Page 1 of Cara

Xavier

She’s gone.

My wife is gone.

Swirls of orange gravel hover above an unpaved driveway, blocking the view of the vehicle that Bo took her away in. All these weeks of planning. Months of beatings that would fuel my hate and motivate my vengeance. Months I envisioned thisverymoment.

Freeing her from hell.

It’s damn near impossible to stomach that there’s nothing left to do for her. That all of that determination amounted to just a few stolen moments and the loss of my life as I knew it.

Fuck, I preferred when I couldn’t cry, when tears wouldn’t come. It was easier.

The weight of this—of losing everything in one jarring blow—sinks me to my knees. I grasp them for support, forcing myself to continue to breathe.

Breathe, Marcello.

In. Out. In. Out.

She’sgone.

The relief of it is minimized by the agony striking throughmy chest like a knife, twisting and carving deeper with every inhale.

What it took to get here…

I should have known trying to escape was a false hope, an unachievable dream. And that my father would never suffer the shame of losing a son to something as trivial as love.

Not when wealth is his spouse and power, his ruler.

If I had just told her to go, to leave on that mountain… if I weren't so damn selfish, none of this would have happened.

What occurred in that cell would haveneverhappened.

We’re here because I reached too far. Because I wanted what I didn’t deserve… a normal life with my wife. The corpses left in my wake, the severed limbs I’ve discarded without thought, the fear I’ve stricken into hearts and minds remind me of what I am.

I was a fool to think I could run from it, from what I was made to be. A fool to think I could be that man for Sophie.

I made the right choice, sending her away. Because now, she can find someone who can give her that life… who can make her forget the horrors she endured in my care.

The wedding band in my hand still carries her warmth. Peeling my eyes away from the last place I saw her disappear, I gaze at the only object I may ever have left of her.

A memory passes before me, and I’m suddenly back on the steps of that cathedral, reeling from an encounter I had with Vito moments before seeing my bride. Even after a sleepless night, every decision I made, every step, was calculated. Vito didn’t even hear my approach as I neared him. I’m sure he never anticipated I’d hound him on such an important day, but deep down, I knew. I knew he’d laid his hands on her. And as expected, I found him smoking celebratory cigars, spilling his guts to a worthless soldier, saying things no father should say about his eldest daughter to anyone willing to listen.

He froze when I turned the corner, revealing myself. Thesoldier ran for his fucking life, and I don’t blame him. I could have killed Vito Marin that very minute, torn him limb from limb. I'm good at making people like him suffer.

I don’t know how I managed to walk away.

My sole consolation was knowing that if I walked from that fight, I’d get a ring on her finger. I’d get her in my home, in my bed—a place she would never fear if I had any say in it.

I remember searching those sacred hallways, needing to see her. Needing to confirm that she was really safe, really mine. I found her standing by a window in her white gown, so scared but so strong.

My heart stopped, as it only ever did around her.

She was unsure about me, butfuck, I’d been waiting for that moment my entire life. Seeing her there, I knew there was hope, hope that she could learn to care for me.

Ineverdreamed that one day, she’d tell me she loved me.

I close my eyes, as if that will somehow erase her role in my life, and trudge back into the remote cabin.