“My God, Lily,” Aria said shrilly. I couldn’t remember the last time she’d sounded so scared. I met her gaze.
“What happened? Are you okay?” she asked. She ran her hands over my arms, her eyes lingering on my ripped skirt.
I didn’t reply. Luca had started moving toward the body and knelt beside it, scanning the scene without saying a single word. His face was stone. This was it. Suddenly I was sure that Romero and I wouldn’t find Luca’s mercy today. Maybe Aria would manage to convince Luca to protect me, but Romero wouldn’t be so lucky. I knew I wouldn’t be able to watch him die.
Luca raised his head very slowly and fixed me with a look that turned my blood to ice. “What happened here?”
I glanced at Romero. Did he want me to tell the truth? Or should I lie? There had to be a story that wouldn’t make Luca angry enough to want to kill us.
Luca straightened. “I want the fucking truth!”
“Luca,” Aria scolded. “Lily is obviously in shock. Give her a moment.”
“We don’t have a fucking moment. We have a dead Outfit member in a room with us. Things will get ugly very soon.”
Aria squeezed my shoulder lightly. “Lily, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “He didn’t have time to hurt me.”
She pursed her lips but didn’t argue.
“Enough,” Luca said harshly. He turned to Romero. “I want answers. Remember your oath.”
Romero looked like a man resigned to his fate. It scared me senseless. “I always do.”
Luca jabbed a finger toward the dead body. “That doesn’t look like it. Or are you saying that Liliana did this alone?”
“Liliana is innocent,” Romero said firmly. He never called me Liliana. What was he trying to do? “Benito was still alive when I arrived. She’d stabbed him with the letter opener because he attacked her. It was self-defense on her part.”
“Self-defense?” Luca muttered. His grey eyes fixed me. “What did he do?”
“He tried to force himself on her,” Romero said for me.
“I didn’t ask you!” Luca growled. Aria let go of me and walked toward him and put a hand on his arm. He ignored her completely as he said, “And if he tried to consummate the marriage, nobody in this fucking house will see it as self-defense. Benito had a fucking right on her body. He was her husband for god’s sake!”
Romero took a step forward but stopped himself.
“You can’t be serious,” Aria said, eyes imploring.
“You know the rules, Aria. I’m stating the facts,” Luca said in a much calmer voice.
Aria always had that effect on him. “I don’t care. A husband doesn’t have the right to rape his wife. Everyone in this house should agree on that!”
I shivered. The events of the evening were catching up with me. I just wanted to lie down in Romero’s arms and forget everything. Romero came over to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
Luca narrowed his eyes. “I told you this would end in disaster. So let me guess, Liliana stabbed her husband, called you and you finished the fucking job to have her for yourself.”
“Yes,” Romero said. “And to protect her. If he’d survived he would have blamed Liliana and she would have been punished harshly by the Outfit.”
Luca let out a dark chuckle. “And now she won’t? They will put her on trial and they will not only punish her harshly. They will also accuse us of having set this up and then there will be a fucking bloodbath. Dante is a cold fish but he needs to show strength. He will proclaim war in no time. All because you can’t control your dick and your heart.”
“As if you could do it. You’d take down anyone who’d try to take Aria away from you,” Romero said.
“But Aria is my wife. That’s a huge difference.”
“If it was up to me, Lily would have been my wife for months.”
I stared at him in surprise. He’d never mentioned marrying me. My heart swelled with happiness, only to turn to stone at the sight of Luca’s expression. “Someone is going to pay for this,” he said darkly. He paused. “As Capo of the New York Famiglia I need to put the blame on Liliana and hope Dante buys it and doesn’t start a war.”
That would mean my certain death. Maybe Dante wouldn’t give the orders himself but he would have to submit me to my father’s judgment and I didn’t expect any mercy from him. He hated Gianna for what she’d done and that wasn’t nearly as horrendous as my crime.
“You can’t do that,” Aria whispered. Her knuckles were turning white from her tight grip on his forearm.
Romero let go of me and walked a few steps toward the center of the room where he got down on his knees and held out his arms wide. “I’m going to take the full blame for this. Tell them I lost my mind and ran after Liliana because I’ve been wanting her for months. I killed Benito when he tried to defend Lily and himself, but before I could rape her, you noticed I was missing and went in search of me. Then there won’t be war between the Outfit and New York, and Lily will get the chance at a new life.”
“If that’s the story we want them to believe, there’s something missing,” Luca said.
Romero nodded. He met Luca’s gaze straight on. “I will put my life down for this. Shoot me.”
I staggered forward. “No!” Aria, too, screamed the same word.
Luca and Romero ignored us, locked in a silent staring contest. I stepped between them. I didn’t care if that went against some secret mafia rule. I walked toward Luca. From the corner of my eye I saw Romero getting up. He looked like he was worried about me getting close to Luca but I wasn’t worried for me. If Luca killed Romero because of me that would be the end of me. I’d never be able to live with myself.
“Please,” I whispered, peering up into Luca’s emotionless face. “Please don’t kill him. I’ll do anything, just please don’t. I can’t live without him.” Tears started streaming down my face.