A tear slid down Angelo’s face. “I see that now. It was all a waste, but love will make you do crazy things.”
“You don’t know the first thing about love. Don’t you dare call your sick obsession with me love. Now tell me where Maia is before I put an end to your miserable existence.”
“I don’t think you’ll be doing that,” a voice called out from the darkness.
Goosebumps rose on Ava’s arms. That voice. She knew that voice. At least she thought she did.
“And why wouldn’t I put him out of his misery?” Ava asked out loud.
“Because for all his intentions he is still family.”
“Not mine,” Ava said.
“Yes. You were never too fond of him, were you?”
A figure stepped into the spotlight. Ava gasped, taking a step back. A man stared at her with black, dead eyes. His slicked-back hair was slightly peppered with grey. A crisp black suit fit his frame as if it had been made for him. Ava wanted to scream.
“Joseph?”
He laughed. The same menacing laugh she’d heard all those years ago as he ordered her father to be beaten to death. Her late husband had risen from the dead and from the look in his cold eyes, this reunion was not going to be a pleasant one.
Chapter Thirty
“What’s the matter, Ava? Surprised to see me?”
“Something like that.” Her response was barely a whisper.
“No ‘welcome back?’ No, ‘Joseph I’m so happy you’re alive’?” he asked in a mocking tone.
“I saw you die. I saw all the blood. I felt your pulse. You were dead.”
Joseph shrugged casually. “What can I say? I had good help.”
“You faked your own death. How did you pull it off?”
“And why couldn’t you stay dead?” Angelo asked under his breath.
Joseph turned his attention to his bleeding younger brother. “If I were you I’d shut the fuck up. You’re not off the hook for any of the shit you pulled either.”
Angelo glared at his brother but wisely kept his mouth shut. Ava’s mind was reeling. Her husband was alive. Had faked his own death. Had left her and Maia behind without a second thought. Her anger started to slowly rise to the surface again amidst the shock of her current situation.
“Well how did you do it?” Ava asked in a stronger tone.
“Blood bags. I had them taped to my chest. There was a sniper waiting for us in the garage with instructions on where to shoot me to make it look authentic.”
Ava swallowed. “And what about your pulse? You weren’t breathing.”
Joseph laughed. “Blowfish poison. One of the bullets that hit me contained a tiny needle that injected it inside me. I admit that part of the plan had me nervous. Too much of it and you’d be dead for real. Lucky for me I worked with a pro. I stayed dead long enough for you to have my funeral and then I rose from the dead and went on my merry way.”
Ava’s eyes narrowed. “Well bravo for a death well played. You sure fooled all of us, especially the daughter you left behind who’s been grieving for her father. Who’s had to endure all the snide remarks people say about you even though you were dead. Way to go, Joseph.”
Her husband took a step forward. “Don’t you get mouthy with me. I love Maia. She’s my angel.”
“Save it, Joseph. Now tell me why you faked your death.”
“It came to my attention through certain channels that some of my associates wanted to take me down. I couldn’t let that happen. So I made a deal with the Feds. I’d give them enough information on my fellow mob guys to take them down while I faked my death. When the job was done I’d resurface.”
“You rat,” Angelo said.
“For once we’re in agreement, Angelo,” Ava said before facing her husband again. “I thought you lived by a code. Respect, loyalty and above all else never go to the law. You sold out everything you believed in to stay on top.”
Joseph took a step forward. “Don’t you dare talk to me about respect and loyalty. You don’t know the meaning of the words, you whore.”
Ava felt like she’d been slapped in the face. “Whore? Who do you think you’re calling a whore? I was never unfaithful to you before or after you married me. You were the one who couldn’t keep your cock in your pants.”
Joseph laughed. He laughed like her words meant nothing. Like he was in total control. The hand holding her gun began to shake.
“I see you haven’t lost your balls. Nice to see someone around here still has some.” Joseph tossed a pitying look at his brother.
“Somebody has to since neither of you still seem to have them,” Ava said, ice in her tone.
“I’ve never lost my balls. Only someone with balls of steel would pull off what I did.”
“If that’s how you want to look at it go right ahead, frankly I don’t care what you do anymore,” Ava raged. “I just want to know why you did this? Why you stalked me, tried to kill me and then kidnapped our daughter? Tell me Joseph, was this part of your game when you decided to play dead?”
“No, Ava. I planned to come back to my wife and my daughter, but you had to go and screw everything up, didn’t you?”
“Me? What did I do?”
“I don’t know what you did to Angelo to make him lose his mind. To forget that you were off limits, no matter if I was dead or alive. Once something belongs to me, it always belongs to me. Apparently that wasn’t a lesson neither of you understood.”
Ava shook her head. “No. I belonged to you a long time ago. Then I was just a scared girl doing what I needed to do to save my family. I put up with a lot from you Joseph, but that’s over. I have my own life now and you are not going to rise from the dead and ruin it. You and I are done.”
“You’re damned right we’re done. At first the phone calls were just to scare you, to see if you were still on your guard. Still the ballsy broad I married. And then I saw you with Dominic and I knew it was over. You betrayed me with my own son. You’re going to have to pay for that, Ava.”
“Too bad for you I’m not going to let that happen.”
Ava turned. From the shadows emerged Dominic, his weapon trained on Joseph. His eyes were icy green chips.
“Now if this isn’t a regular family reunion. Nice to see you…son.”
Dominic moved Ava behind him. “I’m not your son. What I am is Ava’s new man.”
“Well this just got weird. What’re you trying to prove, son? That you’re as much of a man as I am? That loyalty means nothing?”
“I don’t need to prove anything to you. Contrary to what you think not everyone and everything revolves around you. And you want to talk about loyalty. Did you show me any when you didn’t leave me anything in your will?”
Angelo rose unsteadily to his feet. His hate-filled eyes settled on Dominic. “Bastards are entitled to nothing. You’d know this if you really knew how the business works.”
Dominic swung his gun at Angelo’s chest. “Unless you want me to drop you permanently, I suggest you shut up and mind your own damn business.”
“Why you…”
“Shut it, Angelo.”
Angelo glared between his brother and Dominic. He looked like a rabid dog trying to decide who to pounce on first.
“You can save the fake paternal hurt and all the other crap you tried to feed to me. I’m not your son. My mother and I had a nice, long talk and she admitted the truth. Andre Bonasario was my real father and you had him killed in a jealous rage so not only am I going to make you pay for killing my father, I’m also going to make you pay for trying to kill the woman I love and taking her child. Your days are numbered, Martelli,” Dominic said. There was no warmth in his tone.
“Mighty big words from a pup who’s never been to a real gunfight. But thanks for the heads-up. When I’m done here, I’ll be sure to stop by and put a bullet between the eyes of your lying mother,” Joseph said.