Page 91 of Ruthless Vows
But I, like the rest of the men in this room, know what Romeo DeSantis is getting at. And although my heart is hardened, barb fucking wire encircling it and scars running through it…there’s only been four women who have ever penetrated it.
My mother, my sister, my late wife, and Giana.
Four fucking women in thirty-eight years.
Two of the four, dead.
One knocking on death’s door.
“You have only one, Gabriel,” my father continues. “I, too, had only one. And they are magnificent treasures. The purest pieces of Heaven sent to rock our demonic, dark, filthy worlds. Once she’s gone, once she’s really and truly gone…” He steadies his voice. “You will never be the same. Because it’s different, giving her away to someone and knowing she’s still out there? You can sleep at night. But knowing she’s taken her last breaths and you didn’t protect her? Sleep never comes again. And even in the daylight…the memories will plague you—haunt you.”
Gabriel sits forward in his chair, his eyes not leaving my father’s.
That’s the most my father has talked about Sofia since the kidnapping; even though this was indirect, his meaning is loud and clear. The fact that Gabriel can even look my father in the face shows me what kind of man he is.
But will he bend at all for his own daughter?
“So this iswhat being in the mafia is like?” Remi lets out a long, deep groan as she struggles to sit up, using her good arm as much as possible while being tied up. “I don’t think this is all it’s cracked up to be, babe.”
Her words come out husky from sleep. I don’t even know how long she’s been out. She moans and winces, baring her teeth as she clenches them together.
“Your arm—”
“No. My arm is fine.” She closes her eyes and sucks in a deep breath. “I’m trying to trick my brain into thinking it doesn’t hurt,” she says with a barely there smile. “I heard if you keep telling yourself something, your brain starts”—she stops to groan—“to believe it.”
I nod and do as she asks, not wanting to bring more attention to her mangled arm. My thoughts drift back to earlier.
After Enzo left and those memories clicked into place in my mind, I sat here, zoning out for longer than I can even remember. Moments from the past year that I thought were inconsequential all added up into a horrifying reality my brain worked hard at disassociating from.
I do my best to come back to the here and now, knowing Remi needs me.
Knowing if we’re going to get out of here, I have to do my best to think clearly.
“Thank God you’re awake,” I say, the urge to wrap my arms around her so strong it stings my eyes when I remember I can’t. “I was so scared,” I admit.
“Are you okay?” One of her eyes is swollen shut. The left side of her head is distended, making the entire left side of her face puff out as well.
He hit her so damn hard I can barely look at her without everything inside me crumbling.
This is my doing.
“Areyouokay?” I ask, ignoring her question because my wounds seem irrelevant in comparison. “You’ve been out for hours. And I hate to tell you this, but you look like shit.”
I try to smile, but I’m not sure if my face betrays me or not.
Remi does smile, though. Only half of her face actually goes up, but I know she’s trying to make me feel better.
“I could say the same to you. You look kinda like somebody put one of those Halloween scabs on your face. Damn, babe. That shit looks like it hurts.”
She scans the storage unit we’ve been left in, and the distraught look on her face tells me she’s realizing the same things I have. We’re sitting ducks. No weapons to assist us. We’re quite literally waiting on their next move.
It’s a position you wouldn’t wish on an enemy.
Well, maybe some enemies, but I digress.
“I know you’ve been cooking up a plan with that beautiful mind of yours while I’ve been dreaming away,” Remi says, fake hopefulness saturating her tone.
She side-eyes me, and I shake my head slowly. For what has to be the hundredth time, my sails deflate, and I watch Remi’s go down right along with mine.