“We share nothing, Enzo.” I point at the door. “Get the fuck out of my place.”

“I would argue that.”

I twirl the knife in my hand, “If you have a point, reach it because I have no time for you.”

“You have time to be beaten up by Lucio, Yes?”

“Your point, Enzo.”

He steps closer and I tighten my hold around the knife without pointing it at him.

Enzo stops a few steps away from me, the hand with the gun lying by his side and the other in his pocket. “You’re not a dog, Jasper. Stop living like one.”

“What?”

“Lucio Costa didn’t save you, just like he didn’t save me.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

He retrieves his hand from his pocket and passes me a business card. “Join me if you want to find out.”

“Pass.”

He places the card in my jacket pocket. “I believe you know what I mean deep down, Jasper… or wait, that’s not exactly your name.”

My grip on the knife doesn’t loosen as he brushes by me, stepping on the thug’s blood without a care in the world.

“I’ll be waiting for your call.”

Well, he’ll be waiting for a long time.

Enzo is the last thing I need right now.

Only one person matters and it’s the slender girl across the street who begged me not to leave her alone.

Maybe, just maybe, her wish will come true.

Once and for all.

30

Jasper

I lean against the counter, my back to it and my arms crossed over my chest.

My little Petal stands at the threshold, clutching her empty cup of coffee. The fact that she’s coming for a refill means she didn’t sleep all night.

And she doesn’t intend to.

“What are you doing here?” She hides her surprise and tries to brush past me toward her coffee machine.

I clutch her by the arm, causing her to stop in front of me. My little Petal, Georgina, or Joseph, or whatever the fuck her name is, stares up at me with tears welling in her eyes.

It’s like she’s been holding on for a long time and it’s now catching up on her.

“What do you want from me, Jasper? Just what the fuck do you want? You said the fun is over, so what the hell are you doing here again? Why did you send your boss to tell me how much of a monster you are? Do you think that will magically make me hate you?”

She’s panting after her outburst, cheeks flaming and pulse rising in the blue veins beneath her translucent skin.

I remove the mug from her shaking hand and place it on the counter beside me. If she breaks that, she’ll never forgive herself – or me.

“Forget about Lucio,” I say.

She sniffles. “Aren’t you the one who sent him?”

“No.”

The fact he paid my little Petal a visit means he’s already sampling her and how to use her against me.

She can’t stay here for another fucking second.

If Lucio already put her in his sights, there’s no fucking stopping him —he’ll keep her close and kill everything she has ever held dear.

My eyes widen and my hold around her arm loosens.

You’re not a dog.

Lucio didn’t save you.

You were never a dog, Jasper. Costa has always —

The words swirl around my head like a fucking tornado.

The images of a small boy being shoved into the basement by his mother barges into my mind.

She was crying but held a finger to her mouth and told him to stay quiet. Screams echoed in the air, cries, shots.

Lots of fucking shots.

The boy’s face was ashen, pale. I watch his lips trembling and his eyes welling with tears as if I’m there with him.

He doesn’t cry, though. He can’t. He wants to come out of there and protect his mama and his little sister because that’s what his dad told him, he said it’s his duty to protect his family.

His mother shrieks as she falls back against the opening, covering him from view. Her vacant blue eyes stare at him, then out of nowhere, blood trickles down her mouth and drips on his face.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

“All done, boss.”

“Wrap it up,” the malicious very familiar voice, says. “I want this line in the newspaper tomorrow, the Vitallio family died in unfortunate shooting.”

Laughter breaks down and it’s like scratching on a board to that boy’s ears. His mother’s vacant eyes stare at him, his baby sister is no longer crying like usual. His father and nonna and the servants are all gone.

It’s only him now.

The only Vitallio with no family to protect.

“Jasper?”

“Jasper!”

A soft voice calls my name before a palm touches my face.

I grab it with my other hand and twist it back, nearly breaking it.

My little Petal shrieks and I let her go with a jerk. I’m breathing heavily, as if my lungs are about to give up on me.

Fuck! Fuck!

The boy, that boy was me. I’m the last of the Vitallio that the Costa family finished in cold blood.

Enzo and Serrano knew that. Just how many more knew I killed for the family that slaughtered mine?

“Fuck!”

“Jas… are you okay?” My little Petal’s small arms wrap around my waist tentatively. It’s clear she’s scared, but instead of running away, of leaving me be with my dark thoughts, she chooses to come closer.

I wrap my arms around her waist and lower my head to hers, breathing her in, her scent and her calm.

My little Petal has always been my calm, even when we were kids.

For a few seconds, it’s peace. It’s just me, Petal and the silence surrounding us like a cocoon.

“Jas, what is it?”

“Pack your things, we’re leaving.”

She jerks away as if I hit her. “What?”

“You heard me.” There’s no way in fuck I’m leaving her in Lucio Costa’s orbit.

I’m not exactly sure where we’ll go from here, but it has to be away from Lucio’s orbit.

Petal might me a Costa heir, but she’s also my little Petal.

“I can’t just leave,” she says slowly, spooked almost. “I have a life here, I have work, friends, my cats!”

“Those don’t fucking matter.”

“Of course they do. You can’t just tell me to leave.”

“You’re a mafia princess, Pet. And do you know what they do to mafia princesses? They marry them off to be abused and impregnated. They usually die of mental illness, or in my mom’s case, a fucking bullet to the heart. Don’t make me repeat myself, pack your fucking things.”

Her lips part and she opens her mouth to say something but soon closes it then opens it again. “W-what the hell are you talking about?”

I grab her by the arm. “You’ll find out when we’re out of here.”

“No.” She wiggles free. “I’m not going with you.”

“Georgie.”

“If you make me, I’m calling the cops.”

I reach into my pocket and thrust the phone in her hand. “Do it, then.”