Chapter 605: You Mean Kill My Husband

He was hoping she would wait until morning.

That was the sensible option, which naturally meant Veronica would probably ignore it completely. Knowing his wife, the moment she got the message she would start rushing out of the house.

He slipped his phone back into his pocket and rubbed a hand over his face. He still had no idea how he was going to make Massimo change his mind about Veronica killing her own sister.

It was one thing to accept that someone had crossed a line too many times. It was another thing entirely to look your little sister in the eyes and pull the trigger.

If he was going to change anything, Luca needed help. Preferably before his wife decided being Donna meant setting fire to the parts of herself she might never get back.

*****

Massimo drove Veronica to Commissioned himself when it became obvious she had no intention of waiting until morning.

According to Veronica, she wanted this over and done with as soon as possible. No more waiting for the next betrayal to crawl out of whatever misguided corner of her sister’s mind.

Massimo had not exactly fought very hard to change her mind anyway. He wanted this finished too.

When they reached Commissioned, Veronica was out of the car with a speed Massimo didn’t think was possible of a woman six months pregnant.

Once inside, she found Luca waiting near the entrance to his office.

"Where is she?" Vee demanded, not wasting a breath.

"Do you have to do this tonight?"

"Yes."

He exhaled. "Fine." He turned and led her through.

Vee followed closely behind.

Luca stopped in front of the false wall that had only recently been unsealed, pressed the mechanism and opened the concealed door.

The smell of bleach and strong chemicals hit them. Vee’s stomach heaved.

Luca glanced at her. "You okay?"

She nodded and walked in.

Val was on a chair, her wrists cuffed behind her. "Vee?" she called, visibly surprised to see her. "You got out?"

"Why?" Vee stepped fully into the room and closed the door behind her. "You expected me to rot in jail?"

"No. No, I swear. I was going to turn myself in. I was going to confess to everything."

"Why didn’t you? Why are you still around?"

"I..." Val looked away. "I had to take care of something."

"You mean kill my husband."

Val exhaled heavily. "I knew you wouldn’t understand me either. No one understands me. No one even tries to understand why I did any of this."

"Oh, please."

"Just get me out of here and I’ll confess everything to Voss."

Vee’s brows went up. "Get..." She actually paused, as if her brain needed a second to process the stupidity. "Get you out of here?"

Val looked at her hopefully.

"You think I am going to let you go?"

"I know you’re mad at me. But we are sisters," Val said quickly. "We look out for each other."

Vee laughed. "Are you fucking delusional? Val, do you have no understanding of what you have done?"

"I was trying to—"

"To me," Vee cut in. "Do you understand what you have done to me?" Her voice started to shake despite her effort to control it. "Do you have any idea how dead I feel inside?"

"You feel that way because I failed," Val said. "Because your husband was smarter."

Vee dragged another chair over and sat down heavily. Her pregnancy was getting heavier now, and exhaustion had settled deep into her bones. She was too drained to keep standing just to prove she could. One hand rested over her stomach automatically as she leaned back.

Same person she had spent years protecting from every ugly thing she could reach first. And somehow they had ended up here.

"I have given you everything that I can since Mum died. I bridged the gap. I protected you from everything I could. Every mess that landed at our feet. I made sure you did not have to feel half the things I felt. And I will say this honestly..." Vee paused, then let out a tired breath. "I spoiled you."

"Yes, I did." Vee shook her head slowly. "I kept stepping in. I kept fixing things. I kept shielding you because I thought that was what loving you meant. But nothing excuses how you have paid me back."

"You’ll let him hurt me?" Val asked. "You’ll let him kill me? Me? Your sister?" Val waited for something familiar to return to her face. Some sign that beneath everything, Vee was still the sister who had always stepped in before things went too far.

It did not come.

"Not yet," Vee said eventually. "I want you to experience what your life would have been like without Luca."

"What are you talking about?"

"You think he ruined your life? Luca paid ten million dollars at an auction you should have been sold in. You remember that, don’t you? You seem to have forgotten quite a lot recently, so let me remind you. When I took your place, Luca paid ten million dollars and stopped it. So you will earn that money back."

"What?"

"You heard me." Vee held her gaze. "And when you do, I’m going to make you watch as your husband is shot in the head." She continued without flinching. "You will stand there, and you will know that you did that to him."

"No."

"You will accept it."

"No."

"You will live with it!"

Val looked at her sister with growing dread.

"I’m going to whore you out and get my husband’s money back, Val. I’m going to give you a taste of the life you would have lived if Luca had never stepped in." Her eyes travelled over her sister briefly. "You may not be a virgin anymore, but you’re still young and pretty."

"And you think I’m just going to let you do that?"

"No. No, I don’t think you’ll let me do anything. I think you’ll fight. You’ll tell yourself once again that everyone else is the monster and you are simply the poor victim trying to save everybody."

(powered by 100 power stones)