Page 35 of Bittersweet Endings (Agostino Crime Family #6)

CARMINE RAGETTI

I stood on the lawn. My hands clenched into fists, blood drying on my knuckles, and my head pounding. I barely felt any of it.

The house still had people moving about, but I was at a loss for what was next. She’d walked out. Walked . And slid into his car without hesitation. No fight. Like it was the easiest fucking decision she’d ever made. Head held high while she looked at us like we were nothing.

I turned to Lucky, fury burning in my veins. “What the fuck is your sister doing?”

He scoffed, appearing as pissed as I felt. “How the hell should I know?” He gestured towards the empty street. “Maybe she has officially lost her damn mind.”

“Lost her mind?” I snarled. “There was zero hesitation. What did you do? Because she seemed content as fuck to leave.”

Rocco’s phone rang. “Who the fuck is this?” He turned and walked away from the group.

Lucky threw his hands in the air. “You think I don’t know that?

You think I haven’t been watching her unravel for months?

” He glared at me. “Or maybe you haven’t noticed, because you were too busy getting into her pants.

Fucking with her head!” He shoved at my chest. “Ever think it’s your fault? Asshole!”

I took a step towards him, barely holding back the urge to knock his teeth in. “Careful how you talk to me, prick . ”

Lucky laughed. “Oh, fuck you, Carmine. You’ve lost her too.”

My teeth ground together, rage crawling up my throat. “She didn’t choose anyone. She made a deal with a devil worse than you.”

Lorenzo stepped forward with a smirk. “I mean, credit where it’s due… She’s got a fucking talent for making the most batshit choices possible. Gotta admire the commitment to the chaos.” He turned to me. “Who knows? Maybe she’ll stab him like she stabbed you.”

I didn’t flinch. I didn’t blink. I just raised my fist and punched my brother square in the jaw. I didn’t give a fuck that the Agostinos watched or that Lorenzo was family. Lucky laughed, and without thought, I turned and swung at him too.

Men on both sides of the lawn pulled their guns and started shouting as Lucky landed on his ass. But he quickly stood, raising his hand for his men to step back.

“You get one, Carmine. That’s it.” He rubbed his jaw and straightened his sleeves. “And it’s only because you killed that asshole in there.”

“No, I didn’t. She did.”

Lucky’s mouth dropped open. “But she left with…”

Marco crossed his arms over his chest. “Jesus Christ, maybe we stop standing here with our dicks in our hands and figure out what the hell this all means.” He paused to glance at his family.

“She’s the best version of herself I think I’ve ever seen.

She’s strong, smart, and filled with fire. Something else is going on.”

Silence settled between us for a moment.

I exhaled sharply, turning my glare back to Lucky. “So what’s it gonna be? You gonna keep running your mouth, or are we going after her?”

He muttered under his breath and pulled out his phone, already dialing. I turned towards the street, my jaw still tight.

Tires screeched against the pavement as a blacked-out car pulled up. The second the door swung open and Mario Agostino stepped out, his anger was palpable. He maneuvered around the bodies littering the yard and darted towards us.

Lucky stiffened beside me, turning towards his father, but before he could get a word out, Mario was already barking orders.

“I don’t want excuses. I don’t want arguments.

I want men on the tarmac now. ” His voice was sharp, his cold gaze flicking between us before settling on his son.

“Your sister is about to be dragged back to California, and if we don’t move fast, we lose her for good. ”

“What happens if we don’t catch her before they leave?” Lucky glanced at me.

“You have to ask? He’s still breathin’ for a reason. He’s been hiding,” Lorenzo muttered.

Lucky clenched his jaw. “We don’t even know where they’re taking off from?—”

Mario cut in. “Yes, we do.” He pulled a phone from his pocket, reading something on the screen. “JP’s got a jet waiting at a private airstrip fifteen miles from here. Wheels up in less than an hour. We intercept him before then, or…” He didn’t finish his sentence.

Tension coiled inside me like cancer. I already knew what JP was capable of, but something about the way Mario said it made my blood run colder.

Lucky rubbed a hand over his face with an exaggerated exhale.

“We’ve failed her enough,” Mario said. “I won’t do it again.”

None of us spoke for a second. Then I moved first. Their guilt riddling them with indecision. But me? I’d saved her once, and I’d do it again. And then, I’d end JP with a bullet between the eyes.

I stepped towards the car, yanking the driver’s side door open. “Let’s go.”

Matteo and Lorenzo slipped into the back seat without another word. Lucky hesitated for half a breath, then followed his family and men to their own cars.

We were out of time. And if JP thought he could put Octavia on a plane and vanish, he had another fucking thing coming. She was going to California.

With. Me.

The car raced through the night. The weight of what had just happened pressed down on all of us, but no one said a word while something close to guilt consumed me.

For not ending him sooner. For not claiming her sooner.

“So,” Matteo broke the silence. “Took you long enough.”

I didn’t respond. Just kept my grip tight on the wheel, my eyes locked on the road ahead.

“What happens when she doesn’t choose you? After everything she’s been through, she might want out. Freedom from you. From il famiglia. ”

The words hit harder than I wanted to admit.

Before I could answer, Lorenzo let out a low whistle from where he was sitting in the back seat with his feet kicked up. “ Damn, Carmine. Never thought I’d see the day. Big bad Ragetti reduced to a fucking chump . ”

I gritted my teeth. “Shut the fuck up.”

He ignored me, stretching his arms behind his head.

“Nah, I think I wanna bask in this for a second. You really are a dumb fuck, you know that?” He leaned forward, resting his arms on my seat.

“You should’ve locked that shit down from the start.

But no. Not Carmine Ragetti. You had to play your little games.

Now she’s out there choosing anyone but you. ”

“Lorenzo,” Matteo warned, and Lorenzo shrugged.

“I’m just saying, if you don’t pull your head out of your ass soon, you might as well let JP keep her. Because at least he knew what he wanted and went after it.”

I slammed my hand against the steering wheel. “He’s playing a game. Looking to break her.”

“And you weren’t?” Lorenzo shot back, his voice deceptively light. “You sure? Because from where I’m sitting, you did break her, just in a different way.” He sat back again. “And now you’re the one chasing her.” The bastard started laughing, knowing he was minutes away from getting his ass beat.

I returned my focus to the road, the city lights bleeding into the black horizon. “I’m going to make it right,” I said. “And if she tells me to fuck off after that…” I exhaled sharply. “Then I let her go.” I paused. “Until I kidnap her again and this fuckin’ time, I lock her down right.”

Silence settled in the car. But this time, it was heavier. Because we all knew I wasn’t the kind of man who let go of anything. Especially her.

It wasn’t long before the airstrip loomed ahead, the guard stand nothing more than a blur as we blew past it, shattering the metal gate. The jet was there—lights on, engines running, the door still open. We weren’t too late .

Lorenzo clapped his hands, a wicked grin spreading across his face. “Looks like we got one more round, boys.” He unholstered his gun, rolling his shoulders like he was stepping into a boxing ring instead of a war zone.

I barely heard him. My eyes were locked ahead. Then, as we got closer, I saw it. Them. Bodies. Strewn across the tarmac like discarded trash. Cars idling and empty.

The tires screeched as I slowed, my instincts flaring hot. Lucky’s car was right there next to us. Its doors flung open. His men were already out, taking in the same sight in front of us.

This was a fucking massacre.

I shoved open my door and ducked behind it, my gun drawn. My brothers did the same, Lorenzo letting out a low whistle as he took in the carnage.

“Damn,” he muttered. “Looks like someone started the party without us.”

I ignored him. “Where the fuck is she?” My chest heaved and I sucked in a sharp breath as I called out, “Octavia!”

The only response was the hum of the jet engines in the distance and the wind whipping around us. No movement. No signs of her.

I gritted my teeth, my pulse hammering in my skull as I scanned the tarmac. Then Lucky shouted from the other side of his car. “She’s gotta be here somewhere. Find her . ”

Armed to the gills, his men moved around the cars with military precision. Until Lucky commanded them to stop.

A man staggered out from under the belly of the plane. He looked beaten, haggard, and his entire body was drenched in blood.

Lucky’s eyes narrowed. “Rocco?”

No reaction. The man’s face held no recognition or thought, his eyes vacant. Whatever he’d seen—no, whatever he’d done—had removed him from his body.

Lucky took a cautious step forward. “Rocco, what the fuck happened?”

If he was here, where was she?

He’d taken a call from the house and that was the last I’d seen of him. His lips moved, but the words were barely more than a whisper. “Told you… I’d…” His voice cracked, his bloodied hands twitching at his sides. “Protect her. Told you.”

Lucky cursed under his breath. “Rocco, where is she?”

Rocco didn’t seem to hear him. His head turned, like he was watching something only he could see. “So much blood. They kept coming. I told you.” His voice rose, shaky and lost. “I told you I could protect her.”

I clenched my jaw and turned away. “Octavia!” I shouted, but again no answer.

I rushed to the stairs leading up to the jet, my grip tightening on my gun. My heartbeat was a goddamn war drum in my ears.

Then… a voice. Low. Controlled. Waiting. It was Octavia, yet not the one I’d fallen for.

“Only you, Carmine.” A pause. “Just you. Come in.”

Everything in me went still. I felt Matteo and Lorenzo tense behind me, but I was already moving. My feet carried me forward, up the steps, towards whatever the fuck waited inside.

“Carmine, don’t do this. Not yet.” Matteo tried grabbing for me, but I shrugged him loose. “Goddamn it. Carmine, wait.” His hand clawed at my arm, forcing me to turn. His eyes burning into mine.

“Let. Go,” I demanded.

“I’ve seen you do countless ruthless things to protect us. How you care about us. You’re smart and prepared… except when it comes to her. ”

“You callin’ me weak, brother?”

He rolled his eyes. “Octavia is your fucking blind spot, and you know it. Everything else ceases to exist when it comes to her.” He shook his head. “You have no idea what’s inside. No plan. That’s deadly for a man like you.”

I yanked my arm free. “Then I guess I’ve been living on borrowed time.”

Lucky stepped forward . “Listen to him, Carmine. Give us a minute to come up with a plan.”

“Every logical probability of you entering that plane suggests imminent death,” Apollo chimed in.

“We secure the scene first. Be smart about this.” Matteo motioned at Lucky, urging him to get his men moving.

I looked at him then. My brother. My blood. The one who’d always had my back. “That’s the problem, Matteo.” My voice came out quieter, deadlier. “I don’t give a fuck about being smart right now. I am ending this.”

“A man with a death sentence is hardly seeing straight,” Apollo muttered.

I ignored them all as I stepped inside the plane, choking on the scent of blood. The cabin was dim, lit only by the soft overheads casting long, eerie shadows across the leather seats and the bodies slumped between them. My boots stuck to the floor as I approached. Stopping when I saw her.

Poised in a leather chair, her legs crossed, her shoulders back, her face unreadable. A gun in her lap while her fingers rested on the barrel, like she had all the time in the world. But it was her eyes that had given me pause. Cold. Dark. Detached. Not afraid, not uncertain. Almost pleased.

There she was. The dark monster she’d buried deep was finally set free.

Between us, with his back to me, JP sat rigid in his seat.

His body unnaturally still. For the first time in his miserable fucking life, he looked tense.

I exhaled slowly, my grip flexing around my gun.

And then I stepped forward again, slow and careful, taking in the scene before me.

The bodies. The blood. The tension. But Octavia wasn’t looking at me; she was locked on to JP.

She thought she was in charge right now. That she could handle this on her own. But she needed me. We both knew it.

She tapped the seat next to her. A quiet invitation to join whatever show she was putting on. But I didn’t sit. Not yet. And when I didn’t move to follow her command, she finally looked up at me.

“We have a lot to discuss,” she murmured, shifting her position just enough for me to see the slight tick in her jaw. “And I thought this was the perfect moment for us to do it. Together.”

“Together?” My gaze burned into hers. “You really think I’m here for some fucking heart-to-heart, little doll?”

JP let out a low, heaving breath that was filled with impatience and agitation. He’d underestimated his opponent, and that wasn’t something he’d done in quite some time.

“You’ve played your part, haven’t you, little doll?” My words carried a weight that could crush her. “You fucked with your family with this little stunt. For once, they’re the ones terrified. Not you.”

She still didn’t look at me. But I saw her fingers grip the gun tighter. The smallest shift, like she was ready to lash out. “Sit.”

My smirk matched my humor and I lowered myself down, eager to witness what she would do next.

JP’s eyes narrowed as he shot a dark, venomous glare towards me. “So, this is what it’s come to, huh?” His tone turned mocking. “My son, on the end of some bitch’s leash? I always knew you were weak, Carmine, but this? Letting her control you like this?”

Octavia’s eyes flicked to JP and then she smiled. “Like father, like son.” Her words dripped with contempt. “You want things you can’t have. You built an empire and got cocky. Thought no one could touch you. And instead of encouraging your son, preparing him to take over, you got sloppy.”

Her hand swept through the air, as if gesturing to his current predicament. Now he was vulnerable, stripped of his power and at her mercy. A woman.

“How far did that get you, JP? You’re nothing but a pawn in your own game.” She glanced at me. “And your son has a lot of things you need to answer for.”

Reality came crashing down on me. Because just like that, the game had changed.