I stared at him for long moments, watching my life tumbling down in pieces. Then a sudden realization stabbed me in the heart. How could I have been so blind? “You set me up. You let him take me to my place yesterday and be alone with me so all this would happen. So you can have anything to use to force me to marry him. So you can silence me forever.” I rose to my feet, my legs barely holding me up. “You son of a bitch, you set me up.”
His palm banged the surface of his desk as he rose, too. “You’re crossing a line. You’ll learn how to speak to your capo or there will be consequences.”
“You’re not my capo. I’m not a fucking pawn in your game. I will not marry your lying, murderer friend.”
“Don’t test my patience, Nicole. And a word of advice, do yourself a favor and stop lying to yourself. You want Domenico Lanza as much as he wants you.”
“You don’t know the first thing about what I want.” For starters, I wanted Tino and Domenico and every man like them dead.
“I know you want him enough to give him your first real kiss, and who knows what else.” His blue eyes, so dark and venomous, settled on mine. “You will marry Dom, Nicole. Go make your arrangements. As soon as Leo is no longer a threat, your wedding will be in order.”
“Or what?” I dared despite the fear his gaze and words instilled in me.
He moved around his desk, and, reflexively, I took a step back. When he stood right in front of me, he was terrifyingly calm, yet I’d never felt more threatened by Tino than I was now. The corner of his mouth gave a slight twitch. “I’ll hate for you to lose your scholarship.”
“What? You can’t do this. I only have two more years left to graduate.” My education was the only thing I had left in this life. My only chance to get out of here and start a future that held no blood or monsters.
“Bellomo Academy doesn’t support students who indulge in such behavior or indiscretions.”
A bitter chuckle ripped out of me. “Whatever. I’ll find another one. All my school and college records prove I’m a great student, a prodigy like you always called me. I’m sure someone will be happy to support me until I finish.”
“Do you really think someone will go against Sebastiano Bellomo to support you?”
“Then I’ll take a fucking loan or find a job and pay for school myself.”
“I’ll make sure you’re unhirable. For the rest of your life.”
I shook my head in disbelief. But why would I not believe the true colors of this monster? “You might own Chicago, Don Bellomo, and maybe the whole state, but there must be some place you don’t, and someone who’s not that afraid of you.” I shot a dirty glance at him. “I’m out of here.”
I spun on my heels, but he grabbed my wrist painfully and hurled me against the wall. A gasp flew out of my chest, and before I could say anything, he fisted my hair and pulled back hard enough to hurt my neck. “Let me remind you of one more thing, my sweet daughter that’s not my blood. I gave Leo, my own blood, a lot of liberty, let him act however he liked and he…betrayed me and my honor…just like you. And even then I showed him one act of mercy instead of doing what had to be done, and look what happened. It came to bite me in the ass.”
My heart skipped a beat, and a wave of nausea wobbled my feet. “What’s Leo got to do with this?”
“Nothing. I just want you to know that I won’t make the same mistake twice, figlia mia.”
My breaths came out as short gasps, and I started to shake. Was he saying what I thought he was saying? Was the man who saved me from my rapist, the father of my nephew, my sister’s beloved husband who took me in and considered me his daughter, threatening to kill me?
“You won’t.” I trembled. “Lina will never forgive you. You’ll lose her forever.”
He smiled, his grip on my hair loosening up. Then he leaned in and whispered, “Who said she’d know it was me?”
Of course. He’d stage it however he liked, and he’d play with my sister’s head, convincing her he wasn’t the one behind it. If it weren’t for his fist holding me up, I’d collapse. “You’d to that to her? Kill her only sister and hurt her like that?”
“It’d beyoudoing that to her.Youwould be breaking your beloved sister’s heart. My sweet Angel would be so sad. Devastated. But I’d take care of her. Our son and I would be her only family. My sweet, sweet Angel, finally, all mine.”
“You’re sick,” I rasped, quivering, fighting the urge to cry.
He laughed wholeheartedly. “Aren’t we all, piccola?”
I envied the tears that were now running free while I stood there trapped between the jaws of the wolf.
“You’re a smart girl, Nicole, and even now I still love you as my own.” His fingers left my hair and wiped under my eyes so tenderly, as if he hadn’t just threatened to kill me, as if he meant what he’d just said. “Think about your sister and your future. You have till tomorrow morning to tell me if I’m going to be arranging for a wedding or a funeral.”
CHAPTER 17
Domenico
Enzio helped me clean up the blood and examined my face in the bathroom mirror of my guest room. “I hope she’s worth it.”