Romeo The Mafia Casanova

It all spun together, forming a catalyst of chaos and questions with no answers.

There were no do-overs, no matter how much I tried to reach those invisible lines and put them back in order, fixing what was broken.

I couldn’t, we were happy, weren’t we?

I didn’t choose this. I didn’t want this. I’d never prayed for this. My husband had been buried today, six feet under, where I would never see him again.

Not one smile, not one laugh, and not one, “I love you.”

I tightly shut my eyes, listening to the rain beat down on me.

And then, I suddenly felt him behind me.

Everything about him hurt.

His composure, his scent, especially his love for me, for us.

“I’m sorry, Red. I’m so fucking sorry,” he stressed in a tone that was filled with nothing but pain and remorse.

Guilt rolled off him; he radiated it. Consuming and bleeding into me. Holding me hostage, captive in the arms of a man who threw me into his brother’s bed.

I could feel it engulfing me, making it hard to breathe.

Hard to think, hard to feel, and right now, at this moment.

My life ended in the arms of Romeo.

While men from all over New York City stopped by to show their respect to one of the most powerful families in the Sicilian Mafia.

I leaned into his embrace, trying to shove the guilt from the last fight between Tristian and me.

It was always the same.

Jealousy is the chip on his shoulder.

And working too much the chip on mine.

I never believed it would come to this, that our last fight, our last words would be the end of us. I’d let him slam the door. I’d screamed after him in frustration.

There had been no goodbye kiss.

No kind words.

Just destruction.

And now, desolation.

Romeo was the last person I wanted to see. To feel. To have comforted me.

He would always and forever be the chasm between Tristian and me. The one bridge both of us refused to build, to cross.

“I’m sorry, Red,” he repeated.

“I know.” I barely got the word out before clenching my teeth back together to keep from sobbing again, to keep from screaming Tristian’s name like it would bring him back.

Romeo tugged me closer to the side of his body, and for the first time in years, I felt nothing for the man who once meant everything.

“For what it’s worth,” he whispered into my ear. “I didn’t want this for him.”

I didn’t want to feel his heat.

His life.

His steady heartbeat.

I didn’t want the reminder that his brother-my husband was dead, and he was still very much alive.

Our eyes locked.

I hissed, “Leave.”

“No.”

Unable to hold back any longer, I spit fire, “It should have been you.” My voice cracked. “Do you hear me? It should have been you.”

“You’re right.” He tensed. “And you know I would have taken his place over and over again just to see you happy.”

“I can’t” I sucked in a breath. “I can’t breathe, I can’t”

Romeo turned and pulled me into his chest. “Breathe, in and out, there you go, in and out, Red.”

Somehow the pressure against my chest gave me something to feel, to measure my breaths against; I clutched his hand and inhaled, exhaled.

That’s all that existed at that moment, sucking air in and letting it out until my body finally collapsed under the weight of grief. I fell to the ground, taking him with me. Slumping against Romeo’s chest, he wrapped his arms around me tight.

“What do you need?”

His question brought me back to another place and time when he had asked me that same thing. I peered up through my lashes. Water dripped from his sharp chin.

I counted the drops.

And then I said, “I want you to find whoever killed Tristian, and I want them to suffer. I want them to bleed and beg for mercy. I want you to torture them until they die from your hands. When you’re done, I want you to come to find me and show me their blood on your hands.”

He was quiet for a second before he kissed my forehead. Letting his lips linger, he finally confirmed what I’d been waiting for since the moment I felt him.

Not hesitating, he stated, “Done.”

EDEN’s [POV]

Then: Three months later was punishing me.

Right there in front of all our family and friends.

He was proving just how much he could hurt me.

“Eden has always been the apple in everyone’s eyes,” Romeo declared into the microphone, standing front and center in the banquet room of our dinner rehearsal.

This wasn’t your average wedding rehearsal dinner by any means, not when I was marrying into the Sinacore family. Nothing they did was normal. This was just another event where they could flaunt their power and influence. Show how big their brass balls were with the names in attendance.

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The Five Families.

Those were just to name a few presents, and this was only the night before our wedding. Tomorrow it would be politicians, cops, detectives, officers, and judges.

The list went on and on…

Not to mention, the press, which was itching to get the first picture of Mr. and Mrs.

I waited, feeling as though I was on my knees begging for mercy. However, I wasn’t. I was sitting at the head table next to my soon-to-be husband, who held my hand tightly while we listened to his brother give a toast on our behalf. Silently, I prayed Romeo would grant me some leniency knowing, in my heart, he wouldn’t.

He never did.

Romeo continued. Only I would notice that his smile was more cruel than congratulatory. “Eden has always been the type of woman that men gravitate toward. She walks into a room, and everyone turns to look at her, consumed with every last inch of her. She has the power to take your breath away without even trying. I can only hope that one day I will meet someone like her for myself. I want her to have your ability to make everyone love her, exactly like you do, Eden.”

I kept my eyes on him, pretending as if I didn’t want to scream, “You fucking asshole!” in this room full of people because if he wanted me, he would have had me. Rejection pounded through me at his words.

I swear Romeo read my mind; his eyes suddenly connected with Tristian. “Growing up, my brother and I were both taught to go after what we wanted. For as long as I can remember, he’s loved you, Eden. He will be devoted to you, always putting you first no matter what. He was made to love you, Red, and you were born to love him.”