Vicious Redemption

Chapter One

Tia

“Is it true? Did you tell your father about my deal with the mayor to sabotage me?” My husband’s voice is cold, emotionless as he stares me down. Suddenly, he’s that same terrifying specimen who showed up late on our wedding day with a man’s blood staining his collar. 

My lips part in my defense, but “I changed my mind,” isn’t much of one. Not when I’m standing between Leo and my kneeling cousin, shielding Maury with my body to stop my husband from executing him for his treachery.

The room full of valuable auction items is utterly quiet. All my father’s Guerra men kneel in stunned silence at the mercy of their Moretti captors as they wait for my response.  

I don’t want to speak the truth because it won’t look good. But I can’t lie either. 

Slowly, I nod. 

And the shift in Leo’s face is like a dagger to the heart. All the trust and affection we’ve built together these past few weeks vanishes just like that. And seeing the pain it causes him breaks my heart. I desperately want my reason to be enough, but in this moment, “You hurt me first” doesn’t feel like a good enough excuse for betraying him.

Not that I knew what I was doing—that tonight would come to this. My father used me. He led me like a lamb to slaughter the day he gave me away to Leonardo Moretti. Then he took the information I told my sister in confidence and utilized it to destroy the man he sold me to. 

All for some dark, twisted game, it would seem.

Because he refuses to see our family pay tribute to another.

Leo’s penetrating gaze holds mine, and all I can think about is the utter betrayal in his expressive hazel eyes. 

I made a terrible mistake. 

I picked the wrong side by trying to stay loyal to my family, by seeking revenge for a slight that now feels so far in the distant past. Leo has saved my life and made up for his cruelty countless times. 

This time, I’m the one who’s broken our bond, and I need to fix it. But how?

“Leo, I—”

Before I can explain myself, Leo cuts in, his expression transforming in the blink of an eye back to the deadly face of a mafia boss. “I’ll deal with you later,” he states flatly. 

My stomach drops at the underlying threat in his words.

Then he turns his attention to the mayor. “You signed the contract allowing me and my men to protect the items up for auction—we were granted permission to bear arms, unlike Don Guerra’s men, who not only had guns but fired upon my men. And now you stand here and judge me for holding one of them at gunpoint? You want to pretend like I’m the bad guy? It makes me wonder if you aren’t in Don Guerra’s pocket already, Honorable Mayor. Is that why you took such a shine to my wife? She’s your puppet master’s daughter?”

Heart in my throat, I shift my gaze to Mayor Romney, who looks genuinely offended. “I assure you, my boy, I have no intention of being in anyone’s pocket.” His tone is pointed as his eyes cut Leo down with fresh distrust. “And these men will be held accountable for their actions. That is what the law is for. That does not give you the right to execute them, which is exactly what your wife was pleading for you not to do. So don’t stand there and point fingers at me when you’ve decided to enforce your own twisted sense of justice.” 

Despite the terrible circumstances of the moment, I find my heart swelling at the mayor’s conviction. And I’m intensely grateful to him that he’s willing to stand between Leo and my family to save their lives—no matter his reasoning behind it. But his next words are condemning, and I swallow hard as my guilt rises up my throat once again.

“I refuse to work with someone who would decide a man’s fate like that. I gave you a second chance because of Tia, but you’ve shown your true colors, and I want nothing to do with you. You’re as hot-headed and violent as your reputation would say. And I assure you that is not the kind of man I want looking after the safety of this town.” 

Mayor Romney’s statement ends in a growl, and all the while, my father stands smugly beside him, silently reveling in his victory as the scene unfolds. 

“Well then, send for your policemen,” Leo sneers, seeming intent to keep my father’s men in custody until they’re handed off to the authorities. 

He scans the room authoritatively, a fierce warlord in charge of his poised warriors who await his command. And when his eyes land on mine, the tendons in his jaw flex, raising the flesh beneath his perfectly stubbled cheeks. His hazel eyes ignite with a fiery contempt, making my stomach tremble.

“Leo,” I breathe, taking a step toward him now that his gun is lowered and Maury seems to be out of imminent danger. 

“Take her home,” he says to two of his men, his face rigid as he refuses to let me speak. 

His men immediately jump into action, leaving their prisoners in the custody of their reinforcements as they stride across the room to collect me. 

Tears sting my eyes as my husband refuses to look at me. I never knew it could hurt this much—losing Leo’s trust. I never dreamed that earning it would be something I might yearn for in the first place. Except to later use it to betray him. But now, as his two burly men escort me from the auction room without touching me, I feel as though I’ve lost something immeasurably precious. 

“Wouldn’t you rather take your daughter back under your protection?” Mayor Romney demands, turning to Don Guerra with anxious tension written across his face. “Can you really entrust this man with her well-being after this?” His arms move in a sweeping gesture to take in the scene before them.

His concern for me warms my heart, and I’m sorely tempted to reach out and squeeze his arm to show my appreciation as I near the doorway. In a world of cold, ruthless men, Mayor Romney is still trying to look out for me. But I have no doubt that would only get me in further trouble. 

But my father simply shrugs in response to the mayor’s concern. “The Morettis won’t hurt Tia while she’s carrying his child.” 

Heat radiates through my body as yet another secret I’ve kept for my family’s sake is obliterated, the truth exposed for everyone to see. And the look of satisfaction on my father’s face tells me this is my true punishment for having disobeyed him. The night I snuck out of the house, the night I gave my virginity to Leo, the night I got pregnant—that created a far more definitive divide in my relationship with my father than I had realized. 

I thought we could recover from it. 

I thought marrying Leo would be enough.

I thought my father had forgiven me.

But the punches keep on coming. 

Mayor Romney looks stunned as his wide eyes shift to my face. My stomach knots as I think of all the lies I’ve been collecting lately. I hesitate, wishing I could say something to defend myself. But I can’t think of anything.

Glancing over my shoulder, I will Leo to look at me, to see the apology that consumes my face. And when he continues to glare at my cousin Maury, I know he won’t. Strong hands wrap around my upper arms as the men Leo assigned to me take charge. They steer me from the room when I refuse to go on my own.

“Wait, Leo. Leo!” I call as they drag me through the door. I don’t want to leave the scene as it is—with the man I love in a standoff with my own father’s men. Anything could happen in my absence, and I fear things could go terribly wrong if I’m not here to intervene.

“Let go of me!” I command, jerking in my escorts’ hands in an effort to break free.

But they’re so much stronger than me, my escape attempt is little more than a joke. 

They take me out the front doors of the town hall and down the cement steps to the black SUV waiting at the curb. Neither say a word to me as one opens the door and they form a wall behind me, corralling me into the vehicle. 

Heart throbbing as I think of what might be going on inside the silent auction room, I resign myself and climb into the car. My freshly assigned prison guards slip onto the leather seats a moment later, surrounding me with their bulk as they close the doors. 

The driver pulls onto the road, taking me away from the evening that had started out so magical and ended so horribly. And as I watch the grand town hall building grow smaller in the rear window, all I can think about is the utter look of betrayal on Leo’s face—and his promise to deal with me later. 

Anxiety sits like a cold rock in my belly. I don’t know what might come next. My past experience with Leo would tell me that I won’t enjoy whatever “dealing with me” might entail. But worse than my anticipation of his wrath is my fear that what I’ve done has destroyed the connection we developed over the past weeks. 

I would hate more than anything if I got a small taste of happiness and then killed it stone dead out of past resentment.

My guards don’t say a thing as I turn to face forward once again, dropping my face into my palms as I fight off the tears that strangle me. 

When we arrive home, I climb from the Escalade without argument and let Leo’s men follow me up the front steps. Luigi greets me with a solemn face, his lips pressed into a straight line that only intensifies my anxiety. Though I can’t say why.

Finally, my escorts leave me at the door to the room I share with Leo. And only after I shut it soundly behind me do I allow the tears to fall.