Page 59 of Scar
She doesn’t think I’ll be able to live with myself if I kill my own mother. Little does she know; I’ll sleep better once she’s gone.
I angle my head, as though looking to the side without removing my eyes from Benita. “I love you,” I whisper into my comms, but I know my mother hears me, because hatred flickers in her eyes, stronger and thicker than ever before. I remove the comms unit from my ear and push it into my pocket. I know what I need to know, and I don’t want anyone messing with my head or second guessing my decisions. They can watch if they choose to do so, but there’s no reason for them to hear my side of the conversation I’m having with Benita.
“And then you went and married the spawn of that spineless bastard Pietro.”
Her snarl is vicious, dripping venom as she says my father in law’s name. The fact that she even goes there has me on high alert.
“That’s the one right thing I did in my life,” I throw at her. “The second right thing I do will be putting you in your grave.”
“You think you have what it takes to put me down, son? You severely underestimate me.”
“I don’t know how father tolerated you for the years he did,” I spit at her. It’s hard to believe that this woman had anything to do with our conception. She’s a world removed from the men we’ve grown up to become.
“Not by choice, I can tell you that,” she smirks. “Everything in his life was by my design. The only thing I hadn’tanticipated was that your father wouldn’t be fit to rule. He should have killed me when he had the chance.”
I bite my tongue, but only because I agree with her that he should’ve killed her, but inside, I’m fuming. I’m dying inside.
“I did everything in my power to influence your father’s decisions. But that dumb fuckwit Pietro was always stronger than me. I couldn’t get rid of him no matter what I did.” She shakes her head, feigning sadness. “Until your aunt Helena took the bullet meant for Pietro, doing me the biggest favor she ever could have granted me. That was the end of the Marone/Gatti Alliance. And it should’ve been the end of the blood oath!”
Her voice echoes in the huge chamber of the dining hall, my mind racing at a rapid pace.
“You killed her,” I gasp, my voice one of disbelief. She nods, so damn proud of herself.
Something inside me snaps the final, thin thread that ties me to this evil woman. It finally registers that she killed my aunt. She was the reason that my father and Allegra’s father severed ties all those years ago. The conniving bitch tried to kill Allegra’s father and killed my aunt instead. She ultimately got what she wanted; she split up the Alliance. She didn’t care how she did it, only that she did.
I have no way to confirm if what she’s saying is true, but I’ll bet my last dollar that her words are an accurate description of what happened that day that Don Marone and my aunt Helena were shot. I wonder how much of it my father knew, or suspected, or if he went to his grave not knowing the truth? I wonder how much he kept from us to protect us, and how much he warned us about so that we could protect ourselves.
The woman standing in front of me spewing her venom gave birth to me, but she means nothing to me. Very soon, she’ll become nothing but a distant, forgotten memory that never even crosses my mind.
“Just so you know, I’ve shown your wife mercy, but she’ll be the first one I attend to after you’re gone.”
“I’ll pull your heart out of your chest before I let you lay a finger on her.”
Her eyes go wide as my words register. She’s delusional enough to still think I’m going to let her leave this room alive. And I know it’s only because she doesn’t think I have it in me. But I’m so much braver than I give myself credit for when it comes to protecting my family. My wife, my future children, my brothers; no-one will ever be safe from her as long as she’s alive. I know this now. Her coming back here is the biggest indicator of just how far she will go to torture us in her quest for power.
I keep my eyes focused on Benita as we continue to circle each other. There is a teeming fury escaping every one of her pores, but I don’t stop to entertain her anger when mine is so much more complete.
“You betrayed your own family. And now you will pay for your betrayal.”
She laughs, a cold, bitter sound. “You were always too soft, Scar. Too weak. Just like your father. This family needs strength, the kind that you don’t have.”
“Says the one who’s always been the weakest link in this family.”
“You have no idea what you’re doing. You’re going to destroy everything!” she hisses.
“No, mother; that award goes to you,” I say, my voice hard.
In the end, she became her own undoing. Her ambition and her disloyalty ultimately betrayed her, and now she’ll pay with her life.
CHAPTER 52 – ALLEGRA
My eyes flicker over the surveillance monitors, my breath catching in my throat as the confrontation unfolds. Scar and his mother stand in the dimly lit room, their silhouettes tense and poised like predators circling each other. I can almost feel the crackle of energy between them, a taut, volatile thread ready to snap at any moment.
Scar’s mother hisses something venomous, and my stomach twists. I lean closer to the screen, heart pounding against my ribs. The camera captures every nuance of their exchange—the fury in Scar’s eyes, the steely determination in his mother’s stance. My fingers tighten around the edge of the desk, my knuckles white.
I watched the screen in horror as my husband removed his comms unit and thrust it in his pocket after whispering that he loved me. Whatever is being exchanged in that room, he doesn’t want anyone hearing. He doesn’t want anyone interfering. So he’s made it impossible for anyone to do so.
It's hard for me to understand the enmity that exists between mother and son; I’ve never been subject to such conflict in my own family, so I can’t even begin to know understand the animosity in that room. But knowing that it would kill me if I were at such odds with either of my parents makes my heartbreak for Scar. No person should ever have to be at war with a parent.