Faked A Dark Mafia Romance - Vanessa Waltz Page 0,72
just want your money.”
“I’ll give you a twenty-percent stake.”
“Thirty-five,” he shot.
“Twenty-five.”
Alessio shrugged and offered me a hand. “Deal.”
I shook it, as an inner voice screamed. By far, the worst deal I’d ever made, but it’d be worth it if it convinced Liana I wasn’t a hopeless asshole.
He held onto me, smirking. “Having a conscience gets expensive, doesn’t it?”
You have no idea.
My gaze slid to his wife. “What about you?”
“Ask him for another twenty-five, honey.”
Mia ignored her husband and smiled at me. “I don’t need anything, Vinn. I forgive you.”
Alessio tutted. “Terrible negotiator.”
I stepped back, well aware I’d signed over hundreds of thousands of dollars. “So we’re good?”
“Yeah,” Alessio muttered after a long pause. “I think so.”
“Maybe I’ll have you both over some time.”
Alessio quirked an eyebrow. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
Mia thumped his chest. “We’d love that.”
“I’ll see you guys later. Have a nice night.”
They gaped at me like I’d said something in a foreign language. As I walked to the car, my loafers drenched, I waited for a weight to lift off my shoulders. Intense nausea and desolation swept over me.
Nothing had changed.
The next few hours were pure torture. It somehow topped being shot, stabbed, and dragged to a mock-execution, because at least she’d still been in my life. I couldn’t inhale without a stitch in my ribs. All I’d done since I got home was stare at photos of my wife.
I missed her.
A fist hammered my door.
I tossed my phone aside and yanked it open.
Michael stood in the doorway, his shirt half-untucked, his hair askew like he’d spent the ride to my place clenching it, and darkness billowed over him like a rolling storm. He stepped in, radiating a corrosive contempt that fouled the air.
“Is Liana with you?”
I was so damned pathetic.
“Why, so you can break up with her again?”
He shoved me.
My back hit the console table, pain slicing my spine. He punched my face. Agony exploded across my jaw. My teeth ached. My world spun. Two savage blows knocked out my breath. He’d never hit me like this, even at our worst.
I collapsed, gasping.
“You sent her away, you fucking loser!” Michael’s foot whirled, slamming into my stomach. “She’s carrying your kid, and you give up on her?”
I rolled over, stunned. I’d never told Michael about the phony pregnancy. The chaos surrounding Nico’s death had driven it clean from my mind, and it’d stopped being a fake relationship weeks ago.
“I warned you,” he glowered, his shoe pressing my neck. “Hurt her, and you’re dead.”
I gripped his ankle and shoved him off. A blow struck my head, and my vision blacked out. His knuckles bashed my skull, hitting me so hard the echo of grinding bones filled my ears. He refused to let up. His merciless punching slammed me into the ground.
If I didn’t stop him, he’d kill me.
I tackled his middle, hurling him into a console table. Michael grunted at the impact. Hissing, he launched at me. I scrambled out of the way, warding him off with a chair.
“Michael, calm down. I didn’t send her away.”
He batted the chair. “Put it down and fight me.”
“No. Let’s talk about this.”
I had fifty pounds on Michael, and I would murder him. If anything happened to her brother, Liana would be devastated. I couldn’t have that on my conscience.
“I’m done with you, buddy.”
Michael grabbed his sidearm. He pointed it at me, chest heaving.
I held up my hands. “Do you have to dial everything to eleven?”
“I warned you,” he snarled. “I told you what’d happen.”
“Christ, Michael. I did nothing wrong. I just—”
“I gave you a chance. You blew it!” His voice tore, the gun trembled. “You used my sister. She is the only sibling I have, and you destroyed her.”
His words ripped me apart.
“What—what do you mean? Is she okay?”
“No, she’s not, you fucking maniac.”
A horrible dread went through me. “She’s hurt?”
“Of course she’s in pain. Her husband abandoned her with a baby! You kicked her out of your home!” A red flush wrapped his throat as he screamed at the top of his lungs. “You knocked her up, and you can’t deal with it.”
“Michael, listen to me. She is not pregnant—”
“You really can’t handle being a father, huh?” he shouted, railroading me. “What a coward.”
“Michael, I love her. I’d do anything for her.” I backed into the couch as Michael advanced, his eyes flashing. “Look at me, and tell me you don’t believe me.”
His hazel pools bored into mine. “Then why is she at my house?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Explain.”
I strolled into the