He walks away, leaving me the shell of a man I used to be before I walked into this chapel. Fuck. Everything is falling apart. My life has crumbled around me. Now there's nothing left for me to do but pick up the pieces and start over.
Livia makes a move to embrace me, but I shrug her off. She pouts, asking, "Don't you want me to make you feel better?"
"No," I shake my head resolutely. "I need to be alone."
I stride past her and overhear my brother Julian stopping her when she tries to follow me. His footsteps follow mine, but I can't stop, not now. I break into a run and keep going until I reach the maze. I always feel safe there.
Dipping into the hedges, I don't stop until I find the center of the maze. I know the directions there by heart now, I could find it blindfolded. I hear someone coming after me, and a moment later, Julian appears, out of breath and pissed with me.
"I don't want to hear it right now," I hiss.
"I'm not here to lecture you. Relax." Julian holds up his hands in an effort to convince me everything's okay. "I just want to help."
I collapse on the metal bench where only weeks ago, I had Nicoletta. I can't even think of her now, because even her name is fake. Running my fingers through my hair, I groan out loud.
"It's a fucking mess," I growl. "Everything is fucking ruined."
"It is," Julian nods. "But you will find your way out of the ruins, just like you did last time."
"I don't want to," I admit, my voice breaking. "I'm fucking done."
"You loved her, didn't you?"
I press my lips tightly together and nod. "I did. What did they do to her?"
Julian shrugs. "Threw her in the dungeon, I'm guessing. Father will decide what will happen to her, after we find out who she really is."
"I can't believe it." I groan again, tugging on my hair in frustration. "I trusted her."
"You can't trust anyone," Julian says. "I don't."
"Doesn't that make you feel alone?"
He shrugs again. "Better to be alone than have a knife twisted into your back by someone you considered a friend. You can't trust anyone in the mafia. Everyone's a fucking backstabber."
I manage a weak smile. "You're only nineteen. When did you get so wise?"
"One day I'll tell you," Julian laughs, clapping me on the back. "They're cleaning the... mess in the chapel now. What do you want to do?"
"I need to get away," I mutter. "I can't be here right now. I need to go somewhere where nobody will bother you."
"Father has some apartments in Palermo," Julian reminds me. "We can go there. I'll stay with you."
"Fine," I nod. "I just need to get the hell away from here and forget."
"Your wish is my command," my little brother nods. "Let me get us a ride."
Nobody stops us as we walk out of the maze and into the black limousine that was meant to take Nicoletta and me to the airport for our honeymoon. Father's apartment in the city is a bachelor pad, and Julian admits he's used it before for hookups.
But my mind couldn't be further away from fucking some woman I don't know to shut down the pain in my heart. While my brother takes a different woman to the luxury penthouse suite every night, I drink my problems away for ten days straight.
Most of the time, I'm in a drunken stupor strong enough not to think about her. Whatever the fuck her name is. When I'm not, I'm either plagued by thoughts, memories, and of nightmares of her. I did the same thing when Livia ruined our wedding, but this time it's different. Something tells me this time I won't be able to forget and move on. Something tells me the Nicoletta I knew left a mark on my soul I won't be able to erase – ever.
And as the days pass and my drunken haze becomes thicker and thicker, I realize I've become a different man.
Crueler.
Stricter.
Meaner.
And once I see Nicoletta again – because I have no doubt I will – I'm going to fucking destroy her for what she did to me and my famiglia.
Oh yes, the fake Nicoletta Carlucci will pay. It's just a matter of fucking time. And while I may not be strong enough to kill her, what I have in store for the little liar is much worse than death could possibly be.
I'm pissed off, and I fully intend on taking out my frustrations on the girl I thought I loved.
But she lied.
And there's only one punishment for a little liar like her.
I'm going to torture her in the way I best know how, and once she's broken, I'll toss her away as if she never meant anything to me at all.