By Honor I Crumble

Chapter 10

*I DON'T OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS. THEY ALL BELONG TO THE AMAZING CORA REILLY*

Song Rec. : Black Skinhead by Kanye West 💪🏽 and When I was your Man by Bruno Mars 🥺

3 More Years Later

Nevio

Every person in the world was a motherfucking cunt and could suck a dick and choke for all I cared. Afterall, there is no such thing as loyalty. That could be the only explanation for why I was the last person to find out about Greta being knocked up by Amo fucking Vitiello. There he sat in the empty cage of Roger's Arena with a satisfied grin. It was four in the morning and the only ones here were Alessio, Massimo, Fabiano, Nino, Dad and I.

Dad, Nino and Fabiano were calmly sitting at the bar, nursing tumblers of whisky. Amo had a broken nose and a busted lip, courtesy of dad I'm guessing. It was a satisfying sight, and yet being carefully woken up by Aunt Kiara with a cookie to buffer my rage while everyone else knew was infuriating. I couldn't control it. I felt like I was about to explode because this was a whole other kind of betrayal. I pulled him to his feet, so hard that his shirt's collar almost ripped and pummeled his face. Again and again and again. Until I was screaming and Alessio was pulling me off him. He slid down the metal cage and blood spurted out of his mouth. He spit it out and grinned again. It made me want to rip his lips off.

"What are you so goddamn happy about fucker?" I snarled.

He smiled a bloody smile and rasped, "I'm going to be a dad. The woman I love is giving me a baby. Who wouldn't be happy, Falcone?"

I think I heard a glass shatter against a wall, but I saw red. I grabbed his neck and pressed my fingers down on his veins. Let him die by his father's infamous way. Even as Nino and Massimo pulled me away, I dug my nails in and felt them break. I was going to destroy him.

"We need him alive for now, Nevio. Think about Greta" Nino whispered in my ear and reluctantly I let him go.

Dad walked into the cage, shaking with barely restrained rage. This was our comfort zone, our arena. Amo was going to die in pain and I would relish his every scream. But then, disappointingly, dad pulled out his gun. He grabbed Amo's hand and placed it flat on the floor. Like a hammer, he slammed his gun down on his fingers until they were bloody and broken. Amo's screams were absolutely delightful. Maybe I'd record them and listen to them in the shower, but as if on cue, Greta rushed inside the bar.

"DAD YOU HAVE TO STOP" she screamed. She tried to enter the cage, but we had locked it. Instead, she just rattled it again and again until it got dad's attention. He ignored her and pulled out his knife. It was my favorite one. Stealing it when I was ten had gotten me grounded for months when I was young. He slowly brought the knife down towards Amo's other hand and just as he was about to slam down on his thumb, Greta said, "Dad I will never talk' to you again if you kill him" Her voice was shaky with tears, and yet her back was straight and she looked proud as a swan. Proud as a Cavallaro. Our heritage was a problem for another day.

Dad rolled his eyes and said to Greta while wiping his hands on a towel, "Don't worry mia cara. I'll make sure he lives." Then he turned to Amo again and whispered, "If you hurt my daughter in any way, I will first destroy your mother, your sister, your little brother and your cousins. Even after they die, when they are just a rumor in the world, I'll make sure you live because like I said to Greta, you won't get the honor of a made man's death." Dad unlocked the cage and just as he was about to walk out, he tossed Amo a phone and said with a furious growl, "Tell your father to prepare for a wedding."

We left him in the fighting cage and with some luck, he'd die there of blood loss. It would have been convenient, if Greta hadn't insisted on taking him to a hospital and calling Luca Vitiello. I wouldn't be stuck in dad's office in the Sugar Trap as he discussed Greta and Amo's wedding with Luca. Everyone was stupidly calm with the situation and it made me furious. With Amo. With Luca. Even Greta. I knew I hadn't exactly been a saint for the past 7 years and yet her actions hurt. The fact that she didn't trust me with her secrets, with her feelings, made me question everything. What was the point of having a twin if you couldn't trust them with your deepest secrets? Were we truly as close as I thought we were? I was a hypocrite. Because even as I was furious with Greta for not telling me about her and Amo, I still hadn't told her about Aurora and I.

"The faster we get this over with, the better. There are already enough speculations with the two of you frolicking around New York City Ballet" Luca said.

Nino simply gave dad one of his all-knowing looks and said, "Dante won't be happy."

"And we give a fuck about the cold fish's opinion because..." Matteo asked with an eye-roll.

"Because he has political connections. One word out and he could destroy us all." Nino answered with mild annoyance, as if he couldn't believe Matteo's stupidity.

Dad's phone rang and he silenced it and turned his attention to the loud thump that came from the door to his office. We all pulled our guns, as the cold-fish himself walked in.

Dante pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood of the soldier guarding the door from his knuckles. He unbuttoned his crisp suit jacket and took a seat on dad's favorite leather couch. "So what is this business of a wedding I heard about?" he asked casually, as if he was unaware of the fact that he was changing the course of our lives forever.

Aurora

The clinical rotations were no joke and I was daydreaming of my pillow and my soft soft comfy bed on the long train ride home. Ok maybe not just my bed. Maybe I was also dreaming of my favorite cuddle buddy, Nevio, on my bed. I could use some comfort after the way all the Attending physicians had destroyed me in clinicals. I had never felt more stupid in my whole life. Not even while studying for my MCAT. I knew the rude criticism was for my improvement, but my ego had taken a hit. I made a strong cup of coffee when I reached home because the board exam wasn't going to study itself. And yet, my thoughts strayed to Nevio. Where was he? When was he going to come home? He was supposed to be back from Vegas yesterday and his tardiness had me worried. I knew I was being ridiculous. He hated LA and took every opportunity to stay away from it. So this was probably him, chilling at home. But I missed him. A lot. Being away from him, even for a week, was hell. I missed his touch. His scent. His stupid leather jacket thrown on my couch. His cigarette stubs in every available pseudo-ashtray. Him leaving the windows open to get rid of the smoke. Him, making me coffee and overcooked scrambled eggs when I forgot to eat because of my work load. Him forcing me to sleep. I missed his kisses, the gentle ones that were only reserved for me. I knew what the missing meant. There were feelings, feelings that were very very close to love. I was in love with Nevio Falcone and that scared the living shit out of me. It was scary because I was ready to do my residency at UNLV instead of UCLA, or at my favorite place, Columbia. Just so I could be closer to him. But I didn't care. He was the only thing that mattered. Keeping these thoughts inside was tearing me up and I decided that I would tell him everything when he returned. And then as if on cue, the door unlocked and he walked in.

He looked like he had been run over by a train. He was somehow weary. He looked at me and smiled. It was enough to make me melt. He pulled his arms around me and buried his face in my hair, hugging me close, as if he was reluctant to let me go. It was the most perfect embrace ever and I never wanted to move. But I was bursting with excitement now that he was here. I wanted to tell him about my interview at UNLV. Even as I tried to pull away, he held me close. It was so cute that I let him.

"Falcone, I have to tell you something very very important, but you have to let me go for that" I said to him with a chuckle.

He made a non-committal noise which made me laugh again and pulled away. He had a strange look on his face, but he also said "I have something to tell you as well."

I don't know how, but that trumped my excitement. "Ok what is it?" I asked. Would he tell me that he was returning to Vegas so that I could go to Vegas with him? Was he about to tell me he wanted me forever? Whatever it was, I was bursting at the seams. But then he said it, and I think my whole world shattered.

"I'm getting married in two months."

A/N: for the purpose of this story Leonas isn't marring Charlotte Clark because Anna married Clifford Clark. Also gird your loins besties because shit is bout to get real 😌😗😤😧