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Nobody had protected me all those years ago, but I could spare another girl this fate.
I wasn’t sure why they clung to their beliefs when they broke every rule established by their religion on a daily basis.
“Don’t worry. I will provide bloody sheets.”
“Kiara is very tense around men,” I said.
He hadn’t touched me since those nights. I clutched Remo tightly, looking up at him. His dark eyes regarded me, narrowing ever so slightly. Please don’t let me dance with him. The words didn’t leave my mouth. Durant reached for me, but Remo angled us so he was between my uncle and me. Remo turned his gaze to my uncle, but he didn’t let go of me. “I can’t allow that, unfortunately. My brother wants her back at his side.” “It’s tradition in the Famiglia,” Uncle Durant said. “Maybe you don’t care about traditions over in Vegas, but here we do.” Remo’s lips pulled wider, and I realized then that
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“You didn’t have to protect me. I’m not your responsibility.” “You are a Falcone now. My brother’s wife. You fall under my rule. That makes you mine to protect.”
Standing a few steps in front of the bed, my eyes swept over the white sheets—sheets my family expected to see stained with my blood in the morning. Blood that wouldn’t be there. I crept closer to the bed. There had been blood the first time, the second time, and even the third time. Lots of blood, pain, terror, and begging. There had been no presentation of the sheets back then. Our maid, who had never come to my aid, cleaned them.
“What happened to you?” His voice was emotionless. I considered lying, but I had lied for too long. And I had a feeling he knew. “I was thirteen,” I said, but then I couldn’t say more. I began shaking again, and he put a hand on my shoulder. I didn’t flinch this time. The touch was too clinical to elicit any terror. “Someone raped you.”
“You know,” I said quietly. “A kind man would spare me the humiliation of having to face my family, living in shame, and just kill me.” “A kind man might,” he said in a low voice. I raised my eyes, resigned. A terrifying smile played across Nino’s face. It didn’t reach his eyes. “But I will find the man who did this to you and make him feel the same terror you did that night and pain unlike anything he thought possible. And eventually, when he has been begging for it for a long time and when he’s given up hope, I’ll grant him death.”
“And what will you do to me? I’m not what was promised. I’m not a virgin.” He looked at me almost as if I’d said something stupid. “I don’t care if you are a virgin. It’s a small piece of flesh that’s completely useless.
“Then why are you furious if it’s not because someone stole what you wanted for yourself?” “Because someone stole what you weren’t willing to give,” he murmured.
“I will find the man who raped you and slaughter him like a pig on these sheets. Do you think that will be enough blood for your family?”
He put a single finger under my chin and lifted my gaze. His cold face peered down at me, almost curiously as if I was something he needed to understand. “Do you want your uncle to live?” “No,” I admitted. And that sealed all our fates.
“I’m going to kill someone. And I wanted to give you fair warning.” His twisted grin slipped right off his face. Remo tilted his head. “So, you aren’t asking for my permission.” “No, not this time. I will kill that man and nothing will stop me.”
“Someone got her before you could? You want to cancel everything?” “Someone raped her when she was a child.” I paused, regarding my wife, who now stared at the ground, shaking. “And she will come to Las Vegas with me.”
Her dark eyes met Luca’s, and whatever he saw on her face convinced him because his expression turned to stone as he leveled his gaze on Durant. “You are subject to the Camorra’s judgment, Uncle.” His lips pulled into a smile not unlike the ones Remo was notorious for. “I’d tell you to hope for mercy, but we know you won’t receive any from Nino and Remo.” Mercy? No.
“Do you forgive him?” Could I forgive him? Can you forgive having your childhood destroyed? Having your innocence ripped from you? Losing that childlike trust in your family in the worst way possible? “No,” I said.
“The power he still holds over you … that’s something you have to break.”
“I won’t hurt you either. Physically at least.” “But you will abuse me mentally?” I asked. “No. Not intentionally.” He paused. “But I don’t feel.” “Feel what?” Pity? Mercy? “Feel.”
“I was promised a Vitiello woman in marriage. A woman with beauty and grace. You fulfill my requirements.” I stared. “You think I’m beautiful?” “To think it would suggest it’s born of my imagination, but your beauty is fact.
“Your nights are safe. You are safe now, Kiara. Even in the dark, there’s nothing you have to fear, no one, because I am there and they will have to go through me. And no one ever has won against me. I am the most dangerous thing in the dark, but you don’t have to fear me.”
“Why don’t I have to fear you? You are a Falcone.” “I am. And my brothers and I protect each other because we are family, and we protect Fabiano because we made him family, and now we will protect you because you are my wife and that makes you family as well. That’s what family is supposed to be, don’t you think?”
My brothers and I are blood, but we also decided to be more, to be a unit. We are blood and chosen family. And we protect family.”
“If you choose to be a Falcone, if you choose to be our family, if you choose to be mine not just on paper and because it is your duty, then we will protect you.” “What do I have to do to be family? To be yours?” “Be loyal. Be trustworthy. Forget your blood family and New York. Cut the bonds that tie you to them and become a Falcone. It’s us against the rest. It will always be like that.” “I can do that.”
“I would go through fucking fire for you.” “You already did, Remo,”
“Are you ashamed?” I asked because I still had trouble reading her face and eyes. It would take me a while to link her facial expressions to the appropriate emotions. She gasped out a laugh and swallowed hard. “Of course I am.” “You have nothing to be ashamed of. You did nothing wrong. Don’t turn yourself into the aggressor when you were the victim.”
It is a fact that you did nothing wrong. He forced you.” “Don’t you understand? I’m a woman. I’m guilty by default. It’s always like that. They will say I asked for it. A smile means I’m flirting. A nice word means I’m asking for it. Revealing clothes mean I’m inviting touch. That is fact, Nino.”
“If you feel ashamed, if you allow them to make you feel that way, you cement their ignorance. Fight it.”
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Even someone with mediocre perception would have noticed something was off if they paid attention. But Kiara, being a traitor’s daughter, probably lived most of her life in the shadows. She was a Falcone now. She’d learn to hold her head high.
“I won’t bother you during your family time,” I said, sparing him the trouble of trying to let me down easily. I’d spent most of my life on the fringes. It wouldn’t break me. “You are family now.”
“Did you … did you just make a Harry Potter reference?” He must have noticed me touching the books. “I did,” he said dryly, and I had to stifle laughter. “Don’t tell me you read the books.” “I didn’t read them for my own enjoyment. I read them to Adamo when we were on the run. He was obsessed with them, and Remo didn’t have the necessary patience to read bedtime stories. Besides, he had a habit of letting the Death Eaters and Voldemort win, and that upset Adamo when he was little.”
“You confuse me,” I admitted quietly. Nino nodded thoughtfully. “That’s a compliment I can return.” “Thanks,” I said then cleared my throat.
If I wanted to stand a chance surviving with the Falcone men, I’d have to get over my fears.
“Yes. I want her to be treated like family. I want her protected. I want her safe from any threat. She is a Falcone now. She is mine.”
If you want to be a part of this family, you need to gain their respect. Being submissive and shying away like that doesn’t cut it, okay?”
“Why wouldn’t you be allowed to play the piano?” he asked. “I got it for you and it’s meant to be played.” “Thank you,” I said quietly. “You didn’t have to do this. It’s too expensive.” Nino’s mouth twisted in dark amusement. “I didn’t, but I wanted to, and money isn’t an issue, Kiara. We have more than we could ever spend.”
My brothers and I have brought honor back to the Camorra. I’m proud of who I am, of what I am, why would I want to hide it?”
It was good to see that despite everything, the Falcone brothers had managed to stay a family. I only wished I’d figure out a way to feel like part of it.
Humans don’t want logic. They want feelings.”
“As I told you before, she is now part of the family. Just like we protected Adamo and Savio, we should protect Kiara now. She is innocent and at our mercy, and we should treat her as she deserves, as my wife and as a Falcone.”
“Everyone has scars. Some are skin deep, others reach beyond that.” “Soul deep,” she whispered.
“The scars he left, your body can heal them if you let it, and the result will be stronger than what was there before.”
“Yes, it does. I actually enjoy spending time with Nino. He is calm and incredibly intelligent. He makes me feel like I’m safe around him. Is that weird?”
“Why red?” I couldn’t imagine guests were required to wear a certain color, but this was Las Vegas and anything was possible. “Because I think it will go well with your dark hair and honey skin. I want you to stand out, not blend in.”
“Tonight people will start talking about another Falcone. The lady in red.”
“Your wife is stunning, Mr. Falcone.” “She is,” Nino drawled.
“I wish … I wish I could be touched without fear.” “Eventually, you will. You will kill the part of your uncle I couldn’t kill for you.”
“I was, but I don’t want that anymore. I want us to have a real marriage.” “Isn’t this a real marriage? It’s official, after all.” I shook my head. “That’s not what I mean. I want a normal marriage. For me that means being faithful and being intimate only with your partner. It means taking care of each other, showing affection, trying to love each other.”
“I want to take care of you, and even if I can’t feel emotions, seeing them on your face, particularly happiness and joy, give me a certain level of satisfaction. I can’t give you more than that.”
