father says in a low snarl. "Or pay for your insolence with your worthless life, cane."
Marzia's father shakes his head before spitting at my father's feet. "You're an idiot, Bruno Bernardi. You will pay for this crime in blood. Do you really want your family erased from the planet? Every last shred of Bernardi pride wiped away like you're worth fucking nothing?"
"You make big threats for a man who's got a gun pointed to his head," father smirks.
"You're a dead man," Marzia's father hisses. "Once the Donatis find out about this, you're a dead man fucking walking!"
"I already am," father laughs, emptying the gun into De Luca's patriarch's forehead.
Marzia screams and so does her mother, but I pay it no mind. My bambina's body collapses to the ground and she hammers her little fists against the blood-stained marble floor as her father's lifeless body hits the ground. I pull my gun out too, approaching father.
"Did you really have to kill him in front of her?" I hiss at him. "She's going to hate me for that."
"This doesn't concern you," father grunts in response. "It goes beyond your childish obsession with that girl. This means war."
Without looking away from me, he fires another bullet into Marzia's mama's brain. Another lifeless body hits the floor with a thud. The sound of Marzia's horrified screams rings out through the great hall. I rub my temples, spitting on the body of someone I don't recognize on the ground. I'll need to work on Marzia forgiving me.
I turn around just in time to see her get up, rushing to get her bearings. She takes off down the hallway and father points the gun at her.
"Are you fucking insane?" I demand, slapping his hand away. "Don't you fucking dare."
"She's a liability," he growls. "She's better off dead and we both know it."
"She's the reason we're here," I get out through gritted teeth.
"That's what you think." Father laughs before pointing his men up the stairs. "We lost Donati. Find him. Now."
"No," I reply firmly. "I'm going after Marzia."
"You will do as you are told, Adrian."
"I told you," I grind out. "My priority is the girl. If you want to enact your childish fucking vendetta, go ahead. You already killed everyone she holds dear to her heart. She'll never love me after what you've done."
"Love?" Father laughs out loud. "You're too fucking naive for you own good, Adrian. But go after her, if you must. Just trust me on one thing - that girl will never love you. For her, you are now the enemy. And that will never, ever change."
His words ring out in my ears as I set down the hallway, eager to catch Marzia before she makes it too far. I see the hint of her pink glittery dress as she runs, kicking off her heels, bare feet hitting marble as she does her best to put some distance between herself and me. But she'll never be fast enough. I've waited my whole life to capture her, and I'm not giving up now.
I finger the chain with her nonna's wedding ring in my pocket as I come up behind her. I snatch her arms and force her to stop. She's sobbing, tears running down her face along with her perfectly painted on mascara. She whips around to face me and roars like a lioness.
"You killed them! You killed my parents!"
"Well, technically, my father did-" Her slap hits me out of nowhere. But before she can retreat her hand, I've grabbed her by the wrist and I'm staring down at her with a cold expression. "You just made a grave mistake, bambina. Never hurt the hand that fucking feeds you."
"I'm not letting you come near me ever again," she spits out in disgust. "You ruined my life! You took everything away from me! I will never not hate you."
So, my father's words come true. But her vehemence as she says them only makes me more determined to make Marzia submit. One day, she will kneel for me. Until then, I will enjoy breaking her mind thought by fucking thought until she's eager to get on her knees for me.
"You ever hit me again like that," I tell Marzia. "I will punish you."
"What are you going to do?" she snarls. "Cut off my fingers?"
"Maybe I'll cut your pretty hair instead." I grab her mane of dark hair, twirling my fingers in it. "Maybe I'll cut it all off. Maybe I'll take away your food. You don't know