Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 73250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“Oh, please,” she snarled. “And who happened to tell you that?” She glared at Tor. “Your loving husband?”
Tor stepped forward, menacingly. “Watch your fucking mouth, Vincenza.” I took hold of the back of his jacket and he stopped in his tracks. His jaw went tight and what he said next proved how good he was to me. “I’ve got a grudge that demands sating. The pleasure of killing you should be mine, but it would hurt my wife greatly and so, regrettably,” his lip curled in loathing, “you continue to breathe.”
Vincenza didn’t even flinch. She was too wired. Her body shook with raw fury and what she said next was typical of her when she was mad. “You are so easy to manipulate. You always have been. If you got off of his cock long enough to actually see straight, you’d know he was using you.”
I didn’t bother masking my scoff. “Like you used me.”
She uttered through gritted teeth, “That was different.”
How had I ever thought this person wanted what was best for me? “It always is when it comes to you, isn’t it? Because Vincenza’s needs outweigh anything and everything else. You are so power hungry that you would do anything to get it. And that’s precisely why you shouldn’t have it.” She looked frantic and, for a moment, I felt for her. My voice gentled. “It’s done, and I stand by my decision. The seat is retired. I suggest you move on.”
“Like you have?” She cried shakily. “You little bitch.”
Tor moved forward, but my firm grip on him didn’t waver. He allowed me to stop him. Allowed was definitely the right word because, let’s be honest. If he really wanted to lunge for her, he could have. My skin crawled anxiously as he growled out, “What your fucking mouth, Enza. I’m not gonna tell you again.”
But she didn’t hear his threat. Her face crumbled when she accused, “You’ve already forgotten him, and so easily.”
My heart cracked, then shattered, and fell to a pile at my feet.
How dare she?
“Jesus, Vincenza. You are so tied up in your own bullshit that you’ve forgotten that Papa would have been the first to say there are no bad people, only bad choices. And… and I know why you’re so determined to avenge his death.”
My sister’s expression sobered then. “What are you talking about?”
A sadness I hadn’t felt since the day my father died came rushing back. “I know why you took it so hard. I know why you need someone else to pay for losing him.” I spoke quietly on an exhale. “Because deep down, you know who the real villain is here and you can’t stand looking at her when you glance in the mirror.” I had thought the words for a while now, but it hurt to say them out loud. “Your volatile temper cost us our father.”
I knew I was right on the money when Enza’s expression fell, she closed her eyes and dissolved into body-wracking sobs. She shook her head and whispered, “It wasn’t my fault.”
Only, it was and nothing would ever bring him back, and so, I chose to put my angry internal monologue aside and instead say, “It’s over. No more bloodshed. No more conflicts. No more confrontations.”
She glanced at me with regret in her eyes. I looked at her very much the same. The three of us stood there a long, tense moment and I realized I was done here. Done with her. Done with this bullshit. Just… done.
I reached out for Tor and he knew what I needed. He grasped my fingers gently and, with a light tug, began to lead us away.
It felt like the end of a chapter. The closing of a book.
But Vincenza’s footsteps shadowed close behind. “I won’t stop.”
By my side, I heard my husband’s exasperated, “Fuck me, this bitch doesn’t quit.”
And when I twisted back to look at her, her tearstained cheeks glistened with wetness and she pasted on a caustic smirk, although it wobbled. “What? You think it ends just because you said so?” She didn’t hide her disdain. “You’re so weak. So pathetic. I should have known you’d fall for the first man who put his cock in you.” My heart twinged at the insult, true as it was. “I have never been more embarrassed of you than I am now. You pitiful wretch, mark my words. I will never stop. He made us orphans and I won’t sleep until his children are as alone in this world as we were!”
The threat to his children had a manic Tor’s body going rigid. His eyes flashed and I knew his patience had understandably reached its limit. Right then, I would have let him have her.
But I was closer.
My own eyes flashed and when my insides began to bubble with raw fury, I did something I had never before done in my life. I leapt forward and when I snatched at her, she winced as my nails dug into the flesh of her forearm, and I had never before heard my voice the way it sounded then. “The fuck you will.” Vincenza blinked at me, stunned by my forceful stance. I stepped forward, forcing her back. “Don’t mess with me, Vincenza. That is my husband and those beautiful children may never be my kids, but so help me God, I will protect them as a mother.” And then I remembered something Tor had said. “In this family, we bleed together.” With a sharp shove, I released her and she stumbled back, holding her arm to her chest, peering at me as if she was seeing me for the very first time. Her silence gave me the opportunity to say, “I should have said this to you a long time ago so listen well as I finally have the courage to say it now. You have pushed me for the last time. We’re done, Enza. Stay the fuck away from my family.”