Page 148 of Handsome Devil

I guessed we had to wait and see.

Five hours later, my mother was clad in her favorite attire. Her makeup was flawlessly done the way she liked it—applied meticulously by yours truly—and her shiny coal hair was swept and pinned into elegant perfection, still oozing the pungent scent of ammonia hydroxide.

She looked beautiful, and I was glad she asked for this. It gave me a chance to take one last look at her as the woman I adored. Since she was already made up fully as per her instructions, I had time to ask Filippo to go to Walgreens and get me clear nail polish.

I didn’t miss Enzo’s gaze or the way he played with that knife so expertly, reminding me he could make a Birkin out of my skin without batting an eyelash. “Dude, you knocked it outta the park. She’s beautiful.”

Tate did not leave my side. We operated in silence, him watching my every move and me clasping Mum’s cold hand in mine, painting her nails, which were thin, overgrown, and stacked with vertical ridges.

My back was to my husband when he said, “When was the last time you saw her chest move?”

I lifted my head from the third coat of nail polish I was applying. “Pardon?”

“Her chest.” He swung his gaze from his phone, perched on the incliner. “She hasn’t inhaled in over a minute.”

“You’ve been…monitoring?”

“My marriage kind of depends on it.”

I placed two fingers to Mum’s cold throat, where her pulse should thrum. I waited, the silence in the room thumping between my ears.

“I feel nothing,” I swallowed.

“Welcome to my world,” he murmured.

“No, Tate, I think she’s…” I couldn’t utter the rest. “Come look.”

He placed his phone on the arm of the recliner and stood. His fingers gently brushed mine as he checked my mother’s pulse grimly. I stared up at him, tears clinging to my lower lashes.

One second chased the other. I knew he wasn’t feeling any pulse. Finally, he removed his fingers from her neck. Closed her eyes with a gentleness I didn’t think he possessed. Produced his pocket watch to check the time. “I’m sorry, Gia.”

I buried my face in the rich layers of organza in her lap, heaving a panicked yelp. She was well and truly gone.

I wept in Mum’s lap while Tate stood quietly behind me. Every now and again, I thought about how, not too long ago, he’d lost a parent too and didn’t have the privilege of hugging him one last time. I’d played a big part in him losing the only human who ever loved him, and he graciously forgave me for that.

Dr. Fields peered through the crack in the door, accompanied by a nurse. He rapped gently. “I promised you a checkup…”

He didn’t complete the sentence.

Tate invited them in, relaying the last few hours’ events with Lina. They spoke about the arrangements ahead, and I was glad my husband was there, because I couldn’t produce one word.

Mum was wheeled out of the room looking like an old-school movie star. A grand finale worthy of the dazzling woman she was.

Tate made some calls but kept one eye on me.

The drive back home was a blur as I came to terms with my new reality.

I was alone, my entire family was gone, and the only person whose destiny was tied with mine was a coldhearted murderer.

Till death do us part.

Tate: Tell Tiernan I want to see him.

Tate: This weekend.

Achilles: Am I wearing a pencil skirt and please-fuck-me-daddy lipstick?

Tate: I hope not. You don’t have the ass to pull it off.