CHAPTER 45

CHAPTER 45
"When I lost you, I could no longer conceal what I felt and knew to be. Teresa's prophecy had spoken of a prize beyond value. It did not take me long to realize that was you."

Mary-Ann saw the faint glimpse of vulnerability. She saw his true self for the first time. The facade he had protected himself with was torn down.

"It was only natural that you should meet Salvatore Greco.". Removing our child from your belly was the only thing you had to be at your peak and unobstructed in your pursuit of guarding her. I knew you would come around in time and reclaim your soul and be rid of me. Our child binds us together for eternity. That is the only basis on which I impregnated you. On which I allowed you to earn yourself a position in my court. So anyone who thought you were weak would think better of it and reconsider before moving against you. Against us.

Mary-Ann bared her teeth. "No more lies. No more bullshit."

Wrapping his arms more tightly around her, he hugged Mary-Ann to himself. "The Queen is always the strongest piece on the board. You have been the most important player in my game all along."

He was always full of lies. But for some reason Mary-Ann knew that this was not one of them. "Your Queen?"

"I want you by me for all eternity. All you and Teresa (Romano) have endured I will make up to you. Whatever you need I will be. Whatever you want I shall offer for you. Beyond my kingdom there is nothing else for you. This is home," he whispered to Mary-Ann. I will shed the blood of any person who gets in our way. I love you, Mary-Ann Rossi. You will not believe it now, but it is so. I will vow it on a blood oath if need be. You have upset all my best plans on their head, and I will not rest until I have you beside me. Desist resisting me.". I know I can please you if you would allow me.

His words shocked her. The soft, regretful tone. Capturing her lips, he kissed her with a sweet, delicious kiss. Mary-Ann had never craved attention until she tasted his. He had shaped her into his something. Built her up only to pull her apart. Why should things be any different? So broken as she was, she no longer had tears for him. Nothing left to give. He had ruined her. The damage had been done.

You expect me to fall for your tales a second time? Bow down humbly at your feet like your sluts?" Mary-Ann spat, wrenching free of his arms.

Pushing her away, he went to take the angel blade and strode back towards her with intent. The hilt was icy and unforgiving as he prodded it into her open palm. Catching up the coarse material neckline of his robes, he exposed his rippled chest.

If you feel nothing for me today, cannot forgive me for all that I have done to you, for putting you on a pedestal above all others to be my Queen, then slay me and take it all—The Underline Club, my throne, my very life.

Shifting the deadly point closer, Mary-Ann aligned it with his heart. He desired forgiveness? This monster of death and destruction longed for forgiveness. Could she be compassionate? Should she risk it? Could she unseal her heart to give once more without its being trampled and left to decay?

He was the sole individual who had ever made the blood dance within her veins. To sear her with sweet fire that made her crave more. She carried the scars of his passion. It was branded on her black heart. He had left her hungry for it all.

Mary-Ann could now view it all so clearly. Glaring up into his observant eyes, she smiled.

Vincent DeLuca's smirking response transformed into a scream as she struggled the metal onto his tanned flesh, producing a perverted thrill and a pain in Mary-Ann.

The hum of London thrummed industriously beyond the top wall of the cemetery, but it could not alter the serene quiet. Head lowered, the August sun beat down on Mary-Ann's exposed shoulders. This was tranquility. Perfect. Somewhere she could think. She was grateful that Father Dominic Varela had suggested it.

All that had happened, and Mary-Ann hadn't yet forgiven him. Not for what he did to Anthony (Rossi). But deep within her, she knew Salvatore Greco would've found another means to destroy her brother. They'd been on his list before they were born. Innocent pawns in a game started before any of them knew.

It was comforting to see Anthony's soul arrive in Heaven. Free from being kept prisoner. Free from pain. At least her Grandfather could ensure her that. Looking at the headstone, Mary-Ann finally mustered up enough words to say.

"I apologize for disappointing you, big brother. Had I realized what was on your mind all those years, I would have found a way to save you." Her throat constricted with feeling she no longer hid. "I wish things might have been different. I guess I'm not the heroine I always hoped you might see me as."

Maybe she had always been a bad person, after all. Closing her eyes, Mary-Ann breathed in the scent of the flowers so tenderly laid out beneath the white marble slab. Everything had changed. Within a few days, her life had once more been dramatically altered.

Soon, she was The Queen of The Underline Club. A lady that people were all scared of. Mary-Ann had finally found where she was meant to be. Everything was coming her way. She could see that now.