Then there was silence.
Fiore wiped his forehead and then put his hands out. They were shaking. He pointed at me. “Look what we’re getting, Marie. This is going to help us. So you and Mara won’t be sad anymore. We can move on. Move forward. We’ll have a new baby to take care of. The baby we should have never lost.”
Marie turned to Fiore and touched his cheek. “Okay, Fiore. Okay. Just stay calm. Why is she here right now? Why are you pointing weapons at her? She should be resting. Eating. Being cared for.”
“That’s what I’m doing next,” Fiore said. “I had to get rid of Finn, Marie.”
“You didn’t.”
“I did, my sweet Marie. There was no choice. He fell in love with Shayna. So now she’s ours. I have business to tend to. Where’s Mara? I want her to see my gift.”
“She’s not here.”
“Why?” Fiore growled.
“She’ll be here soon,” Marie said.
Her voice was soft and soothing. It seemed to calm Fiore down.
Marie looked at me but didn’t say a word. She then walked with Fiore out of the office. My stomach sank again.
Just how fucking sick was this family?
Fiore’s wife just heard what he had done and what he planned on doing and she did nothing. She did absolutely nothing.
I lowered my head and wanted to cry.
The door opened again a few seconds later.
“She’s right here,” Fiore said.
I lifted my head, feeling desperate.
Who wanted to see me now?
The person then appeared in the doorway. He took up the entire doorway. The second he saw me, he chuckled. That chuckle had become something of a nightmare for me.
My breath was stolen, but I managed to say one word. His name.
“Zander.”
~
The door was shut. Fiore and Zander stood there, side by side. They were supposed to be hated enemies. Zander was the one who killed Fiore’s grandchild and son-in-law. They should not have been standing next to each other.
“There she is,” Zander said. “My little prize. My fiancee.”
I saw the flicker of light in Fiore’s eyes.
“Fuck yourself,” I said. “I was never your anything. I was just looking for my sister!”
Zander laughed. Maybe he knew what that meant, maybe he didn’t.
“See, this is what family can do,” Fiore said. “We can set aside some pesky annoyances for the better good.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Our families will forever be at war,” Zander said. “But you, Shayna, you are the prize that we both wish to obtain, for now.”
Zander rolled his r’s in a way that made me shiver. His eyes narrowed into two tiny slits. There was death in his eyes.
“I’m replacing what I lost,” Fiore said. “Because it’s the right thing to do. You have Italian heritage, Shayna. I see it in your eyes, your face, small little features. A blood sample can let me hopefully trace you all the way back to the old country. And that life inside you will repair my family.”
“He killed your family!” I cried out. “And you’re letting him stand there!”
Zander made a fist and hit the desk. “I kill no one!”
“It’s okay,” Fiore said and touched Zander’s shoulder. “Remember - the greater good, my friend.” Fiore looked at me. “We have some business to tend to for now. But it’s going to be amazing what happens from here on out. You’re going to give me a replacement child and then you’re going to give yourself to Zander.”
“No,” I said. “It won’t work. I’ll scream. Fight. Yell.”
“You don’t need a tongue to be pregnant,” Zander said. “Or hands. Or arms. Or legs.” His eyes flared with excitement.
“See, between the two of us,” Fiore said, “we can afford medical care that nobody would ever know about. So if you get out of line, you lose something. But not your life and not the life inside you.”
I felt sick. My lips started to quiver and I quickly looked left to right, needing somewhere to get sick. I couldn’t make a move or else I’d get hurt. So I chose left, turned my head, and let loose.
“Oh, this is going to be great,” Fiore said.
“Yes,” Zander growled. “Yes, it is.”
He leaned down and looked at me. I felt and looked like death.
“You do look like her,” Zander whispered. “I should have known better than to trust you. But I thought you would take me to her.”
“Who?”
“Sasha,” Zander said through gritted teeth. “She fucked me. You think I didn’t know? I made you mine to get to her. Then you left me for that fighter. Now I see truth. I see lots of truth.”
“You knew I was Sasha’s sister?” I asked.
“She fucked me. Then you fucked me. Now I fuck everyone.”
Zander turned and tore open the door.
I looked at Fiore. He shook his head. “It was my fault, really. I should have been more careful. I couldn’t call the hit off soon enough, Shayna. It was supposed to be Antonio in the car. Not my grandchild. Not my little Luca. But it was your sister who distracted Antonio. She was the one who did it. Remember that. She killed Antonio and my grandson. Then she ran. Disappeared. No more. No more, Shayna. We will now get what we want.”