Ruthless Empire: A Dark Mafia Collection

I looked at Molly. “Can you get the room ready?”

“Sure,” she replied, but she was still glaring at Willow.

“Fine. Go.”

Gabriel, Stacy, and Molly stood up from their seats and left the office, but Willow stayed sitting in her spot. I didn’t say anything for a long time, but when it was clear her plan was to sit there ruminating, I turned to look at her.

“Willow.”

She shook her head. She stood up and walked over to the door to walk out. She stopped just shy of the frame and looked back over her shoulder at me. “This is a mistake. I hope it’s worth it.”

She was gone without another word, leaving me sinking even further into the black hole that was eating me alive.

20

Willow

The whole energy in the house shifted when Gabriel and Stacy returned from the hospital with Denise in tow. I’d chosen to sit in the garden to try and calm my nerves, but it was a terrible idea because I had a clear shot of Gabriel and Stacy loading her in, followed by Molly fawning all over her, asking what she wanted to eat to help her recover. Denise was laying it on thick enough, telling everyone not to make such a fuss over her, but I could see the slyness in her smile.

She had the Varassos wrapped around her finger, all for taking a bullet to the side of her stomach, one I was convinced she planned. After getting enough dirty looks from Molly and the house staff she’d clearly already spoken to about me, I decided to go up to the suite instead. I noticed that the door to the bedroom was open, so Alessandro must not have opted to come back to the suite for his afternoon nap. That was fine with me. I didn’t want to see him anyway.

I walked into the bedroom and sat down on the bed. I kept playing over the conversation with Denise in my head. She’d all but confirmed that she was Denise Costa, or her heart monitor had done it for her. I knew she was lying, but the Varassos were all eating out of the palm of her hand and were never going to believe me at this point. The longer I sat there, the more the reality of the situation washed over me. Denise was more welcome in the house than I was, so why was I even there? I wanted to try and protect my family from her, but if they weren’t going to listen to me, there was only so much I could do. I’d lost Alessandro, both in the battle against Denise and in our relationship. Maybe it was best that I just left.

My fury subsided to let sadness in. It was best that I leave. Maybe Alessandro and I had been fooling ourselves with trying to make things work for so long. The thought of not waking up in the same house as him any more brought tears to my eyes, but if he was past the point of no return, the only thing that awaited me if I stuck around was a worse pain. I wanted to see my brother. I wanted to hold my baby girl. I wanted to talk to my best friend. Maine was the best place for me for now, at least until I could figure out where Alexis and I would go next.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and navigated to Ricky’s number. I pressed the button to Facetime him and settled my face against my knees. When the call picked up and his face appeared on the other side, my emotions flowed out more earnestly. Ricky wasn’t just my twin brother, he was my closest confidant, and seeing him always softened whatever hardened walls I tried to put up.

“Hey,” I whimpered. “I miss you.”

Ricky looked pained at seeing me cry. “I miss you. What’s going on?” I always struggled with telling Ricky what was going on between Alessandro and me. Alessandro was Ricky’s best friend, and no one wanted us to work out more than he did. “Willow. Just tell me. It’s okay.”

“It’s over now. Officially. We told everyone.” I sniffled in some tears. “And things are so fucked up here.”

Ricky looked as heartbroken as I felt. “I’m so sorry, Willow.”

I gnawed the inside of my cheek. “I miss him so much, but he’s gone.”

“Maybe—”

“No.” I shook my head. “Ricky, trust me. If you talked to him now, you probably wouldn’t even recognize him.” Ricky didn’t respond, so I continued. “You’re probably going to need some more hands around now that Kelly’s popped, huh?”

Ricky stared sadly back at me. “We’re managing.”

“Ricky.”

He sighed. “Alexis would love to see you. Besides, I know if you’re to the point that you want to leave after sticking around all this time, there’s not much else I can say.”

I shook my head. “No. I’m sorry, but it’s over.”

He nodded. “Okay. Well, what’s your plan? Are you coming tonight?”

I hadn’t really thought it through much. It wasn’t a rush decision, per se. I always knew that Maine would be my refuge if I ever had to run from Philly, but I hadn’t planned the specifics. It was about an eight-hour drive, but the only car I had was the one Alessandro and I had been sharing. Ricky took the car I had in California with him to Maine. I could rent one, but flying honestly seemed like a better idea, even if I didn’t feel like dealing with how many people that would force me to interact with.

“If I fly in, can you pick me up?” I asked. The closest airport to Harpswell was in Portland, Maine, about forty-five minutes away.

“Yeah, me or Sasha. Will you send me all your flight info once you’ve booked?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, of course.” I looked at the sadness on his face, and it broke my heart. “Ricky. I’m sorry.”