Twisted Pride (The Camorra Chronicles Book 3)

by Cora Reilly

  “They look like you. Nevio is you. Everyone who sees him knows he’s yours.”

  Remo smiled the darkest, saddest smile I have ever seen. “Have you come to tell me before my death that I’ll never see them? Angel, I must say you are crueler than I could ever be.”

  I linked my fingers with his bloody ones, the blade cupped between our palms. “Our children are perfection but here, in the Outfit, they represent shame and dishonor. People whisper behind their backs, call them Falcones as if it is something sinful, something dirty. Our children are beautiful.” My voice became fiercer with every word. “They are meant to hold their heads high, not be ashamed for who they are. They aren’t meant to bow, aren’t meant to live in the shadows. They are meant to rule. They are Falcones. They belong in Las Vegas where their names carry power and respect. They are meant to rule at the side of the cruelest, bravest man I know. Their father.”

  Remo didn’t say anything but his expression set me aflame with emotion.

  “How badly injured are you?” I whispered in his ear.

  “Badly,” he admitted.

  I nodded, my throat tightening. I reached for the syringe in my pocket and pulled it out. “Adrenaline.”

  Remo’s mouth pulled wider. I injected him with the liquid and he shuddered. His pupils were dilated when he met my gaze again.

  My lips brushed his lightly. “How strong are you, Remo Falcone?”

  “Strong enough to take you and our children home where you all belong, Angel.”

  I smiled. I wedged the blade under the rope. “Swear not to kill my family. Not my brother, not my father, not my uncle. Swear it on our children, Remo.”

  “I swear it,” he murmured. I cut through the rope when I heard the creak of the door. I dropped the knife in Remo’s now free hand.

  “Serafina, get the fuck away from the asshole!” Danilo growled, gripping me by the shoulders and pulling me to my feet. I whirled around on him, getting in his face. “Don’t tell me what to do. I have a right to be here.”

  Danilo was breathing harshly, his chest heaving. I took a step back, closer to Remo again. Dante and my father stepped in. I shielded Remo mostly from their view but that wouldn’t last long.

  “You shouldn’t be here, dove. This isn’t something for a woman,” Dad said gently.

  He still believed in my innocence, but Dante and Danilo regarded me more cautiously. “Where’s Samuel?” Dante asked.

  I wrapped my arms around my body and slid my hands beneath my cardigan, my fingers curling around the gun strapped to the holster there.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered and pulled the gun on them.

  Dante put his hand on his gun at his waist but didn’t pull it. My father and Danilo were completely frozen.

  “Samuel’s going to be okay. He’s knocked out behind the sofa.”

  “Fina,” Dad said in a soothing voice. “You’ve been through a lot. Put down the gun.”

  I took another step back, releasing the safety catch. “I’m sorry,” I said again, biting back tears, thinking of Samuel, of what he would think once he woke up. In my peripheral vision, Remo cut through the last rope around his ankle.

  Dante pulled his gun and so did Danilo, but I barred their view of Remo. They wouldn’t shoot me, not even now that I was holding them at gunpoint. I was a woman, someone to protect. I was their responsibility and their failure. Remo staggered to his feet behind me, and Danilo aimed. I shot at him, nicking the outside of his upper arm. He gasped, his eyes flashing at me.

  “Not a single move,” I warned. Remo pressed up behind me, as usual not heeding any safety measures, towering a head over me. “We only want to leave. No one has to get hurt,” I whispered.

  Remo reached for my gun but I shook my head. “My back,” I told him. His hand slid under my cardigan and pulled the gun from there.

  “Dove,” Dad croaked. “You don’t owe this man anything. He raped you. I know emotions can get confused in a situation like this, but we have people who can help you.”

  I smiled sadly at him and then Samuel stumbled inside, holding on to the doorframe. I hadn’t dared use a higher dose on him than was absolutely necessary; obviously it wasn’t enough. He stared at me uncomprehendingly, his arm with his gun hanging limply at his side. My twin, my confidante. For most of my life I had been sure my love for Samuel, for my twin, could never be challenged, and I still loved him, loved him so much the look of betrayal on his face splintered me in half, but now there were my children and the man behind me.

  Remo’s gaze moved from me to him, and he touched my hip. I swallowed the rising emotion.

  “Please let us leave, Uncle,” I addressed Dante. “This war is because of me, and I can tell you I don’t want it. I don’t want to be avenged. Don’t rob my children of their father. I’ll go to Las Vegas with Remo where I belong, where my kids belong. Please, if you feel guilty for what happened to me, if you want to save me, then do this. Let me return to Vegas with Remo. This doesn’t have to be an endless spiral of bloodshed. It can end today. For your children, for mine. Let us leave.”

  Dante’s cold eyes were on Remo, not me. “Is she speaking in the name of the Camorra?”

  Remo’s grip on my hip tightened. “She does. You breached my territory, and I breached yours. We’re even.”

  “We’re not!” Samuel roared, stepping forward, swaying. Remo lifted his gun a couple of inches. “You kidnapped my sister and broke her. You twisted her into your fucking marionette. We won’t be done until I’m standing over your disemboweled corpse so my sister is finally free of you.”

  “Sam,” I choked. “Don’t do this. I know you don’t understand, but I need to return to Vegas with Remo, for myself, but more importantly for my children.”

  “I knew you should have gotten rid of them,” Samuel rasped, his eyes glassy. Remo’s hand on my hip jerked and I knew without the promise he’d given me, he would have killed my brother for his words.

  Dad came up behind Samuel and put his hand on his shoulder. “Send them with him to Las Vegas. They are Falcones, but you aren’t Fina. Be free of them and him. You can start a new life.”

  “Where my children go, I will go,” I said. “Don’t you think I’ve suffered enough for all of your sins? Don’t turn me into another pawn in your chess game. Set me free.”

  Realization settled in Sam’s eyes, and it broke my heart. I ached, ached for my family who would never understand. I could only hope they’d come to hate me one day so they didn’t miss me anymore. Remo’s grip on my hip loosened. Even the adrenaline wouldn’t keep him on his feet for an endless amount of time. He was too injured for that.

  “Let us leave. You failed me once, and now I’m lost to you. But please allow me to bring my children to a family that will love them. Allow me to bring my children home. You owe it to me.”

  Danilo made a disbelieving sound, his hand around his gun tightening.

  I hated myself for playing the guilt card, but I knew it was our only chance. For Remo to get out of here alive, I had to hurt the family I loved.

  Dante’s cold eyes met mine. “If I allow you to leave today, you are a traitor. You won’t be part of the Outfit. You will be the enemy. You won’t see your family again. There won’t be peace with the Camorra. This war has only begun.”

  Samuel heaved a deep breath, his eyes begging me to reconsider. Could I live without him?

  “When will this war ever end, Uncle?” I asked quietly. He looked at Remo, and I knew what he would say. “Never,” I whispered the answer.

  Dante inclined his head. Dad looked at me as if this was the final goodbye, a daughter lost for good.

  “Leave,” Dante said coldly.

  Danilo shook his head incredulously. “You can’t be serious, Dante. You can’t let them go.”

  Dante glanced at my ex-fiancé, looking tired.

  “Set me free,” I said softly.

  “Leave.”

  Relief and wistfulness slammed into me hearing that word. “T
hank you.”

  Dante shook his head. “Don’t thank me. Not for that.”

  Remo nudged me lightly, and I walked closer to the door, keeping my body between him and the others. I walked backward to keep an eye on my family. They didn’t attack. They didn’t stop us. Dad and Samuel looked broken. I had landed the ultimate hit, had broken them. I wondered how Mom would react when she found out. She’d be crushed. My heart was heavy as I led Remo to the parked car. He sank down on the passenger seat, passing out immediately. I closed the door and got behind the steering wheel. Greta and Nevio were still fast asleep in their seats.

  I hit the gas and sent the car flying down the long gravel road. I quickly connected to Bluetooth and called the Sugar Trap. It was the only number I’d found on the Internet.

  It took a while before the guy I talked to agreed to call Nino and to give him my number. I was starting to go crazy.

  Remo wouldn’t survive if I had to drive all the way to Vegas with him, and I couldn’t take him to a hospital in Outfit territory. What if my family got over their initial shock and decided to get rid of us after all? I needed to reach Camorra territory.

  My pulse spiked when my phone finally rang. I picked up after the second ring.

  “Is he dead?” Nino asked at once.

  I glanced at Remo who was slumped against the passenger door, breathing shallowly.

  “Not yet,” I got out.

  Nino was quiet for a moment. “Did you call to gloat? To let me hear my brother’s last screams?”

  That’s what he thought?

  “I’m in a car with him. We got out. We’re on our way.”

  “You got him out?” Nino asked sharply. “Where are you? We’re taking a helicopter and meeting you halfway. We’re in Kansas City. I’ll calculate the best spot now.”

  I told him where I was heading, and we agreed on a meeting place eighty miles from where I was.

  “He’s badly injured,” I said quietly.

  “Remo is too strong to die,” Nino said.

  Tears stung in my eyes. “I’m driving as quickly as I can.”

  “Serafina,” Nino began. “He thought you’d come back. He wanted you to come back on your own free will.”

  I swallowed. This wasn’t about Remo and me. This was about my children, and yet my chest ached with emotions as I regarded the man beside me. His dark hair sticking to his bloody forehead. “I need to drive,” I said and hung up.

  About one hour later I steered the car toward a deserted parking lot where a helicopter was already waiting. Nino and Savio stood beside it. I’d hoped Fabiano would be there. I trusted him more than these two.

  I came to a stop. They had their guns out, not trusting me. And I didn’t trust them either, but Remo was barely breathing. I gripped my gun and pushed out of the car. Nino approached, as usual a blank expression on his face. I had my gun pointed at him like he had his pointed at me. Of course, with his skills I’d be dead before my finger as much as twitched on the trigger.

  I lowered my gun and walked toward the passenger door, opening it. Nino still regarded me cautiously. Savio came up behind him, his gun at his side, not pointed at me. “Will you help me? Or do you want Remo to die?”

  Nino moved forward and the second he saw his brother, he shoved the gun into his holster and rushed to my side. He quickly checked Remo then gripped him under the arms. Remo groaned. Savio took his legs and they were about to lift him out when Greta woke and let out an earsplitting cry upon seeing two men she didn’t know. Nino and Savio both jerked their heads back then froze. Nevio had also awoken and his dark eyes stared back at them. My small Remo.

  “Holy fuck,” Savio gasped. His brown eyes flew up to me. “They are Remo’s.”

  It wasn’t a question because one look at Nevio and they knew he was their brother’s. “They are and he passed out before he could see them.” My throat constricted.

  Nino held my gaze for a moment and I knew then that I wouldn’t regret my decision because already now I could see that my kids would be Falcones.

  “Quick,” Nino muttered, and he and Savio carried Remo over to the helicopter.

  My heart thundering in my chest, I walked to the back door and opened it to unbuckle Nevio and Greta. “Shh,” I soothed my daughter. Nevio looked merely curious and a little sleepy.

  “Do you need help?” Savio asked close behind me, surprising me.

  I looked over my shoulder, hesitating, my protectiveness rearing its head.

  “Don’t give me that look. Your kids are safe. They will always be safe, and not just because Remo would kill me if something happened to them.”

  I nodded. “Can you take Nevio? Greta doesn’t like to be held by anyone but me.”

  Savio moved to the other door, opened it, and bent over Nevio, who regarded him with big dark eyes. “I’ve never held a baby,” Savio said reluctantly.

  “Speak to him soothingly and lift him against your chest. He can support his head by himself.”

  “Hey, Nevio,” Savio said as he slid his hands under Nevio’s armpits and carefully lifted him. It looked as if was holding a bomb about to detonate, but I was glad he was being careful. I hadn’t thought Savio could be like that.

  I turned to Greta and quickly lifted her as well then straightened to keep an eye on Savio. He held Nevio against his chest, and my son seemed content to be held by the unknown man. Savio’s eyes were curious and fascinated as he looked down at my boy. No resentment, no associated shame.

  Together we walked toward the helicopter. Greta pressed herself against me from the noise of the rotor blades. Nino was bent over Remo inside the helicopter. Remo was already getting a blood transfusion and another IV with a clear liquid while Nino felt his body.

  A man I didn’t know was in the cockpit.

  Nino turned to us when Savio held Nevio out to him. He grabbed my boy immediately, a strange look on his face as he regarded him. Savio climbed in and held out his hand for me. I awkwardly got in with Greta still clinging to me for dear life.

  I sank down on the bench, and Savio helped me buckle up. Nino handed Nevio back to him and Savio sat beside me. Nino’s eyes kept darting between Nevio and Greta, as if he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing. The moment the helicopter lifted off, Nino returned to Remo’s side.

  Nevio stared down at his father, then at me, and I swallowed the emotion. What if Remo died before he could see his kids? What if my children never met their father?

  I’d never expected Remo to want his children, but now that I knew he did, guilt washed over me. I thought I protected them by keeping them from him, by staying in the Outfit, but I had been wrong. Las Vegas was their home because it was Remo’s home.

  CHAPTER 28

  SERAFINA

  After we landed in Las Vegas, Nino immediately rushed Remo off to a hospital the Camorra worked with, and Savio stayed with me. I was exhausted and emotionally drained. “What happens with us now?” I asked tiredly.

  Savio gave me a surprised look. “I will take you to the mansion. Remo will want to have you and his kids around when he returns.”

  “You think he will survive?”

  Savio nodded. “Remo won’t die.”

  I followed Savio to a car and sank down on the backseat with my children.

  When I jerked awake, we had arrived and Fabiano was staring through the window as if he was seeing a ghost. He opened the door. “What the fuck?”

  “Remo’s got kids,” Savio explained.

  “I see that,” Fabiano said.

  Savio took Nevio again, and I got out with Greta, who had her face buried in my neck. Fabiano couldn’t stop staring at Nevio, then finally he met my gaze. “You saved Remo?”

  I nodded. Fabiano searched my eyes, and I wasn’t sure what he was looking for. “It’s too cold for Nevio and Greta to stay outside. Can you get my bag from the trunk?”

  Fabiano nodded and walked to the back of the car. I followed Savio inside the house, a strange sense of familiarity washing o
ver me. This place didn’t feel like home. I’d only experienced it as a captive, and I wondered how things would be now that I had come here freely.

  Could this become a home for me and my children?

  Savio had said Remo would want me to live here with them, but I wasn’t sure. It felt surreal being here, but there was no going back now.

  The realization sank in slowly, and for a moment I felt immobilized by the weight of it. Holding Greta seemed to ground me. “You can give Nevio to me,” I managed, offering my free arm.

  Savio’s brows drew together, but he gave me my son without hesitation, and I hugged him to me. Savio and Fabiano watched me for a moment, as if they weren’t sure what to do with me.

  “How is he?” Kiara asked, hurrying into the entrance hall. She jerked to a stop when she spotted me with the kids. Her eyes widened.

  “Nino took him to hospital,” Savio said.

  Kiara only stared at me. Her eyes darted down to Nevio and Greta, and she shook her head in disbelief. A girl with freckles and brown hair followed Kiara and also stopped in her tracks.

  Kiara was the first to move. She came toward me, her eyes alight with warmth. “How did Remo react?”

  Tears sprang into my eyes, and her smile fell.

  “He passed out before he saw them,” I whispered.

  “Nothing kills Remo,” Fabiano said firmly.

  I nodded.

  Greta began crying, and Nevio, too, was becoming increasingly cranky. “I need to feed them and change their diapers. Then they need a place to sleep.”

  Savio glanced at Fabiano, who shrugged.

  Kiara rolled her eyes. “Would it be okay if I took you to the bedroom you were in ... last time? I don’t want to open the other rooms in Remo’s wing. Or would you prefer to stay in my and Nino’s wing?”

  I choked out a laugh. “I’ll stay in Remo’s wing.”

  The other girl smiled hesitantly.

  “I’m Serafina. And this is Nevio and Greta.”

  “Leona,” she said. “Nice to meet you.” Fabiano stepped up to her and put his hand on her waist in a possessive gesture. So she was his girl.