Page 18 of Bittersweet Endings (Agostino Crime Family #6)

CARMINE RAGETTI

I stepped out of the bathroom, still tasting her on my tongue. The way she had come undone under my hands, the way she had gasped my name like it was the only prayer she knew. I should’ve felt satisfied.

Instead, I felt like she had her hands wrapped around my fucking throat. Even though I’d just buried myself inside her, I wanted more. I was losing my goddamn mind. Too many things were happening outside my control. My calm was slipping.

And now, standing in the hallway, was the man who wanted to take it all away. JP. The bastard who’d been avoiding me was goddamn here. In the flesh.

The air thickened, the scent of whiskey and cigar smoke curling around us like a noose. He stood there, his arms crossed, that same smug fucking smirk he’d given me my entire life staring me down like he could see straight through me. Like he’d already won.

I exhaled through my nose while cracking my neck. “If you’re about to give me a lecture, don’t. I tuned you out years ago.”

JP continued to stare, his silence heavier than words. Then, slowly—too fucking slowly—he lifted a finger and tapped his lips. Seemingly amused. “You might want to clean up, figlio mio .”

I didn’t react. I didn’t have to. He’d already seen my little doll exit the bathroom. Saw her red lipstick staining my skin. Her delicious scent lingering between us.

“My son. Always thinking with his dick because he’s a dumb little bastard.” He clicked his tongue. “Pathetic.”

My jaw ticked, but I let out a slow, dry chuckle. “You’re still talking like you’re relevant.”

JP tilted his head. “And you’re still acting like a fucking amateur. Like your balls dropped enough for you to be me. ” He took a step closer. “You don’t get to play house with that cunt’s daughter and fucking survive it. You think her father won’t slit your throat? You think I won’t?”

I bared my teeth until it resembled a grin. “You should’ve done it already. But we both know you can’t touch her. So, do your worst to me, motherfucker.”

His eyes flickered. “You’re slipping,” he murmured, his voice like a knife sliding between my ribs. “And when you slip, people die. I think it’s time I taught you what loss really fucking feels like.”

“You’ve already taken a lot from me,” I growled.

“Your mother told me you know the truth now, huh?” He rolled his eyes. “My brother was weak. He took you into his fold and look how you turned out. I think it’s about time you join him.”

That was it. My resolve snapped.

I grabbed JP by the collar and slammed him against the wall, cracking the drywall. Dust erupting into the air. The asshole didn’t flinch. Didn’t struggle. He just laughed. A slow, knowing laugh. The same one that used to haunt me as a kid.

“You want to kill me, boy ? Then do it. Put me in the ground, take the throne, be the fucking king you think you are.” His smirk cut through me. “Or are you too busy fucking that little bitch to be a man and do it?”

My grip tightened. My fingers twitched. “I fuckin’ hate you, you cocksucker,” I growled.

JP’s hand twitched at his side, his eyes flashing. “You should watch your mouth, figlio mio .” His eyes gleamed with something vicious. “You should’ve been smarter than this.”

I heard the commotion around us. We were drawing attention, and I was barely keeping myself from killing him in front of a full-blown audience.

Then, his voice dropping to a whisper, he delivered the final blow. “You think you can protect her?” he scoffed. “She’ll be screaming for you when I kill her daddy and no one is left to save her. She’ll beg for your help when I have my hands around her throat.”

I snapped. My fist cracked against his face with a euphoric thud . His head jerked back, but I didn’t stop. Another blow. Then another. Blood splattered against the wall, and my knuckles tore open as I kept up the attack.

JP spit to the side, laughing through the crimson dripping from his split lip. “That all you got, boy?” He met me for each swing. Matched my energy as we battled each other.

I was going to kill him. Everything he’d done to me and my siblings. To Uncle Sal. It was all coming full circle. I pulled back for another strike.

“Carmine.” Matteo’s voice sounded at my back. “Stop. Too many civilians.” He managed to separate us, and I stepped aside. My knuckles bleeding and my breath ragged.

JP just grinned, blood staining his teeth. “There he is,” he whispered. “My real son. Not Sal’s little errand boy.”

I wiped the blood from my knuckles onto my shirt. My pulse steady while the brutal pounding continued in my skull. JP laughed as he walked off, ignoring the stares as people moved out of his way.

I turned towards Matteo. “Get the men ready. He’s not leaving New York alive.” I licked the copper from my lip, still tasting Octavia there too.

JP wanted to take more from me, as if he hadn’t taken from me all my life. I’d burn the whole fucking city down first. He wanted war, but I was going to give him a fucking massacre.

I moved quickly, cleaning myself up before we went back into the main room. The little blonde— fuck, whatever her name was —stood there scowling and waiting for me. Matteo tried hiding his smirk when she looked ready to tell me off.

Her father was one of my captains. I’d handed the girl a drink while I was playing with Octavia, and now she looked like she wanted a ring.

Fuck, I hated these broads.

Diego leaned into me. “Boss. Need a minute.”

I turned away. “What is…” The moment I saw him moving towards her, my vision went red.

“Wait.” Diego grabbed my arm.

JP stumbled towards Octavia like some wounded fucking animal.

Blood dripping down his face, lapping at it and smirking around the taste.

He was bleeding because of me. Battered because of me.

And still, the old bastard smiled. Because now, his game had switched focus.

Octavia. He was having a fuckin’ blast .

She was fired up, hurling insults at him. “You fucking snake! Don’t come near me?—”

Her security held her back and was shoving at my father’s soldatos , but it didn’t matter. JP fed off this. Off the chaos, the rage, the destruction. It was all a fucking game to him.

And me? I was seconds away from tearing him apart in front of her.

Diego’s grip on my arm was steel. “Carmine. Carmine.” Digging his heels in, he forced me back. “Not here. Too many fuckin’ civilians, Carmine.”

I didn’t look at him. My focus was locked on my father, my hands itching to finish what I’d started.

“Carmine, stop it.” Matteo was at my other side. “Cameras are pointed directly at us.”

JP’s lips curled as he wiped blood from his chin. “Ah, figlio mio ,” he crooned, fucking taunting me. “Is this what love looks like?” He gestured towards Octavia.

Her head throttled back at the word. She glanced at me quickly before locking it back down. I’d expected terror at some point. But there was only anger embedded in every part of her face and body.

JP tilted his head as if he were considering her. “You’ve got spirit. I’ll give you that. But you should be more careful who you give your heart to.” His eyes flicked over to me, dark with amusement. “Men like my son don’t keep things, little girl. They destroy them.”

I saw the words hit her. Saw the flicker of something in her eyes. The face that matched the one she made when I fucking shot her. So many things I’d done to hide her from my father. To bury the reaction she forced out of me.

And all of it was for nothing. I hadn’t fooled him. I hadn’t fooled anyone. He already knew. That realization sent me lunging forward.

Diego’s grip tightened around me, dragging me back just as my fingers grazed JP’s throat. “Carmine! Civilians, goddamn it!” he repeated.

“Fucking let me go!” My roar tore through the room. My voice raw. I could hear my own blood pounding in my ears, drowning out everything but the pure, blinding rage burning through me.

JP only grinned, loving every second of the destruction he was causing. Because that’s what he did. That’s what he was. He didn’t just break you. He made sure you watched while he did it. Made sure everyone around you suffered alongside you.

And right now? He was making damn sure Octavia saw me unravel. I’d had so much power and control over her. Now I had zero, too battered down by angst to care.

“She’ll hate you, you know. She’ll wake up one day and realize exactly what you are. What you’ll always be.” JP leaned in, just enough to let me see the pleasure in his eyes. “The monster who fucked her, to fuck over her father.”

I tore forward with a growl, dragging Diego with me. My fists clenched, my body wound tight with the need to end the motherfucker.

But before I could reach him…

“Carmine!” Her desperate voice cut through the rage, a lifeline pulling me back from the edge.

I turned, breathing hard. Octavia’s chest was rising and falling, her hands still clenched into fists at her sides. Her eyes were wide and furious. But they weren’t on me. That pure loathing wasn’t laser-focused on me . She was trying to get between us.

JP clicked his tongue. “Ah. She thinks she can save you. How fucking precious.” He waved at her. “This is going to be so much fun.”

Diego held on to me, his voice low and filled with warning. “Walk away, Carmine. Twenty cameras on us right now.”

“Yes. Walk away, son. Before I take her from you.” A dark promise slithered in JP’s voice, and I felt something inside me break. This wasn’t over. I took one last look at Octavia, my blood screaming for me to act, to end this now.

But then I saw the crowd. The little pieces of plastic pointed directly at us. The camera lights blazed around me like fire.

Not here. Not yet.

Instead, I stepped back, breathing slow while curling my lips into a smirk. I wiped at my jaw, smearing away whatever was left of her lipstick. “You’re already dead, old man,” I murmured. “And I am going to make it fucking painful.”

Then I turned and walked away. For now.