Page 139 of The Viper's Wife

“I love you. Always.”

We splitup in the hallway, Nico heading back to the balcony to let Annetta know to take me home, and me hurrying down the stairs so I can slip out through the back doors.

At the edges of Don Salvatore’s lawn, the forest swallows the sun. I shut the back door behind me, cold air filling my lungs.

For the first time in weeks, my stomach is settled.

I look out at the dark, grasping trees, my back stiffening and my hands curling into fists.

None of this is going to be easy or safe, but for the first time in a long time, I picture my future, and I can see the faces of my family—of Nico smirking at some joke as he teases me, of him soft and vulnerable as he looks down at the baby that will share our features.

I can’t keep lying around while I wait for Nico to come back. I have to push myself to do better. This baby will grow up in a home with parents who love her or him, and who love each other. I’m going to make that happen.

But first comes the hard part. I take a deep breath, the frozen air sawing in and out of my lungs. Tonight, I’ll say goodbye to Lacey and Mei, finish packing my things, and leave. And then, while Nico is gone, securing our future, I will build a home full of love, for our baby, to give them the family I never had.

Noise pours out of the house as the back door opens.

My heart tightens at the thought it could be Nico, back for one last kiss, or Annetta, come to ferry me home.

But as I turn, all the hope and fight drain out of me, replaced by sharp, raw fear.

Giovanni stands over me, wearing his wool coat and a somber expression—the sort of begrudging acceptance of a man sent to put down the family dog.

Cold air from the open, exposed lawn curls at my back. The residual warmth from my time inside the house is gone.

I cross my coat over my chest and shiver.

“Why did you come here today?” he asks. “You should have left already.”

I’m silent.

He’s here to intimidate me, but I couldn’t possibly look like a threat with my teeth chattering and my arms wrappedaround my shoulders. I just need to wait for him to finish and return to the house.

Instead, he takes one long step toward me. “Don Ottavio was not pleased to see you.”

A shiver crawls down my spine. “Sorry. I’m leaving now.”

Giovanni rolls his head back, cracking his neck. “You should have left already. Did you think Nico would be happy to see you? He does not care. He is already fucking a new girl.”

My nails dig into my arms. Jealousy burns away the cold for a brief moment. I don’t care if he’s fucking her, I tell myself. His heart belongs to me. He’ll come back for me.

“You should think you are lucky,” he continues in his accented English. “Your family are all worthless traitors. Don Ottavio was right to want you gone. You are a snake, sleeping in his son’s bed, waiting to strike.”

I stare at him, nothing on my face, his insults sliding off me like rainwater.

He gives a short laugh. “You are either very brave to stay, or very stupid.”

Right now, it’s feeling a lot like the second. I glance at the movement of a figure behind the blurred glass of the back door. “I’m leaving tonight. You won’t see me again.”

“You were supposed to have left already. But you have not. So I do not trust you. Maybe physical pain will motivate you.” Giovanni takes a step closer. “Do you think if I broke your pinky, that would be enough? Or are you like your father? You need more to learn?”

Anger flares up inside me. “Don’t talk about my father.”

Giovanni sighs and strides forward.

Like a dream, I stumble back, but I’m already moving too slow, my limbs stiff from the cold and fear, and my heel catches in the crack of the back patio pavement. I fall.

BOOM.