Page 81 of Scorned Beauty

It was a little past midnight and I could see lights in her living room and hear the muffled chatter of the girls talking. I hoped they were helping Sloane cope, because it looked like I had my own shit to address.

To be in Sloane’s life the way she deserved, I needed to make changes in mine.

My father loved Ma to distraction. He said he had never been a victim of the De Lucci obsession curse, but I believed he was lying.

See, I wasn’t taking care of Ma alone. It was hard for me to see my old man struggle, not knowing how to reach the woman he loved to pieces. Emilio’s cruel rejection was a trigger for Ma’s depression. Lucy scoffed that it was all an act. Be that as it may, I had the power to pull her out of it. If Ma was happy, Pop would be happy, and he loved her enough not to blame her for my choice. Not so with Lucy. She was only eight years old when that all went down, but hell, did she hold a grudge against me and Ma.

I learned early in life to take care of what was mine. And I considered all the De Luccis and Morettis mine.

Like when Matteo went after Sera, and I stood up to Luca for my cousins.

Or when I had to address Nico’s beef with Joe Rossi. I had my suspicions he and Sandro conspired to whack the Rossi boss, but like all things mafia related, the less we talked about it, the better.

Then came the war between the Rossis and the De Luccis, where they kidnapped Bianca, and shot Renz. I was fucking furious, but I’d been the voice of reason in talking down Uncle Cesar and his boys from waging an all-out war.

The villas on the Amalfi coast had become a nonissue. We were not getting those back. Ma would just have to suck it up. Besides being tainted with the sex-trafficking business, they would be a constant reminder how I’d failed Sloane. Letting them go was the right thing to do.

Sloane insisted our affair was over, and we didn’t owe each other an explanation. But we were both fantastic liars, preferring to hurt each other to protect that lie. But the burden and shame were on me. I was in the position of power in this relationship. I should have done something to not make that matter to Sloane.

See, I think I’m in love with this stubborn woman.

I needed to figure out how to bring her into my life without triggering World War III with my mother.

But Luca’s words were an echo in my head. Being as sharp as he was, my uncle knew my problems were not only the wealth and status imbalance, but also my mother.

I had to protect that choice with my life.

I choose Sloane.

Chapter

Twenty

Sloane

“I hear an arrest is imminent,”Sera said. “At least Dom is no longer a suspect, despite the pictures showing he could be the last person who was seen with Elyse Bailey.”

“They already know who the killer is?”

A theory was that Grigori made a deal with the feds to protect him from the Russian bratva.

“It doesn’t make sense. I’m sure either Grigori or Anton was the one who killed Elyse.” I touched my throat. Although my bet was Anton. It made me wonder if all or some of these Mistress Strangler killings were the work of the Russian bratva, or at least Grigori's crew.

“I’m smelling a lot of coverup.” Bianca read my mind. “According to what Sandro learned, Grigori was running a successful sex-trafficking operation and many of his clients are high-profile government officials—not only in the US, but world leaders. Add to that a mix of celebrities, sheiks, oligarchs, and kleptocrats.”

I shuddered. “I think he was considering selling me.”

“What?” Sera and Bianca exclaimed.

“I know I’m too old for the taste of most of his clients, but Billy told me he’d been having a hard time looking for a feisty natural redhead for someone.” I was remembering now Grigori ranting to Anton that his client already made a deposit and that deposit money was gone. With me miscarrying and being out of commission, he had no one to sell. “He either made a deal with the feds or another entity, but I was instructed never to return to Manhattan.”

“But why?”

“Because they couldn’t keep me out of New Jersey if I wanted to see Harriet.”

“But why Manhattan in particular?”

“If they’re making a move against the New York bratva, then they’ll likely be tried there.”