Page 107 of Hades’ Revenge

“I guess you didn’t vet me as well as you thought you did,” my dad said. “I’m surprised your cousin Maria didn’t tell you.”

“Maria?” He shook his head. “She’s been calling me since yesterday, but I was busy planning my next steps.”

“She learned the truth yesterday,” I said. “Why didn’t she tell me who you were?” I asked Benny.

“You didn’t need to know who I was, and I convinced her of that. The woman can be bought with expensive clothes and trips to the Caribbean.”

“Now you know who I am,” my dad said. “I killed Emilio.”

“You’re lying,” Benny said. “Why would you kill him?”

“Because I was working for men other than the leading families in New York.”

As my dad explained himself, I tried to relax and wait for an opening. Any opportunity to get out of this situation.

“Do you think you’re the first cartel I made an alliance with? Who do you think brought them to the city? How do you think I extricated myself from the mafia?”

“What did Emilio have to do with any of this?” Benny asked.

“He overheard a vital conversation and tried to persuade me to walk away from a deal I had made that included terms that were extremely questionable. When Emilio confronted me, I told him to let it go. These men I was working with were dangerous and wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if they knew what he heard. I tried to protect him.”

“By killing him?” Benny shouted.

“He threatened to go to the police.”

When my father glanced up at the balcony, I followed his gaze. Was he trying to tell me something?

“I tried to bribe him, but he wouldn’t accept it. I couldn’t jeopardize this deal, so I asked Hades to take care of it. That was his job. That’s what he did for me. But he refused. He said we had to find another way. Killing an innocent man went against his code.”

He’s my person. My soulmate. The man I will love forever. But our forever is about to get cut short if Benny doesn’t drop the gun.

“When Hades denied me, I came to the church with a bag of cash. I didn’t mean to hurt Emilio, but he refused to see things my way. We fought. It got out of control and…”

“You let your best friend take the blame for something you did,” Benny said. “You’re lower than I thought. No wonder Hades came at you through Capri. He protected you by staying quiet, and you betrayed him.”

“I did what I had to do,” my dad said. “I always will. If you don’t let my daughter go, you’re never going to see your son again.”

“Do you think I’m stupid enough to fall for that?”

I gasped when Benny tightened his hold on the gun and thrust the end of it aggressively into me.

“I’m sorry, Capri, but your father needs a lesson, and I’m about to teach him what it’s like to pay for his sins.”

“No!” I screamed.

“I will kill Christopher if anything happens to her.” My dad faced the balcony and then turned toward me. “Let her go and I’ll forget any of this happened.”

Benny cocked the gun with his thumb. “I’m calling your bluff.”

“No!” I pushed my back against his chest hard enough to knock him off balance. His gun fired within inches of me, hitting a statue on the altar. In the distance, a spark illuminated the balcony as a loud crack echoed through the church once the statue shattered to the floor.

I tripped as I rushed out of the way, not sure what direction to head in. I slammed to the cold floor at the same time my father fell to his knees and tugged me away from Benny, who still clutched his gun, aiming at me.

I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the bullet that was about to tear through my flesh. My body violently shook as I faced the inevitable. It wasn’t death that I feared. It was knowing I would never see Sebastian again that scared me more than anything.

THIRTY-ONE

Hades