was no kinder to me than he was to you, or anyone else for that matter. I wanted it to be just the two of us. I would take care of you...even if you were pregnant with his child.”
“Brutto figlio di puttana bastardo!” Alessandro swore vehemently, and then whipped out his gun, leaning its pipe against Broderick's temple. “That's the last fucking drop...Cara, you've had your chance but now the lying bastard has to go.”
“Alessandro don't!” I screamed, and forced him to look me in the eyes. “Don't. Please. I still need to say what I came here to say.”
“Olivia, I swear to you that I'm telling the truth,” Broderick yelled in a desperate need to save his life.
“It doesn't matter!” I kept my eyes locked with Alessandro's, and silently begged him not to pull the trigger. “And frankly, I don't care. You've spent the last two years scheming and lying to me so why should I listen to anything you have to say? Do you know what is going to happen to you, Broderick?”
He gulped and paled. “If I'm lucky enough, your husband is going to put a bullet through my head. If not, it might take a lot more than that before I'm dead.”
“That’s a fair assessment, but it doesn't have to end like that,” I said calmly. “If I offered you a chance to live, would you take it?”
“I would,” he muttered in clear distress. “Of course, I fucking would. I'll do whatever you want. Just make him put away that gun!”
“In that case, I have a proposition you might be willing to consider,” I revealed. “Instead of receiving a bullet to your head, Alessandro is going to take you to the police station where you can talk to those two nice detectives and tell them the truth about the accident.”
“Cara, that’s out of the question,” Alessandro interjected with swift reprimand. “This bastard cannot be trusted. How can we be sure he won't cooperate with the police or implicate you with his confession?”
“He won't,” I said firmly. “He won't because he understands it would mean all bets are off the table and you would be coming after him with a vengeance. Isn't that right, Broderick?”
“Olivia, you don't have to worry about that. I wouldn't implicate you in anything. I'll do what you want. I'll agree to your conditions. I'll go to prison…just please—”
“I didn't say you were getting that choice,” Alessandro intervened.
“Think about it,” Broderick desperately tried to reason with him. “If you kill me, they're going to come after her sooner or later, and she'll have no one to advocate on her behalf.”
“She'll have me, and I'm perfectly capable of protecting her,” Alessandro retorted, cocking the gun in his hand.
Broderick trembled like a leaf in the wind. “Y-You're powerful, but even you can't stop charges for attempted murder once the case gets to court and the journalists get a hold of it. You know you can't.”
Alessandro pressed the gun even tighter against Broderick’s temple and held his index finger on the trigger, but something made him hesitate. Once again, he glowered at me. “Olivia, there's no fucking way I'm putting your destiny in his hands,” he said softly.
“You don't have a choice,” Broderick said, and Alessandro smacked him across the face, yelling at him to shut his filthy mouth.
“He's right,” I insisted. “Alessandro, this is the best way. He's the one who planned and set up the accident so let him pay for it. I feel guilty for what happened, but I'm not going to prison because of what he did. I want to be around to raise my baby.”
“Cara, don't say these things—”
“How else am I supposed to say it?” I demanded in a heavy voice. “I don't really care what happens to me, but I don't want my baby to grow up without a mother. Please, let him go to the police.”
Alessandro's shoulders flexed with tension, and I could tell he seethed with rage he fought to suppress. I was certain he was too far gone to change his mind.
“Listen to your wife, Damiani,” Broderick gritted through his teeth in palpable fear. “Do you really want to risk it?”
Alessandro shook his head and his eyes screamed murder, but he didn't pull the trigger. Instead, he sighed like he had lost some kind of inner battle. “Fine. I will give you the benefit of the doubt. But if you set her up, if you mention as much as her name…” he threatened in a deep,