I’ll give you three days, but that is all my little bird.”
Little bird. The nickname causes a horrible reaction in my brain. The urge to vomit is strong. The mere thought of going without Zane terrifies me. It makes the game I’m playing more intense, more real, because with Zane out of the picture, the only person I’ll have to save me is myself. Forcing myself to take a couple calming breaths, I resurface, realizing that I still have to play the role of Castro’s obedient daughter.