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Chapter 67
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2024-10-29 19:42:56“You sure you’re gonna be fine?” Dante asks, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear. His eyes scan my body from head to toe before he settles back on my eyes.
“I’ll be fine, okay? Please don’t worry. We need to do this.” I say with finality, not wanting to argue for the third time.
After I walked away from his makeshift office here in the safehouse, Dante followed me into our bedroom and lingered while I washed up and got ready for my brunch, arguing the entire time about how unsafe it was.
Now, as I pull away from him to slip on my black Chelsea boots, the final piece to complete my ensemble of high-waisted black pants, plain black tee tucked into my pants, and dark denim jacket, Dante sighs in defeat.
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The screaming and sounds of breaking glass transport me back to the most dreaded night of my life. Just like the night of my parents’ deaths, my heart hammers in my chest, and my vision and hearing blur from the fear creeping into my system. It’s only when I hear a sharp cry beside me that I snap back to reality. It’s Natalie. “Natalie! Wait!” I call out from where I’d collapsed on the floor in shock. “It’s not safe!” But either she doesn’t hear me or she doesn’t care. Where the hell did that explosion come from? ‘Promise me, Jean.’ Dante’s voice filters into my head. I promised him that at the first sign of danger, I’d run. But I can’t l
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“Dante!” I yell again, ignoring how hard Natalie has been pulling on my arm. “Jean! He said to run across! Come on!” Natalie’s voice shivers but the strength she has is surprising. But I don’t want to leave without him. But the time I used to wait costs us greatly, two men suddenly pop up out of nowhere, grabbing Natalie by her wrist. “Jean!” I focus immediately, aiming my gun and shooting our assailant’s foot before kicking him off of Natalie. The moment she’s free, I fire another round into the man’s chest, ignoring how my hands shake as I do. Seeing how easily I’ve disposed of his comrade, the other man hesitates, but I don’t. Before he could a
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I look Natalie straight in the eyes, uncaring of the way her hands shake, and how her face seems to be drained of blood. “Did you set us up?” I ask keeping my voice steady despite my trembling lips. I hold my breath waiting for Natalie’s reply with the potential to destroy whatever friendship we’ve managed to build. “No! Jean I swear to you I didn’t know this was going to happen. Camille! She—” She tries to explain but I cut her off. The mere fact that she knew something was about to go down was enough. “So you knew something was up and have the audacity to pretend to be innocent?” I don’t bother hiding the venom in my tone. “I—” “That’s all I nee
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“Maybe aren’t cut out for this after all. Flinching at the mere sight of blood, Miss?” The remark catches me off-guard, but my eyes don’t leave the sight in front of me, standing on the other side of an interrogation room, much like what they have in police stations. However, instead of the usual blues and grays of police stations, this one has white walls on the mirrored side, save for the dried bloodstains on the floor and the walls, which I think is intentional, giving the occupants of the room a preview of what they can look forward to. The white motif is followed on our side of the room, which reminds me of a hospital. The same mechanics work, we can see and hear everything going on inside, but those who are inside cannot. Beltini returns to my side of the room wh
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There aren’t enough words to describe the gore in front of me, and that’s just on the visuals, not to mention the smell. The room is surprisingly hot, and the poor ventilation does nothing to help with the quickly desiccating smell of blood and flesh. I’ve watched Beltini beat them up and pry each of their fingernails one by one, and seeing the outcome firsthand stirs up whatever I ate in the restaurant hours ago. The one on my left looks worse than the one on the right. Beltini had tortured him more, beating him up with a crazed smile on his face, but this man is too proud, the determination shining brightly in his eyes. He won’t break, at least not soon enough. Poor things.
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“That’s absurd. You can’t lead us.”I don’t stop the scoff that leaves my lips. What I’m asking for isn’t absurd, but the general reaction from Beltini is.But I won’t allow him to stop me. Standing up a little straighter, I fix every man in the room with a stern look, daring them to speak against me. Killian, Daveed, and Luca give me a small nod, a small gesture but a vow to follow my command. The rest of the room comprises Beltini’s men and some of Dante’s.It’s a bad mix, but I would have to make do. I can’t rescue Dante on my own, I would need their help. So, I need to win them over, one way or another.“And why the hell not? I feel li
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My hands don’t shake, not when my heart hammers in my chest, and not when I’m pointing a gun to a man’s head.Man.This is no man.“I wasn’t asking. Take me to my husband. Now.” There’s no time to lose.I’ve seen what happened to his men. Broken, bleeding, and dead in an otherwise pristine interrogation room. And whatever damage Beltini did to them physically, I know I did to that poor Jason mentally. He sang like a canary after what I did. And I’m glad Luca killed him when he told us where Dante was because t
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Move. Fucking move!But my legs remain rooted to the floor.My eyes are fixated on Dante’s, wanting nothing more than to gut every person who hurt him. Seeing him hurt, makes me hurt so I want to hurt someone and everyone else.My feet begin to move then, running toward him only to be stopped by the two men in white lab coats. I struggle in their holds, screaming as I do so, calling for Dante over and over but he never looks at me, just keeps thrashing and screaming. And God,
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Fallen From Grace [Married to the Mafia Novel] EPILOGUE
12 YEARS LATER. “Come on! We’re going to miss it! Hurry, Papa!” “Okay, okay. Slow down, sweetheart.” The man hastens after his daughter, weaving through a small crowd of people that had just arrived, same as them. The young girl complains, “We promised Lily we’d be on time—there!” she points to the entrance of the auditorium. “Lily!” Lily waves back frantically at her sister. “You made it, Rose!” Lily replies running up the remainder of the distance between them. “You missed the opening ceremony but the displays are out. Come on!” The twins leave their father behind, opting to rush inside the auditorium that was converted into a small gallery to display the artworks created by the students of the summer art program. The auditorium is large for a school with a population of only a few hundred, but the family decided that a private school was best for their kids. “Ah, you’ve finally arrived,” Jean greets her husband as he strides toward her. She looks as beautiful as ever with her
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Jean“Is there somewhere we can talk privately?” he asks when he notices the tear that escapes my eye. “I won’t have tears for our reunion, love.”I quickly wipe away the tears that managed to stain my cheeks and pull away from the man I used to call my husband.With my head still spinning, I manage to get out of work immediately with the promise that I would close the deal with the mysterious art donor.Dante—or rather, Gavin and I find ourselves behind the safety of my apartment doors soon enough.“Now,” I order just as the doors close behind us. “Explain yourself.”Gavin quirks an eyebrow at me, “Quite a warm welcome, love.” I sense the sarcasm in his voice which makes me roll my eyes at him.“When you explain yourself, I might reconsider.”“Why are you mad at me?” he asks almost in disbelief. “When everything I did, I did for you.”“For me?” I scoff loudly, returning the same energy and disbelief. “You left me alone for two years! Even when I asked you to come—” then shaking my he
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JeanI think it’s been three days since I learned about Dante’s death. Three days that I’ve stayed home, calling in sick for work because there’s no way I can hold myself together in public when I burst into tears every hour or so.It’s been three days since my world shattered.The television has been playing on the same news channel the whole time with me waiting for any developments. I dove into the deeper parts of the internet, looking for any information but there is none to be found.“This is it, huh?” I whisper to myself, clinging onto the fleece blanket wrapped around me as I stare out the window. The heavy rain doesn’t help my mood at all, but it gives me comfort that the sky weeps for my loss too.I go to sleep that night feeling a blackhole-sized void in my heart.~~~The next morning, I woke up with several texts from the gallery asking me to come back to work. I’ve informed them that I couldn’t come but it must be an emergency if even my head supervisor is leaving me voic
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JeanI don’t remember the bar being this stuffy, but I somehow find myself suffocating in the middle of a conversation with my colleagues. And suddenly the black dress I’m wearing is too short and too tight on my body.I shouldn’t have come tonight. It’s a full night at the club, and it doesn’t take long before I request to move to a private room. I’m met with various curious and lust-filled looks but I ignore them. Parisians know how to party, and oftentimes those parties involve more than just drinking and dancing, there’s always something more.I’m sure my colleagues assumed I was asking for more, but I simply needed to get away from the crowd.Lara invited way too many strangers, but I figured this party was more for them than it was for my work anniversary. But I go along with it. I’ll just have to find an excuse to leave a bit earlier than the rest of them.“Jean, why aren’t you dancing?” Lara pipes up hugging me from behind. I chuckle softly, she’s already buzzed. “Ditch these
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Jean I fumble with my coat as I reach for my phone in my purse. The rain hasn’t let up once since December rolled in. I would have preferred to stay in the office today, but the statement for Bianca’s tuition came in my email last night.I tried to call her, but Bianca’s phone seems to be turned off and I went straight to voice mail.“Hey, Bub. I’m on my way to the bank now to pay for your tuition and other fees. Let me know if you need anything else— Oh! And as usual, do you want me to release your trust yet or not? That’s all bye! Call me back!”The answer has always been the same. Bianca doesn’t want to touch the money our parents left us until she was making her own. And I took it upon myself to pay for her education despite her protests.But I still figured I’d ask her every four months or so. Bianca was sustaining herself by working part-time and getting free lessons by volunteering for every camp and workshop. But she grew up sheltered and pampered. As her big sister, I still
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DanteIn the end, Jean leaves like a thief in the night. She left no note except for the signed divorce papers on top of the living room center table. I watch from the balcony as Jean shoulders a small carry-on bag with only her essentials. Despite the thundering protests I feel stirring in my chest, I know that tonight is the night I lose her. From the corner of my eye, I spot a few men with guns trained at her, ready to fire at my command. Their previous orders were to not allow Jean out of their sight, which includes having to injure her if she gets taken away by enemies again. But this time is different.Luca stands beside me, watching the same scene unfold. “Dante, are you sure about letting her get away?”I understand his sentiments. The amount of time, money, and effort I’d put into making her mine, only to watch her walk away in the end.And I was sure. But as I watch her walk away, I find out that letting her go is the single hardest thing I’ve done in my life.“Yes, tell m
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DanteI let Jean cry in my arms. The contract was a way to keep us both tethered to each other, and now that it’s gone, there’s nothing officially tying us together. In a way, we both lost someone tonight.“What happens now?” Jean asks with the softest voice. She sniffles a bit before sitting up, but she doesn’t leave my lap.With us finally being at eye level, I can see how red Jean’s nose is, her cheeks are tinted pink as well. She’s beautiful, and I make sure to tell her just that.“Will you stay?” I ask instead, even though I know full well that Jean’s already made up her mind about this long ago.Her eyes soften as she takes me in fully. One of Jean’s hands comes up to cup my cheek, and she smiles ever so softly as she whispers my name.“Dante… I love you,” Jean starts and it’s the saddest I’ve ever heard her utter those words. I know there’s a but coming up. “I never asked for this life, and I—I don’t want any part of it.”Jean finishes talking, shaking her head from side to sid
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DanteThe day I’ve been dreading has finally come. The day that I let her go.I watch Jean silently as she stares out of the wall windows. With the rain softly pattering outside, it reflects my mood perfectly. Jean looks stunning even in sleep shorts and a pullover she stole from my closet. She looks so perfect in my clothes, in my penthouse… and in my life.Suddenly the folder in my hand feels heavier than it should be.I ground myself before approaching Jean, needing to be a hundred percent sure I can handle this conversation. Because once I start, there’s no going back.“Hey,” I whisper in her ear as I wrap my arms around her from behind. Jean leans into my touch, resting her head against my shoulder.“What is it?” she asks, a frown on her face as she turns in my arms to face me. She must have noticed my agitation. “Is everything okay?” Jean reaches forward and cups my cheek.“Yeah,” I reply simply, offering her a reassuring smile—at least I tried to. “Come here for a sec.”“Dante,
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JeanUpon hearing those words, I notice that Dante had made himself scarce. Now that I think about it, he didn’t enter the living room with me and Bianca. He most likely left the penthouse to talk to Noah. How do I know that? Because there is no way in hell that Dante would have allowed Bianca to travel alone right when the investigation for the Regis family is about to start.But there’s something in the air that doesn’t quite feel like home.The woman in front of me may look like my little sister, Bianca, but she’s different. The last time I saw her she still had her baby cheeks and that wanderlust look in her eyes, but now that’s all gone.Her eyes no longer hold wonder in them but wisdom that only hardship and experience can mold. Her features look more angled, more mature.It makes me wonder if I somehow look the same to her or if I’ve changed in her eyes as she has changed in mine.I smile at my sister, albeit a little sad that I missed out on an entire year of her life. My baby
