Chapter 102

I couldn’t tell if he was angry or if he was just pouting. Either way, Marek refused to look at me the rest of the drive. He did end up falling asleep and I worried we would need to drop him off with Kamilia but he waved us off when I told him the plan. We were quiet as we drove through the city and back up the way to the hell I literally had just escaped.

It sent of jolt of nerves through me but I knew if there was a time to do it, now would be that time. Enzo was gone, we confirmed that. With Juri blowing up locations and knocking in doors, the security wasn’t what it normally was. If we waited even a day, Enzo could regroup and come back to bolster Father’s forces. That and with Marek in hand, Juri would probably stop his assault. He wouldn’t have the excuse of trying to find Marek anymore.

“Set up where you can be covered and I can see the entrance from the top of the van.”

“I know!” Lorenzo snapped at me.

“If you don’t want to do this…” I turned my head to him. “It’s okay.”

He growled at me and started to grab the water bottle to either toss at me or douse me. His hand stopped before he lifted the bottle and went back to the wheel.

“After all he’s done to you…to all of us. This is the best chance we have of taking him down.”

My mouth dipped into a frown. “Enzo will probably step up to lead.”

“Yeah. Probably.”

“Where is Tempo?”

Lorenzo grinned. “Joined Domani a couple months ago.”

My eyes widened. “You mean like he disappeared like Domani or actually…”

“Actually joined him. They are moving with the kids again to slip out of Enzo’s reach. They know there is a shift coming.”

“Did you get Bianca, Gia, and Cecilia out?”

I saw his hand tighten on the wheel. “Their husbands took them home after the house was deemed a liability. That’s when that asshole came back to watch over things.”

“It’s not going to fix things.”

Lorenzo nodded solemnly. “Revenge never does.”

“He’s going to die of old age anyways.”

“Why are you trying to talk me out of it? Of all the people who should be fucking gung-ho about this, it should be you! How many times did he rape you, Ria? Because I stopped counted. I stopped watching. How many times did he nearly destroy you? How many times did he do the absolute worst to you? You literally were tortured from the age of three onwards. He let them fuck you and then berated and punished you for it. You did die when he found out that Ferrari fucked you. He just brought you back! Why are you the one who is trying to fucking stop me from driving this fucking over his bullet ridden corpse!” His voice rose steadily until he was pretty much yelling at me.

My mouth went dry and I hung my head.

“I’m sorry, Ria…I just…I don’t understand…”

“Because it’s not your battle, Lor. Enzo is your enemy. Enzo was the one who attacked you, paralyzed you. Father…was an actual father to you because he wanted you to succeed him. You don’t really have anything…”

Lorenzo pulled the van over with a jerk and he threw it into park. Turning his wheelchair to face me in the seat, he rolled over so his legs were hitting the passenger seat. His hands grabbed my face and he pulled it close.

“You. Are. My. Sister. He did all of that to you. I couldn’t stop him. Not before Enzo and not after. I hate him for what he did to you, Ria. I hate him so fucking much. I had to watch as you protected our three younger sisters and succeeded. While I couldn’t even help you. I hate him, Ria. I hate him with every fiber of being because of what he did to you. I don’t care how nice he was. How good he was. How he never missed a god damn soccer game. He’d come home and paint the floor with your blood. All I could think is what if I managed to keep him away longer? What if I stood up to him? What if I told him I wanted you? What if…what if…what if…but I never fucking did and I regret that more than anything. Meanwhile your scrawny little ten year old butt protected Bianca, Cecilia and Gia from every single bad thing that came their way. I hated you for it for so long because I hated myself even more.”

I started at Lorenzo, my eyes wide.

“So don’t you dare say I don’t have anything against him. I have you. That’s enough to make me want to kill the man ten times over and then walk him down to the devil myself. Just to ensure he goes through every single ring of hell.”

Reaching out, I wrapped my arms around him. “Lor, you aren’t even a year older than me. I never expected you to protect me. There were four years between the little ones and me.”

Lorenzo shook his head, his arms wrapping around me as well. “It doesn’t matter. I had the power but I was scared to lose favor with him. I was so stupid. I should have said to hell with it all. We knew Enzo was going to pull something. Father just…never cared enough for any of us to put Enzo in his place.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make it sound like you didn’t have anything invested in this…you just seemed conflicted.”

“Because I don’t want to lose you to something this stupid! There is always risk but if I lose you because of that asshole…” He shook his head.

I brushed some of his hair out of his face. “You won’t. I promise. He couldn’t kill me after all these years and I’m not just going to let him do it now. Are you stupid or something?”

Lorenzo chuckled and sometimes I could see my little brother, untainted by our family. It was rare but the light in his eyes would flash for just a moment.

“Come on. Let’s get this over with. Otherwise you’ll have me overdosing on pain medication because my legs hurt like bitch.”

“Yeah, yeah. You complain too much about feeling your legs.”

I hung my head. “You’re right…I’m sorry.” Taking a breath, I smirked. “Juri had to help me walk down the aisle at the time because I was hurt. He was almost like an actual father figure giving me away.”

“You… bitch…” Lorenzo rolled back to the drivers side and locked his chair back in position.

“The wedding was lovely. They had a gazebo out back. There were probably about thirty or so people.”

“Ria…don’t you dare…”

“Oh. And when Felicity slapped the shit out of Sheena. Oh my god. It was like the movies.”

Lorenzo pulled back out onto the road, hitting the wheel with his hand. “Fucking stop! That’s so rude! You could have waited and invited me! How could I miss your wedding?” The fake crocodile tears egged me on.

“I slept with Marek that first night too.”

My brother looked like he was going to murder me. “You. Did. Not. You didn’t even know him!”

“I got stabbed for him. We knew each other well enough.”

“Well enough? You would sleep with anyone who you got stabbed for? Do you know how long that list is? I’m on that list!”

Shrugging, I put my hands behind my head. “Marek is beautiful. What can I say. I’m a sucker for a handsome face.”

“Rosaria Bellona, you shut your mouth or I’ll take all that money you have in that savings account and buy you an entire wardrobe in Fiora’s style.”

“Oh no. It’s not like I have a husband who works hard and gets paid good money that can help me fill my closet with wearable clothes.”

Lorenzo’s face was completely red. I was waiting for smoke to come out of his ears of the top of his head pop off.

“We fell asleep in the same bed. We didn’t have sex for that first night. Or for many weeks after that. The first time we did was the night of the charity ball.” Marek’s tired voice couldn’t hide the amusement in the tone.

“Wait, you only slept with him. What the hell! You got me all worked up!”

I shrugged, only slightly annoyed Marek corrected his misconception. “I said we slept together. You’re the one who assumed it was sex.”

“God damn it you bitch. You owe me a wedding.”

“I’d be happy to. But you need to get yourself a real woman.”

He sputtered and the van swerved a bit. “Not for me! You!”

Throwing my head back, I laughed and shook my head. “You’re so easy.”

“You’re mean.” Lorenzo grumbled as he leaned forward against the wheel. “I’m your older brother. You’re supposed to be nice to me.”

Rolling my eyes, I turned back to Marek. “Muzh, you’re supposed to be on my side.”

His eye cracked open, that ghost of a smile gracing his face. “Not when it comes to me leaving a good impression on the first family member that you care about.”

“See! He gets it!”

I leaned back to Lorenzo. “You just agreed with my husband.”

He clicked his tongue. “I know. Don’t remind me.”

Keenan was shaking his head, a full smile on his face. “You two don’t know when to quit, do you?”

“We do.” We answered together and then smiled at each other.

“Like now.” Lorenzo pulled over next to house and actually drove up onto the sidewalk. “We’re here.”