Page 92 of Iron Roses
“Let him think.”
“Think?” Allegra’s voice is shrill. “She could be dead already!”
The door opens again.
My uncle Dante enters, his gaze sweeps through us and he nods in satisfaction.
“She’s gone, isn’t she?” he says. “Finally.”
Allegra flinches like she’s been slapped.
Dante walks to the center of the room. He’s talking before he even stops moving.
“It’s time to stop this foolishness. We have work to do.”
He turns to me.
“You’ve played nursemaid long enough. You let a memory blind you.”
The veins in my jaw tighten. My teeth ache from clenching.
“It was you, wasn’t it? You helped him take her.”
His mouth curls.
She steps back. Her fingers flex like they want to form fists but don't know how. “You let her be taken. You knew Fausto was coming.”
He smiles with his teeth. “Of course I did.”
“She was a transaction. You of all people should understand that. And in exchange, Fausto’s giving us something more useful. Half the Fontanesi estate. Port rights. Oil interests.”
He steps closer. My fists are already clenched.
Dante’s smile widens. “Did I tell you? Your wife also was a mistake. I fixed that too. Fausto and I agreed. She made you soft. Love makes men predictable.”
Lorenzo speaks my name behind me. No louder than a breath.
Dante laughs. “You wouldn’t hurt your uncle, would you?”
My hand grabs his coat lapel and drives him backward into the wall. The sound is thunder. A picture frame falls and shatters. His skull hits plaster. I don’t wait.
The first punch connects with his cheekbone. I feel the skin split. He chokes, then sneers.
The second hits his nose. Cartilage caves. Blood fountains. He reaches for my wrist—too late.
The third breaks something. I don’t know what. Doesn’t matter. His teeth rattle against the stone.
My elbow crashes into his temple. His knees buckle. I lift him and slam him down again. The wall behind him takes on the shape of his skull.
He’s not laughing now.
He slides down the wall like meat.
When I step back, the floor is streaked red. His hand twitches.
My chest rises once.
Behind me, Allegra doesn’t move. I hear her voice after a long moment. “I’m going to find her.”
