I buried my face in his chest, trying to erase the pain of the day.
Isla immediately clamped her hands over her mouth, but it was too late.
After we left, Rocco finally walked over to Carmela.
Isla shrank back, avoiding his eyes.
Then he dragged his bleeding leg out of the room and disappeared.
“I’m going to lose the baby. Please, take me to a doctor.”
“And my child… our child…”
“Rocco, let go! You’ll hurt Carmela.”
At this moment, Rocco was no longer the man they knew. He viciously gripped Carmela’s
neck.
She stared at him, terrified.
Carmela’s eyes darted around, refusing to meet his.
Isla was paralyzed with fear. She couldn’t believe this was her brother.
I had saved him, and in return, he had murdered my parents and killed our child.
As Rocco heard the truth, his eyes burned with a murderous rage. His hands trembled,
unable to process what he was hearing.
He was about to speak when a violent pounding echoed from the front door.
She didn’t even notice the look on Rocco’s face.
A raw, agonized roar tore from Rocco’s throat.
Rocco’s other hand shot out and closed around Isla’s throat,
“Did you think I left you in here to plead for her?”
Tears streamed down his cheeks, hot and bitter.
He kicked Carmela with savage force.
Seeing Rocco remain motionless, she pleaded with his parents.
Isla was stunned. She never thought her brother could be so brutal.
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“You don’t deserve to have children. You will pay for what you did to her.”
In her panic, Isla’s words tumbled out without a filter.
So, it was me. I had traded my life for his.
Terrified, Isla blurted out everything.
“Have her? What are you talking about?”
Rocco’s parents stared at the chaos–at their unconscious daughter–in–law and their crazed, departing son–and stood there, utterly lost.
Only he, Isla, and the wailing Carmela remained.
Salvatore sensed my distress and held me tighter.
To her surprise, Rocco’s burning gaze turned on her.
And what had he done to me?
Carmela was being choked, desperately clawing at Rocco’s hand.
“I’m out of patience. Tell me what you know. Now.”
Rocco was relentless. He kicked her again and again until she spat blood and finally went
limp.
“I… I don’t… know… Let… go…”
But Rocco seized on the key phrase.
“It’s you! It was all you! If it weren’t for you, Lucia would never have left me!”
“Rocco, I don’t know. Ouch, my stomach… it hurts so much. Please, help me.”
“I told you. I have no patience.”
But Rocco just gave her a dead–eyed glance, then picked up a pistol from the floor. In a fit of supreme self–loathing, he shot himself in the same leg that had been shattered four
years ago.
How she and Carmela had conspired to leak my location to the rival Irish mob, leading to
Rocco being shot while trying to save me. How they had then taken advantage of the
chaos, convincing the family elders to offer me to the Irish boss in exchange for peace and
for Rocco’s life.
“That bitch Lucia is just a stray dog! How can she compare to Carmela?”
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But just as Rocco’s mother moved to help, Rocco pushed his parents out of the room and slammed the door.
Isla’s story was filled with contempt for me, saying I was ruined goods, worthless compared to a pure woman like Carmela.
“Letting those men have her was a gift! Why are you blaming Carmela for it?”
“Did you know what happened back then?”
After Salvatore brought me home, he gently laid me on the bed.
Those past events, dragged into the light again, felt like a curse that would haunt me forever.
Seeing that Carmela was about to pass out, Isla finally broke.
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