I knew it. I roll my eyes, inwardly sigh, and send a prayer to our heavenly father to bring me a break. When my father steps closer to me, I remember the only God around is the one who acts in the most demonic ways. I’ll never catch a break if this is the ruler we live under.
“Don’t be such an ungrateful bitch,” Giovanni spits and once again, I’m met with a wall of hostility and the same death glare he gives me on a daily basis. He thinks because I’m the only female in this family that I have a rite of passage or some other bullshit that grants me fairer treatment from our father. I mean, of course, killing people to keep my place in this house is a real treat! “You are given opportunity after opportunity to prove yourself and you always look ready to decline. How hard is it to seduce a man and slip him some poison? It seems pretty damn easy to me. You can’t be that awful at flirting with a man that he doesn’t want you on the first date. After all, it’s in your blood.”
Now, after years of this same attitude, I can feel myself snapping. There was only a brief time in my life when I didn’t have a hit list after my first kill. I was just Amelia Abbiati – young, carefree Amelia. And that was just after my twenty-second birthday. I was young and in love and my father granted me time to just indulge. But when it went sour, I came back a changed woman. I think it was part of his plan for me. A way to transform me into this heartless woman without his total involvement. As Giovanni’s bickering continues, I break entirely, unable to hold back after years of the same petulant tantrum from him.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Giovanni, if you want the job so much, you can have the honor of seducing men,” I explode, not holding back. It is the same pitiful rant every time my father broaches me about continuing the Dio Lavoro. “I’m sure they’d really go for the machismo and permanent foul look on your face. It’s clearly working with the women.” My sarcasm is taking a hold of me, and I cannot just let it go. “Oh, wait-”
“Okay, okay!” My father steps between us, hands out to push us further apart. “I’ve had enough of squabbles and arguing, I don’t need it from you two now.” He lowers his hands, taking an inhale for tranquil purposes. “Giovanni, back the hell away from her,” my father commands with stern tone before he turns back to me. “Amelia, don’t give him ammunition.” I can see the worry in his arms. He was there before when Giovanni had me pinned against a wall by my throat, and it took a gun to Giovanni’s temple to get him away from me. Just one of the many bonding moments Giovanni and I have shared. “You need to learn when not to provoke him.”
“Bastardo,” I mutter as I turn away, and I hear Giovanni growl. I walk off and bypass the dead body of Ricardo entirely. I decide to go stand by Enzo who is just watching us.
“You had to do it, didn’t you?” Enzo quips, looking at me with fierce amusement. I offer him a shrug and an amused grin. “He will kill you one day.”
“Mmm, I’m the killer of this family,” I whisper to him. “I think I can handle him.”
I see my father offer the solace of a small grin, telling me he agrees, but decides to move the subject on. “Princess?” my father calls out to me, and I turn back, taking a few choice steps forward. “I know you’ve just finished a kill, Amelia, but the next one needs immediate briefing.”
“Okay,” I tell him, and he grabs me gently by my biceps and pulls me close to kiss my forehead.
“Come with me,” he instructs lightly, and we head down to my father’s office. I forget all about Giovanni and decide to unclip my hair, shaking it out. I find myself suddenly ready to take a long soak in a bath and relieve some tension. I just need to get my next man’s name and work out the best way to get into his life. Then I can just give up today and start anew tomorrow.
We enter the room that is darkened with deep red paint, dark oak flooring, and unforgiving dark furniture that just adds to the foreboding. Even the one window behind my father’s desk does little to add any source of life and hope into this room – just how my father likes it. We’re barely in the room for more than two seconds before my father begins to tell me who I’m required to get rid of next.
“Zane Maverick,” he says and I can see from the look in his eyes that he knew exactly how I would react.
My heart stops. If that was ever physically possible to happen once, it’s honestly happened for a fourth time, and all because of this one man. First was when we first met; it was like destiny was singing to me, telling me that he was my soul mate. The second time was when we first kissed. It was so innocent and honest, but it was the beginning of the end because the third time my heart stopped dead in my chest was when he broke my heart and walked away. The fourth time is right now, and I don’t see the rhythm being kicked back into sequence anytime soon.