Page 219 of Vicious Intentions
My throat tightens painfully.
“But you got your husband back,” she whispers. “All I’m asking is for you to give me mine.”
Then she hooks her pinkie finger around mine.
“It’s us sisters against the world, remember?”
Tears slide freely down her cheeks now, just as mine begin to blur my vision.
“Help me, Stella. Help me and Matteo get out of this. Help me live a long and wonderful life with the man I love.” Her voice breaks completely. “And if you can’t give me that… then at least have the mercy to let me die by his side.”
My heart splinters right there in my chest.
I look over Anna’s shoulder and find Matteo watching us with the same devastated expression currently tearing me apart from the inside out.
He doesn’t want her to die for him.
But he also knows that if we kill him, there won’t be a damn thing he can do to stop it.
Slowly, I pull away from my sister and walk toward Matteo.
“If you’re lying to me…” I warn quietly. “I’ll know.”
Matteo rises to his feet, his body leaning slightly to the right for support. “Go ahead and ask me.”
“Do you love my sister?”
“With all my heart,” he answers instantly, without a second of hesitation.
I swallow hard against the lump forming in my throat.
“Do you promise to protect her? To love her the way she deserves?”
“Yes.”
The answer comes just as quickly. Just as fiercely.
I close my eyes briefly before forcing myself to nod.
“Then let me see what I can do.”
I turn and stride toward the door, Anna flashing me a smile so bright it nearly guts me alive.
Because the truth is… I don’t know if I’ll actually be able to save Matteo.
And if I can’t save him…
Then I won’t be able to save my sister either.
Saving them both will take a miracle.
And since I don’t have a direct line to God… I guess the Devil will have to do.
Marcelo
“We can’t kill him, Marcello. We just can’t,” Stella says, dropping into the chair across from me after explaining Annamaria’s reunion with her husband in detail.
It’s exactly as I feared.
