The Mafia's Undoing-Chapter 27: Possession

The surveillance footage played on loop. Katherine kissing Luca. Her hands fisting his shirt, how she’d pulled him hard to her, and then his rejection, his exit, her crumpling onto the couch.

I’d watched it seventeen times.

The glass paperweight smashed against the window with enough force to break both the glass and the window. Then the whiskey decanter. Then the fucking laptop showing me her kiss over and over and over.

"Boss!" Vincent burst through my office door as I tossed a chair against the wall. "Jesus Christ-"

"Get out."

"You’re destroying your own office-"

"Get out!" I shouted. The words came out raw, animalistic. "Before I destroy you, too!"

He was smart enough to leave..

I stood in the wreckage of my office, chest pounding, knuckles bleeding from where I’d punched the wall, and something profound within me shattered. Katherine had kissed Luca Torrino. The woman I loved, the woman I’d sacrificed everything for, had sided with my enemy.

"Anthony." My father’s voice was calm, measured. Infuriating. "We need to talk."

"Get the fuck out."

"No." Thomas stepped over the broken glass, assessing the damage with a cool objectivity. "You’re having a breakdown for a woman who’s with another man because you put her there. This is your fault, son."

I charged at him. He easily sidestepped my attack, grabbing my wrist and using my force to push me against his desk.

"Control yourself!" His voice was steel. "You think I don’t know what you’re going through? I watched the woman I loved walk away because of the choices I made. But I didn’t destroy my empire in a tantrum."

"She kissed him." These words all but choked me. "Katherine kissed Luca Torrino."

"And he turned her down." Thomas released me, straightening his suit. "The surveillance showed that, too. He turned her down because she was trying to use him to forget you. If anything, that proves she’s in love with you."

"She still loves me while planning a future with him." I grabbed what was left of the bottle and began drinking directly out of it. "That makes it worse."

"Then tell her the truth. End this act. But understand the consequences." Thomas pulled out his phone to show me pictures. "These just arrived. Katherine is under surveillance. Crosshairs edited onto each shot."

My blood turned to ice.

"Someone contracted a hit man. Top-tier. We intercepted him before he could carry out the hit, but there are others." Thomas’s face was grim. "As long as you’re engaged to Victoria, you have the protection of the Sterling family. Katherine is safe. Break this engagement, and she’s an open target. "

"Then we protect her ourselves-’

"We tried that. It’s not enough." He stuffed his phone away. "These people are ghosts, Anthony. They’ll wait months, years, for the right moment. The only thing holding them back is fear of retribution from a Sterling connection. You end that engagement, you sign her death warrant."

I stared at the photos of Katherine with crosshairs over her heart and felt every ounce of fight drain from me. "How long?"

"Until we locate who put out the hit. When she is no longer a use as a bargaining chip against you."

"Meaning until she’s completely moved on with Luca." The implication was suffocating. "Until she stops being mine and becomes his."

Thomas said nothing, which was answer enough.

I surveyed my ruined office and my loss of control, and made a decision that was likely to destroy me.

"I’m going to tell her anyway. Tonight. She needs to know the truth."

"That’s suicidal-"

"Then I’ll die having done one honest thing in this fucking nightmare." I grabbed my keys. "I’m not losing her without a fight. Not anymore."

***

Katherine’s apartment building was dark except for a few scattered windows. I parked across the street, with every intention of going straight up, until I saw them.

Katherine and Luca, coming from the restaurant district area. His arm was resting on her shoulders, and she was leaning on him as if she belonged there.

Something violent and possessive rose up in me. Mine. She’s mine. I did fight it, however, managing to hold myself in check and watch to see what I was truly fighting for.

They stopped in front of her door. Speaking in low tones, their heads bent together in a manner that hinted at sharing secrets. Then Luca pressed his lips to her forehead - a gentle, loving kiss, one which spoke only of more profound emotion.

He left, and Katherine stood by her door for a long time before going in.

I counted exactly thirty seconds before crossing the street and pounding on her door hard enough to hurt my already bloody knuckles.

She opened it wearing only pajama shorts and a frayed T-shirt, her long hair loose down her back, her skin bare of any makeup. She was exhausted, but she was beautiful, everything I’d ever wanted.

"Tony?" Surprise, followed by wariness, crossed her face. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you. Please. Five minutes," I said. My voice was rougher than I’d intended. "Just five minutes and then I’ll leave and never bother you again if that’s what you want."

"Five minutes," she hesitated, then moved aside.

Her apartment was just as I’d remembered it: small, with a homey atmosphere, packed with books and pictures of Elliot. The wedding invitation was crumpled on her coffee table. I waited exactly sixty seconds before crossing the street and pounding on her door hard enough to hurt my already bloody knuckles.

"You came to talk."

Katherine crossed her arms, her posture defensive. "So talk."

"The FBI investigation is fake." The words tumbled out even before I second-guessed myself. "My father made it all up. The documents, the testimony, the federal charges against you - it’s all been nothing but a fabrication to try to maneuver me into this engagement with Victoria."

Katherine held her breath. "What?"

"I didn’t betray you. I was trying to save you from twenty-five years in prison. Thomas manufactured evidence, told me that marrying Victoria would see all charges wiped with connections through Sterling."

I took a step closer because she had to believe me. "Every day of this engagement has been torture. Each picture with Victoria, a lie. I have been dying every day because I know you’re with Luca, because it’s my only means to keep you safe."