Luca

Grant was strapped to a chair in the center of the room, completely motionless. If I hadn't checked his pulse myself, I would've thought he was dead. He was hardly recognizable, with one eye completely swollen shut and the other getting close. Weeks old blood was caked to his skin and some of his older wounds were festering with infection. His left shoulder was completely dislocated and his arm hung loosely, all the bones shattered. Honestly, it was a wonder he had made it this long.

"What's your plan, boss?" Carlo asked, eyeing the array of tools we still had set out to use on him.

I hesitated, contemplating what to do. At this point, he was numb, and nothing we could do would have any effect on him. Keeping him alive much longer would be a waste of time, and I was ready to end this.

"Give me the knife." I said, watching as Carlo picked one out of the pile. It was a spiral blade that my grandfather passed down to my father, who eventually gave it to me. It had the blood of at least a hundred men on it, but no kill gave me more gratification than this one.

With the warm leather of the handle pressed into my palm, I took a deep breath and readied myself.

I was interrupted by a creak out in the larger room of the safe house, and I paused.

"What the fuck was that?" Angelo hissed towards Carlo. "I thought you swept the place."

"I did!" Carlo defended.

"Well, clearly not well enough!" Angelo chided.

Carlo rolled his eyes. "We are in the middle of the fuckin' forest. It was the wind. Or a tree branch, or a damn squirrel. There's no one here."

"Why don't you two quit bitching and take care of whatever it is?" I growled.

They glared at each other, locked in some ridiculous cockfight. Finally, Carlo relented and stomped out of the room.

"Now, where were we..." I stepped toward Grant. He glared at me, mustering what little strength he had left.

"I hope she's proud of you." He smirked. "Such a big, powerful man who needs to beat on other people to make himself feel good. You know I was right in keeping them away from you. She'll come to her senses, eventually."

I towered above him with the knife clenched in my fist. He knew exactly what he was doing—trying to provoke a reaction out of me. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction, though. I came to peace with this decision weeks ago, and nothing he could say to me now would either change my mind or get to me.

His opinion meant nothing to me. He was a greedy, manipulative bastard, and he didn't give a rat's ass about Charlotte and Layla. All he wanted was to make me suffer. And for a while, he did, but like always, I was coming out on top and it was time to get rid of this piece of trash for good.

My heart filled with rage as I looked into his eyes and thought about everything he robbed me of over the last few years. He was against me for as long as I could remember. It started simply with him trying to take down the family. Our demise became an obsession for him when he was new to the force, a way he could make a name for himself. He tried anything he could to put us away, and it was the final blow when his witnesses were killed during Angelo and I's trial.

Then came Charlotte. It was a big fucking coincidence that he happened to be her ex-boyfriend. His obsession shifted to trying to drive us apart, filling her head with hideous ideas that I was going to get her killed, that I wasn't good enough for her. That I didn't care if she or our baby died.

It should have been enough when he slipped her the names of the open cases against me. Or the day that he dragged her down to the police station on bogus fraud charges. But I still let the guy live, and that was a mistake that would haunt me forever. It gave him the opportunity to come back and continually wreak havoc on my life.

When he arrested Antonio on my doorstep, I thought I was done with him forever. Little did I know the fucker had helped Charlotte disappear with my daughter and then lied to her when she needed me most.

The idea of her lying in that hospital calling for me and him being there to comfort her still made me cringe. The way he let her hurt all because he wanted to me to be in pain. The wya he stepped into my shoes and was there for them like I should have been.

Today would be the end, though.

Grant spilled the entire plan to me just a day or so ago. The way he and Antonio conspired to get Charlotte and Jenni out of the country. Antonio bartering his own freedom with hers. In exchange for Grant supporting Charlotte and making sure she was safe from me, Antonio would confess to all the bullshit charges Grant had been trying to blame on us for years.

Grant got to be the hero and take down a major criminal, and Charlotte was kept safe. She didn't know about the deal—that was clear the night I first told her Antonio was in prison. Her surprise and concern were strange to me at first, but now it all made perfect sense.

Antonio was a monster in his own right, but that didn't mean I was okay with the way Grant had played him.

"Boss..." There was a hint of hesitation in Carlo's voice. "I think you need to see this."

I whirled around, pissed off at another distraction. "What the fu—"The words were stolen right out of my mouth when I saw what he found.

Charlotte.

Jesus Christ.

My jaw hardened. What the fuck was going on? How did she get here? Everyone in the room was silent, staring at me, waiting for a reaction.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I snarled, trying with everything I had to control my temper. We'd been over this no less than thirty times. I didn't want her here, and she knew it. I

"Don't be mad." She pressed her lips together, taking a small step towards me. Her eyes darted around the room, processing the blood and the tools strewn about.

Mad? I was fucking furious? Why did she have to test em at every single turn. What happened to wanting normal? To wanting to be left out of all the Mafia bullshit?

I let out a sharp laugh. "Too late."

I dropped the knife to the ground and grabbed her hand, pulling her out into the hallway. She didn't need to see the carnage in here.

"Luca, please..." she begged, looking back at me with those big doe eyes.

"Charlotte, what part of I didn't fucking want you to come here, didn't you understand?" I clenched my fists, desperately trying to keep my anger in check. I was trying for her, but she was seriously testing my patience.

Angelo hung out in the doorway, keeping an eye on things, probably because they all expected me to lose my mind.

"I know you didn't. But this involves me, and I deserve a chance to have some closure." She crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. Fuck, how much I wanted to fuck that defiance right out of her and remind her who was in charge. By following me here, she came into my realm, and if she insisted on being here, she was going to have to abide by the rules, just like my men.

I rolled my eyes. "Closure? You think seeing him like this is going to give you that? Trust me, it's going to do the exact opposite. What happened to you wanting a normal life and being removed from all of this?"

"See, you always think you know what's best for me. I'm an adult, and I can make these choices for myself. This happened to me, too, Luca. I trusted him and I let him..." She paused, shaking her head softly as tears fell. "I need to know why."

I sighed heavily, trying to wrap my mind around why this was so important to her. Clearly, it was if she came here against my wishes, knowing how infuriated I would be.

"Please. Just give me a few minutes. You can be right there the whole time. I'm not trying to hide anything from you. I just want to talk to him."

Was I seriously considering this? What kind of precedent did that show her if I caved just because she disobeyed me? A part of me understood where she was coming from. He violated her the most in all of this. She trusted him; she believed in him, and look where that got us.

"You can have five minutes. That's it. And when I tell you it's done, you walk out of these without another word. Am I clear?" I gritted my teeth.

She nodded. "Thank you."

I shoved my fingers through my hair, and against my better judgement, I led her back in the holding cell.

I ignored the judgemental stares of Angelo, Marco, and Carlo when we walked back in.

"Charlotte and I need a few minutes alone in here." I said flatly. "I want you back in here in four minutes and fifty-nine seconds and then, Marco, you're going to take her home and make sure she doesn't leave the fucking house. Everyone understand?"

"Are you sure— "Angelo protested.

"Did I stutter?" I growled, having enough of people questioning my authority today.

Angelo shrugged, raising his eyebrows, and all three of the men disappeared. Charlotte and I were left standing in front of a dying Grant and it felt so God damn gratifying. I didn't like the idea at first, but there was nothing more I wanted in the world than for Grant to fully comprehend that I had won.

Charlotte

The smell in the room made my stomach turn, and I had to fight against my own body to keep from throwing up. I knew if I showed the slightest bit of weakness, Luca would call the entire thing off and make me leave before I got to say my peace.

Luca leaned against the wall, one foot propped up and staring intently at his watch. I knew he was livid, and I expected it. And I knew full well I would probably pay for this tonight, but it didn't change what I felt like I needed to do.

I stood in front of Grant, assessing his injuries. It looked like Luca put him through the ringer the last few weeks and, even though a small part of me felt sorry for him, I was glad. Luca was so much stronger than I was. Seeing another person in this state was something I hoped would never happen again, although I was sure images of Grant would plague my nightmares for weeks.

"You came." Grant croaked out, a small smile forming at his lips. How he even managed the strength for that, I had no idea.

"I'm not here for you." I didn't want him to mistake my presence for compassion.

He chuckled. "Feisty as always."

"You knew the entire time. You knew how badly I wanted Luca and you let me think he wanted nothing to do with me for years. Why?" I fought back tears, determined to get what I wanted out of all of this.

Grant was silent for a minute and I couldn't tell if he was searching for the right words, or trying to get up enough strength to talk to me. "Because I knew he wanted you, too."

My heart nearly stopped at his words. How selfish could he be? Did he really hate me that much? Hate Luca? I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"I knew that bastard would swoop back into your life and into Layla's and get to play the hero. He'd be some kind of super dad after I was the one doing all the hard stuff the last four years." Grant spat, blood dripping on his lip. I saw Luca's body tense as he listened to Grant.

"But you didn't have to do that, Grant. You could have called him when I asked you to!" I defended. "You chose to stay with us!"

"Of course I did, Charlotte." Grant scoffed. "I always loved you, but the second Luca walked into your life, you wouldn't give me a second thought. I was so much better for you than Luca. I could have given you the life you wanted for Layla."

I brushed a few tears off of my cheek.

"He doesn't even treat you well. He treats you like a fucking punching bag and a second class citizen, and yet you keep going back to him like some sick puppy. Let me guess, he forbid you from coming here? Forced you to move back to New York? I hate the person you become with him. So fucking submissive. That's not you. And yeah, I did everything in my fucking power to make sure you wouldn't become her again. But here she is, after all."

"Because I love him Grant, and I'm sorry if that's not good enough for you, but it is for me." I glanced at Luca. "None of that was your choice to make. I'm choosing to stay with him, and to raise our daughter together. Our relationship is none of your business, especially when you treated me like a doormat the entire time we were together. You cheated on me so many times I lost track and almost everything that came out of your mouth was a lie. You think that's better? I'm not saying Luca is a saint, but tt least with him, I know what I'm signing up for. With you, it was always a show. I never got the real version of you."

"You didn't do this for me. None of this was for me. It was all about you and your ego. You hated the fact that Luca and I were in love and tried so hard to tear us apart. I gave you the opportunity, and that was my fault. How could you sit there and watch me suffer, knowing how much pain I was in?"

"You were being dramatic. He's just a guy, Charlotte. You were fine without him, just like I knew you would. If he hadn't come to the funeral, you would still be over it."

"I never got over him. You know that. You watched me cry myself to sleep for months, thinking he just threw Layla and I away and you knew the entire time."

"It was always about him. You couldn't see all I was sacrificing to make a life for you and Layla. You still only cared about him. So I lied about a phone call, big deal. He didn't come looking for you, and I don't see you berating him."

"I looked for her the entire time!" Luca bellowed, shaking in anger. "You made sure I would never find her by destroying every single trail."

"Come on, Luca." Grant scoffed. "All the resources you have and you couldn't find her? Somehow, I find that hard to believe."

"Because you had my best friend throwing me off the trail anytime, I got close." Luca trembled. "And I was trying to respect her decision. Of course I could have pushed it, but I wanted it to be her choice to come back to me."

"Sure, let's go with that." Grant grinned. "You know, Charlotte, it's great if you want to make that choice for you, but you have a little girl now. And it's only a matter of time before something happens to her. Except now, I won't be there to clean up your mess."

Luca was doing his best to let me handle this, but I could tell he'd heard about enough. "She's my fucking daughter, you asshole." He snarled. "Our daughter. Do you get that? The little girl that Charlotte and I share. The one you tried to take from me. You're not in the picture here. You don't get any choice in how or where we raise her."

"Is she though?" Grant snickered. "You've spent a few weeks with her and suddenly you're father of the year? I'm the one who rocked her to sleep, who played with her while Charlotte was working, who read her stories every single night. Do you know her favorite color, Luca? Movie? How old was she when she got her first tooth? Walked? I do."

Not able to contain his rage any longer, Luca punched Grant with such force it knocked the entire chair over. I covered my mouth, watching his blood fly across the room.

"We're done here, Charlotte."

Marco and the others appeared at the door, but I couldn't make my body move. All I felt was numb, exhausted, and completely drained. I hated Grant. I really did. What a selfish bastard.

"Char, come on." Marco whispered, putting his hand on my elbow and coaxing me out of the room.

"Get her out of here." Luca looked like he was ready to blow.

Marco put an arm around me, leading me towards the door. All I could think about was the anger and hatred I felt towards Grant and all that he took from us.

When we were only a few steps away from the door, my eyes fixated on the outline of a gun in the back waistline of Marco's pants. Even though everyone was shouting, all went quiet in my mind.

In one swift movement, I squirmed out of Marco's grasp and reached for the gun.

"Char, no!" Marco yelled, reaching for me.

"Charlotte!" Luca screamed, rushing toward me as well.

I moved the gun back and forth in front of me, causing them all to freeze where they were, unsure of where I was going to shoot. "Stay back."

"Charlotte, you don't want to do this." Luca begged.

"I'm so sorry." I sobbed, cocking the gun in my hand.

The last thing I remember seeing was the sinister grin on Grant's face.