She looked at Dominic’s hazel eyes. They were still resilient, but with every step Lucifer took toward her, they got closer to the verge of breaking. Now watching the shoes get closer and closer, she screamed as a hand came down, snatching a handful of her hair.
The pain she felt at her scalp from being dragged out from under the bed was unbearable, but it wasn’t going to compare to what came next… If there was a devil, there must have been a god, because thankfully, she didn’t last through the pain, passing out after only a couple of blows.
One thing about their father was, he got no enjoyment if he couldn’t see their eyes, wanting to see the fear in them as he broke them.
What Kat missed, however, was that when Dominic could finally crawl his damaged body to her small unconscious one, he scooped her up, holding her like he had when she was a baby.
After twenty long years of Lucifer’s torture and being unbreakable… he had finally broken, and the devil wasn’t even there to see it…
…Like Drago, she didn’t find out her brother had broken till later, and when she did, she realized they were a very different type of broken. It was the kind of broken like when breaking a bone, except when a bone heals, the part where it broke becomes stronger.
Trying to hold back the tear that was threatening to fall, she felt something on the other side of the picture. Turning it over, she read the words on a piece of paper that had been taped on the back.
Happy Birthday, Drago. Love, Leo.
She smiled, able to see the full Drago. He had a heart after all. Turning the picture over, she was going to place it back on the wall when she noticed a face she hadn’t seen at first glance, because she’d focused solely on Drago.
The tear she had been holding in fell, splashing onto the photo over the face that held the blackish-blue eyes.
Sal.
Twenty-Three
I Hate You For This
Drago only knocked once before entering Lucca’s office hoping he was in here, expecting to find the boss or maybe the consigliere with him, but what he didn’t expect was Maria.
“What are you doing in here?” he asked.
She just raised a brow. “Todd was pretty much my personal bodyguard, or have you already forgotten?”
Not in the mood for her antics, he focused on what he came for and sat down in front of his underboss. “One-Shot tried to kill Katarina.”
Lucca, who had been eerily quiet dragging on his cigarette and was in his own little world thinking, suddenly snapped out of it. “What did you say?”
“He tried to kill Katarina.” The words came out harsher the second time. “He missed her heart by a second.”
Pulling the cigarette away from his lips, he furrowed his brows. “One-Shot doesn’t miss.”
Drago took of his jacket, revealing his bullet wound. “Technically, he didn’t.”
Lucca sat back in his chair now, taking a couple of hits just staring at the blood on the sleeve of the button-up shirt. “He didn’t go for the head,” he stated, seeming to already know the killer hadn’t.
“No, her heart.”
“Fitting,” Maria mumbled.
Looking over at her, he assumed the girls must be on the right track. “Kat used the words ‘poetic justice.’”
“Seems to me One-Shot is into the theatrics.” She couldn’t help but comment again, “Not only did he kill a Caruso, but he tried for a Luciano… just like last time when he killed one of ours, he went for a Luciano, only he was successful last time.”
The room went quiet as Lucca inhaled deeply. Something seemed to click for him. “He’s evening the score.”
Every instinct in Drago’s body went on high alert telling him of the danger to come. “Except this time it’s not even.”
The underboss nodded. “We will need to keep a close eye on Katarina and warn Angel to be careful. I will talk with Dominic, so he knows one of his men is next, but I’m sure he’s figured it out by now.”
All their heads turned when the office door opened, and a concerned Sal walked in. “I think we may have a problem.”
The room went eerily quiet. The smoke from Lucca’s cigarette moving through the space seemed to make the most noise.
“I have no visual of One-Shot entering or leaving the casino hotel.”
“How is that possible?” Drago was the one to ask.
Sal was a man who knew everything. He was the great Salvatore, for Christ’s sake. However, this day he didn’t, and you could see the frustration etched on his face. “I’m not sure yet.”
“Well, he didn’t appear out of fucking thin air.”
Deep in thought, Lucca seemed to snap out of it at Drago’s words. “Just keep looking.”
Sal nodded but didn’t leave the room. It was like a dark shadow casted over him, his voice becoming grave. “I don’t have a good feeling about this, Lucca. And I got this eerie feeling that he’s….”