Page 14 of The Forever One
I should have been more forceful in saying no when she and Tyler insisted they came with me. Should have made her stay at the airport, even. But it wasn’t my place to decide that for her. She has a reason for being here, just as much as I do. The Ambrosios have fucked with her and her family just as much as mine.
My conflicting emotions are at war inside my mind. I’m a peace-loving person, all this vengeance and bloodshed isn’t who I used to be. But I was also very much alone. Existing day-to-day to simply work, anticipating the needs of others rather than doing anything of significance. A cog in the never-ending wheel of life.
Now though, I’ve found my true self. And I’m still the person I once was. I still love with my whole heart and would do whatever it takes to make my family safe and happy. But I’m also someone new. Someone stronger. And this time, whatever it takes to keep my family safe and happy is dangerous. It’s fucking insane if I’m honest with myself, but that’s what love is. It’s dangerous, it’s insane, and it’s worth every second of heartache.
Lina stiffens in my hold as we sit, huddled together on the cold floor, and the reason becomes clear as the sound of someone unlocking the door becomes louder. Her grip on my arm around her tightens and I can feel her trying to control her breathing.
The stiff wooden door only opens a little, but I spot a flash of red hair before it closes again.
“River? Lina?” Elizabeth’s voice is barely a whisper and I’m a little wary still as to whether or not I can fully trust her, so I keep my hold on Lina as I reply.
“Yeah, we’re over here.” My voice is croaky, my throat sore from all the screaming and yelling.
She comes closer, spotting us in the corner and kneeling in front of us.
“I’m so sorry.” Even though it’s dark in here, I can see the whites of her glassy eyes, but I’m still not sure if she’s being genuine. “I didn’t know any of this was going to happen. It was supposed to be simple; you’d show up, then he’d hand you over and let Marco and Enzo go free.” She pauses and her eyes flick across to Lina before coming back to me. “My brother has gone crazy. I’m so, so sorry. Here, I brought you some water and a couple of ice-packs.” She places a couple of bottles of water and ice-packs on the ground next to us.
A fire begins coursing through me. Elizabeth has been brought up in this world of mafia and madness, she’s been trained to be the perfect mafia wife since birth, so believing that she had no idea that her brother was a crazy rapist fuck seems like quite a stretch. When I first met her, she came across as a manipulative bitch, but that changed with the more time she spent in New York. She actually became likable.
“Shit, River, where are your clothes?”
I narrow my eyes at her.Is she serious?
“My clothes, Elizabeth, are on the person who needs them most right now. Need I remind you that your brother is a fucking psycho. And are you really so naïve, that you didn’t know what was going to happen?” My tone is laced with venom and I don’t even try to hold it back.
“I-I-I…” Elizabeth takes a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly before opening them again. The atmosphere in the room changes and suddenly it becomes clear. “Okay, fuck it, I can’t even pretend to like you at this point. I tried to be your friend before you die. At least Marco will still believe I was kind and helpful toward you before this. Should make him marrying me when you’re gone a little easier, don’t you think? For the record, no, I didn’t know my brother was a full-fledged rapist. Didn’t think he had it in him, to be honest. I wanted to keep Lina around, but Ugo got his panties in a twist about Lina going full-on slut, and well, she’s not worth a thing to him now.”
“Fuck. You.” I grind the words out with as much hatred as I possibly can, not wanting to give away the fact that I could get loose at any time and finding it real difficult to remain where I am instead of throat-punching the bitch in front of me.
She cackles as she stands, saying nothing more before turning and walking out, locking the door behind her.
Ex-wives and girlfriends with a chip on their shoulder about me ‘dating’ their men seem like child’s play next to Elizabeth. She’s a conniving, manipulative fucking shit-stain on the Earth, and my first impressions of her were spot-on.
Always trust your gut, River. Big picture.
It dawns on me that I’ve been looking at this all wrong. Mr. Bobby once told me to keep my eye on the big picture, and I haven’t been doing that. I’ve been focused on trying to fit into this mafia world and getting my own vengeance rather than making the mafia world fit with me. I’m a bad-ass bitch and I can figure this all out. I know it.
Lina’s silent tears fall onto my arm and I squeeze her closer to me. “We’ll get through this, babe. I promise you. We just have to be strong for a little while longer, okay?”
She sniffs and slowly nods her head, freezing and gripping my arm tightly when we hear a key in the lock again.
The first thing I see is an elaborate lantern of some kind, followed by someone I never expected to see again. Especially not here, in Italy. Although, it makes sense; Elizabeth was staying with her while she was in New York, so it stands to reason that Eleanor is involved in all of this somehow. And, of course she’s carrying a fucking lantern, like the upper-class snob that she is, a torch simply wouldn’t do. It lights up her features in a way that reminds me of a horror movie, casting shadows over her face that aid in her menacing glare.
“I’ve just seen your lovers.” She laughs, a haughty sound, but I remain quiet. I have a feeling she’s about to give me the whole big villain speech. “It’s all worked out quite nicely, don’t you think? It’s managed to come full circle, with a little help from me of course.” She begins to pace back and forth in front of us, and even though I have no idea what she’s talking about, I keep my eyes fixed on her. “You really do look like the whore you are, don’t you?” She sneers at me, sitting in my underwear, and I couldn’t give two fucks. “My husband was not a loyal man, but he usually kept his exploits to the privacy of a hotel room, until he didn’t. Until he decided to parade around a blonde whore at one of his business galas. Well, I couldn’t have that, now, could I? My reputation would have been in ruins if he did it again or word got around. So, of course, he met with an untimely fate. Poor man committed suicide in his office. Shot himself in the head.” Her laugh sends shivers down my spine. This woman is fucked up beyond belief, and I’m confused as Hell. If anything, she should be mad at me for what happened to Nathaniel—although I’m not sure if she knows or not—but this thing about her husband is throwing me all off.
“What has any of this got to do with me?” I ask the question that I really need an answer to, because she is a whole bag of bat-shit.
Her laugh continues to go right through me in the worst way, confirming my suspicion that she is unhinged.
“What has this got to do with you? It has everything to do with you.” She continues her pacing, pausing to find herself funny every few minutes. “You were the blonde whore my husband hired. Obviously, I know you’re not really blonde, you were wearing one of those cheap wigs.”
At the mention of my wigs, I feel a little sad over losing them all in the fire… the fire that happened the same night as Nathaniel… fuck, maybe I do deserve some of this woman’s ire.
Karma’s a bitch and all that, and she’s not choosy.
“I looked you up, had a detective trail you, then told my son all about the wench responsible for his father’s death.You. Of course, he wanted to help his grieving mother, so he helped me to formulate a plan. A plan to get rid of you, but it couldn’t be simple. I wanted you broken first. I wanted you to feel all the pain I felt when I pulled the trigger on my husband, and my dear boy, Nathaniel, was only too willing to assist. Then Angelica came along. She was sweet, but she made my boy sloppy, made him forget what we needed to do. She had an accident too. Shame really, but it gave Nathaniel all the drive he needed to come for you. He has always been a mommy’s boy, you see.”
She’s talking about him as if he’s still alive, which means she can’t know about that night in my apartment yet. Thank fuck. I don’t imagine a cray-cray like this would let me live if she knew I’d killed her child. The whole thing with her husband though…? I barely remember him. I mean, Idoremember him, and nothing sexual actually happened, but it’s not my fault she’s a fucking psycho and he didn’t want her on his arm at the gala.