Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
“What are you doing?”
“Is Nico alive?”
“You’re not going to shoot me.”
I pull the trigger, and the wall behind his right shoulder splinters as the bullet smashes into it. “That was your only warning.”
He reluctantly holds up his hands.
He’s not afraid. He’s pissed.
I grit my teeth. “I repeat, is Nico alive?”
“You know I can’t answer that,” he says.
Which means yes.
Which means Jules was telling the truth.
Which means she was probably right about Massimo being behind Harrison taking my money.
I was wrong when I thought I had hit rock bottom. I just hit it with a violent thud.
My next words burst out of me in a wave of unchecked emotion.
“Did you put Harrison up to it?”
Massimo’s brow lifts, then drops, and it’s enough to tell me I’m right.
My knees go weak, and I start to shake. “Why?”
“Put the gun down, and I’ll tell you everything.”
And there’s the verbal confirmation that he was behind this, and it goes through me like a bullet.
“You did this to me?” I choke.
“No.”
“Tell me the truth. Did you tell Harrison to steal my money?”
“Bianca—”
“Did you?” I cry.
“Yes.”
It’s another blow. And I think I actually feel my heart break.
“Why?”
“Bianca, put down the gun.”
My tears breach my lids and drip down my cheeks. “How could you do this to me?”
“It’s not what you think.”
“Then how is it?”
“We don’t live in a world where trust and betrayal breaks hearts or makes us cry, Bianca. You and me, we live in a world where broken trust and betrayal gets you killed. I did what I did to stop a war from brewing.”
My chin quivers. This hurts so bad. “There was no war brewing.”
“How was I to know? Nico had just killed your father and a lot of Bamcorda soldiers. We waited. We watched. We thought the Bamcorda went underground to regroup. Then Nico was shot, and in the fallout I was forced to make quick decisions.”
“And stealing from me was one of them?”
“Things were different when I put the pieces in place. I didn’t know you like I do now.”
“You knew me the night of Nico’s engagement… when you stole my first…” I can’t even finish the sentence because it hurts so much.
“A lot had happened since then. Both sides had suffered.” He looks pained, I’ll give him that. But it only hurts me more. “It wasn’t personal.”
“Well, it was very fucking personal to me.”
“It was necessary. If a war was coming, I needed to see it before it got here.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“The Bamcorda had scattered. Surveillance only scratched the surface. I needed to know who were still aligned with the Bamcorda name.”
“So you took everything from me?”
“If you take everything from someone, you watch who they turn to and who helps them. It will show you who their true alliances are. Tell you who you need to watch.”
“There wasn’t going to be any retaliation. You know why, because everyone abandoned me. They were too afraid of the fucking De Kysa to do a goddamn thing to help.”
“How was I to know that? I couldn’t take the chance.”
Standing here, I feel as broken as I ever have, and I don’t know how I’m ever going to keep going. But I know I will.
Just not with Massimo.
I let my arm drop.
“I wish I’d never come looking for you.” Pain spirals through me like venom in my blood. “No, I wish I’d never met you.”
Massimo found me when I was at my most vulnerable and lured me in. But the real crime, the real cruelty, was him making me fall in love with him.
He takes a step forward, and I put my hand out to stop him because I don’t want him close to me. Because I’m not going to be drawn into his alluring orbit ever again.
“I deserve your hate,” he says. “But you don’t know the full story.”
“I know enough. You killed Harrison and then you killed the Vinocelli.”
“I put things in place, but I didn’t kill Harrison and I had nothing to do with what happened to Tony and his sons.”
“You’re lying.”
“I told you I would never lie to you—”
“Yet that’s all you’ve done.”
“No, it’s not.”
“You betrayed me. Do you expect me to believe you now?”
I turn away from him.
“Don’t leave,” he begs.
I swing around.
“Why shouldn’t I?” I cry.
“Because I fucking love you,” he yells.
He’ll tell you he’s in love with you just to confuse you.
I point my gun at him again. Because how fucking dare he.
“Don’t you dare say that to me.” More tears prick my eyes. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
I think about the last few months with Masimo and the thought of them being a lie is unbearable.
Never trust a De Kysa.
Massimo reaches for me. “Bianca…”
I aim my gun at him again.
“You stay away from me, or I swear to God I will shoot you.”
I don’t shoot him.