Page 41 of By Blade, I Love
I pushed Leo down each flight of steps until we made it to the ground floor, and then I grabbed him by his t-shirt and dragged him out of the house, down the stone steps, and onto the dirt road. “Go. You heard the boss.”
The hottest boss I’d ever had.
Leo remained on the ground, dirt sticking to the wet blood on his face, his skin already darkening from the bruising caused by the shotgun. “Let me stay.”
“That’s not up to me.”
“I regret it all. Please let me stay. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll clean the stables. I’ll be a bottom-feeder?—”
“You’ll bide your time until you can try to overthrow your sister again?”
“No.” He actually had the audacity to look offended. “I have nothing else. This is my home. This is where I belong. I’ll scrub the toilets. I don’t care.”
“Even that job is above you.”
“Please talk to her. You know I’m sorry. You’re the sensible one.”
“Wow, you know hell has frozen over when I’m the voice of reason.” I chuckled, flattered that my woman would be described as unhinged and authoritarian. I’d gotten hard when she’d shot Warren in the face and broken her brother’s nose. I didn’t realize violent women were my type, but Francesca was exactly what I was looking for. “You should just be grateful she let you live. Honestly, I thought she was going to kill you.”
“Yeah, me too.” He winced as he got to his feet, as if something else in his body was broken.
“Show me where your father is, and then be on your way.”
His eyes immediately dropped back to the ground in shame, rightfully so. He took a breath before he gave a nod and then headed toward the back of the villa. He kept the lead, showing a slight limp from where Francesca had kicked him.
He walked past the garden to the field, where open land between the house and the vineyards stretched into the distance. He immediately pivoted away and stared at the house as if he couldn’t bear to look.
I stepped forward and saw the shallow grave with the bodies piled inside. They were already heavily decomposed, and the stench was so strong, I was amazed it didn’t drift toward the house. It looked like a trench of dead soldiers from World War II.
Leo continued to keep his gaze directed away.
I’d seen shit like this before, but it hit different knowing it was Francesca’s father. I knew which one was him based on hisclothing and the watch on his wrist. Most of his flesh was already gone, and a lot of his bones had been revealed. “Alright, you can go.”
“I—I want to help.”
“You can’t even look.”
“Let…” He swallowed. “Let me help you dig the grave.”
I continued to stare at my dead boss, the man who was supposed to be my father-in-law someday. I’d told him he would live to regret his decision, and I felt no satisfaction at being right. I wished he’d believed me. “He doesn’t deserve this.”
“I know?—”
“He was an honorable man and a good father. Instead of being a little bitch for not getting what you wanted, you should have worked to be better and proven your worth. Now he’s rotting on his land—all because you proved him right.”
His breathing grew shallow, as if he was about to burst into tears.
Nothing would bring Don Mancini back, but I wanted to twist the blade inside Leo’s rib cage as much as possible. He’d taken away my woman’s father. Someone she disagreed with but loved wholeheartedly.
“Grab some shovels. I’m going to need gloves for this.”
Leo and I dug a grave next to the tree where we’d carved our names into the bark. The rest of his family was buried at thecemetery down the road, but it seemed more fitting to place him here. He believed in family and legacy…and he died for it.
We had to navigate the roots and work tirelessly all day to make sure the grave was deep enough and wide enough for the coffin that Elio and Andre had gone to obtain from the village.
Francesca didn’t come out of the house. The last time I saw her, she was walking into her father’s office. It seemed as if she needed a moment to process her victory and feel her father’s presence in the room he used to occupy every single day. I let her be, knowing she needed to experience these emotions on her own.
I was glad she stayed inside because I didn’t want her to see this.
