Page 34 of Bittersweet Endings (Agostino Crime Family #6)

“Damn, son. Now I get it.” The voice sounded from behind me. I turned and spotted JP looming in the doorway, his glare devouring every part of my blood-soaked torso. I wiped my hands on my stomach and stood.

A dozen men flanked him, their weapons drawn and aimed. While JP’s eyes were still fixed on me, a mixture of surprise and something else—something hard to read. He studied me, sizing me up, like he was trying to figure out a puzzle.

Behind him, Matteo and Lorenzo were still on their knees. Their father’s men had guns pressed to their heads. JP didn’t bother to spare them a glance.

“No need for the theatrics, boys,” he said. “Looks like you got yourselves into a real mess.” He stepped forward, his loafers slapping softly on the floor. “I didn’t expect to find this when I walked in.”

“He deserved it,” I replied. “I just wanted to be free.”

JP laughed, a low, gravelly sound that made my stomach twist. “Freedom, huh?” His eyes flicked to his sons, then back to me. “You know, kid, freedom comes at a cost. And in this life, the price is always steep.”

I could feel the blood, sticky and cold, the remnants of Peiro’s life coating my skin. It wasn’t just his blood. It was everything. Everything I’d done to get to this point. I was covered in it, inside and out, and I didn’t know how to wash it off anymore.

JP watched me. He could feel my uncertainty, my hesitation. And it seemed to please him .

Another man who thought I was weak enough to control.

Carmine might have been strong. But it was clear now that there was something about his father—something unnatural —that held him back. If Carmine truly wanted to, he could’ve taken down JP a hundred times over, but he hadn’t.

I had seen it in Carmine’s eyes, the way they hardened when he talked. There was fear behind that anger, fear of the man who’d shaped him. JP had control over Carmine, whether he admitted it or not. And perhaps JP was the one thing that Carmine couldn’t fight— couldn’t defeat.

I stood there, my legs shaky, blood dripping from my torn dress, every inch of me a reflection of what had just happened. And I knew what was coming… the cost of my freedom.

“Leave her. The fuck. Alone,” Carmine growled, his chest pushed against the wall, his hands behind his back and held in place by three men.

JP leaned back, like he was savoring the moment, a cruel smile curling at the edges of his lips. “You see it, don’t you?” he asked me. “If you want to be free of my son, you need to be with someone who can protect you.”

I swallowed, my throat dry and my heart pounding.

He took a few steps closer, his gaze still glued to me. “California deserves royalty like us,” JP said. “And you... you’d be the perfect queen.”

His words hung in the air. He wasn’t just talking about power. He was talking about me. He was offering me a life that was everything I already knew, but twisted, darker and more dangerous .

“You’d sit beside me,” he continued, “and rule. The kind of woman I need to keep New York and my jackass sons in their place.”

“No.” I shook my head, and he looked almost disappointed .

Then he leaned in so only I could hear. “You either come with me or I kill these three little sperm deposits I should’ve aborted before I move on to your family.”

His eyes held true promise, and just as I was about to tell him off, my brother screamed from outside. I hadn’t realized they’d found me too.

“Octavia!” Lucky’s voice echoed through the house, desperate, furious. It snapped me back into reality.

But JP didn’t move. Instead, he returned his attention to me, as though he couldn’t care less about what was happening outside. “Tell me, little girl. Are you going to keep protecting your family?”

He took another step towards me, his smile widening as I spoke. “Family should be protected.”

“You and I,” he said, “we could be so much more than Carmine could ever offer you. He’s a man shackled by his own demons, but you could rise higher. We both could.”

“You’re fuckin’ dead, you?—”

One of JP’s men slammed a gun against Carmine’s temple, and he dropped like a ton of bricks. I gasped, taking a step towards him when JP grabbed my arm.

“Calm down. He’ll be fine. I’ve hit him harder than that plenty of times.” JP laughed, without a shred of concern for his son.

I shook my head. “I always protect my family, but I am done paying the price for them.”

JP tucked a loose curl behind my ear, whispering again. “Like I said the cost of freedom is steep. Save their lives and get your own version of freedom. With me.”

I gulped, knots forming in my stomach.

“Come with me now or I kill them all. They’re outgunned and outnumbered, Octavia. ”

My decision was going to cost my family so much. More pain. More burden. And once again, they’d think I gave up on them. But I wouldn’t allow them to die tonight. I’d survived so much already. I could survive this too.

“You will walk calmly at my side, with your head held high. You will smile at your family and tell them to back off,” JP instructed under his breath.

I had to decide. Now.

I looked down at Peiro, and something caught my attention. I had to make a move. Stumbling over his corpse, I landed on his body, quickly shoving the item up my skirt and into the knife band around my thigh.

JP crouched forward, acting charming and waiting on my answer.

So I took his outstretched hand and decided for the last time I’d protect them.

I’d claim that throne and the power that came with it.

And as he pulled me out of the kitchen and towards the front door, I ignored Carmine suddenly shouting my name.

As I faced my family head-on, their confusion and anger settled inside me. They had been right not to trust me. It was written across all their faces as I marched past them. JP’s men held them at bay, and as I got into the car, I said nothing.

I didn’t look back either.