I shouldn’t have answered.
“You don’t have to say anything,” she said after another sniffle. “I just… I don’t know. I miss you. I worry about you and hope you’re OK. I, um, wrote another song. I think you’d like it. I mean, after you tear it apart.” She let out a soft, sad laugh that made my eyes mist. “I guess that’s it. I miss you and hope you’re safe.”
She was quiet again for a moment.
“Damn it, Ani. That’s not it. It’s selfish of me to want to keep you to myself,” her voice shook. “But I want to do just that. It’s not right, and I’m glad you left. I’m glad you walked away. I’m glad you’re stronger than I am. I’m glad… you’re gone even if it’s killing me. Just… have a good life. Stay safe. And go for it. Whatever it is you want, do it. Just like you’ve always told me. You’re meant for great things, and I’ll be rooting for you forever.I hope you find the girl of your dreams and get everything you’ve always wanted. You deserve it all and more.” She sniffled again. “Bye, Ani.”
I opened my mouth, ready to blow it all to hell again. Tell her I loved her more than I’d ever loved anything in my entire life. That I’d come to her right now and take her away, join them, beg to be accepted, anything, but the line clicked off, leaving me in silence, my guts twisted.
“Sometimes the best things in life slip through your fingers because we aren’t all destined for those things,” Alessio’s voice sounded out, dragging me out of the madness in my head as I stared down at her name on the screen, ready to call her back.
“What if we let them slip away, and we’re meant for them?” I looked at him.
He gave me a kind smile. “Then we wait our turn. They’ll come back. In the meantime, we work.”
I followed his gaze to the men approaching us.
“What do you want to do, Alessandro? Negotiate or get it over with?”
“They killed Matteo’s men,” I said softly.
“Your men,” Alessio corrected. “And have dragged your brother through hell while he was with them. Ivanov’s men are not honest.”
“You’re right.” I pulled my gun out and put a bullet into the head of two of the four men before they realized what was happening or could get their weapons out.
The remaining two immediately went to their knees with their hands up, calling out for mercy.
I approached, leaving Alessio behind.
“There is no mercy for betrayal,” I snarled, pressing the barrel of my gun to the forehead of one of the men as he wept beneath me. I squeezed the trigger, sending the bullet through the man’s skull, his blood splattering across my face.
I caught the remaining man reaching for his piece to get it out, but it didn’t matter. The crack of a shot rang through the air, the bullet hitting its mark between his eyes. The man keeled over, dead at my feet.
Alessio moved to stand next to me and tucked his piece away.
“I’m a very good shot,” he murmured.
I nodded, my throat tight. I knew he was reminding me of the deal Fox had made with my father.
“Do you want to clean it up?” I asked.
“No.” He walked away without a backward glance.
I looked at the bodies on the ground, the blood pooling around them. In my grief, I’d come to my father for guidance. He assured me that violence was always a way to let my frustrations out. It was why I was out here doing business with Alessio.
As long as I stayed away from Rosalie, this was where I’d be. Working shit from this side. Hoping to get answers. To protect from afar.
I wasn’t leaving her. Not really.
I was still saving her, but I was losing a little more of my soul to do it.
“Let’s get something to eat,” Alessio said as I reached my car. A few of Matteo’s men rolled in, got out of their vehicles, and went to the bodies.
I sighed. “What are you thinking?”
“Italian.” He smirked at me before he got into the passenger seat. “And let’s bring your brother.”
I closed my door and started the engine before grabbing a tissue from the center console and wiping the blood off my face. I tossed the tissue out the window and looked to Alessio.
