Destined For The Mafia (18+) (3 of 3)

Chapter 25 - No

[Cat's POV]

It is awhile before Tony returns. I sit and wait in the darkness, preparing myself for what is to come.

Well, that is a lie. I have always been prepared. Deep down. A part of me knew this would all end this way. I think part of me knew it since the night at the club when Enzo turned Tony away at my door and escalated the war we didn't know at the time that we were in. In the end, it was always meant to come down to this. I should have done it years ago.

But I was weak. Scared. Scared of becoming who my father wanted me to be, who Pablo wanted to use me to be, who my own mother would disown in disgust of the monster she brought into this world. I was scared to face the fact that I want this. I want to be that monster. I want to hurt the people who hurt me. I want to hurt them more than they hurt me. I want to feel every gasp of pain they deserve.

I avoided my own destiny for years. Everyone who died in this war died because I let my weakness stop me from taking control. The baby I didn't know I had in me, that Enzo desperately wanted, died because I put myself here.

All of this could have been avoided if I did what I should have done years ago.

I will never forgive myself.

But action is the only thing that I have left.

I will be what they wanted me to be. I will be the Caterina Linetti today. I will end this - once and for all.

The door creaks open at last. I take a silent deep breath and sit up, opening my eyes. I sit still so the rope doesn't move around my wrists.

"Looking pleasant as always, Caterina," Tony calls out as he walks closer, carrying a lantern that moves light closer with him.

I look behind him. He's alone.

"I'm ready to talk."

He sits down across from me, raising his eyebrows as he puts the lantern down beside him.

"About?" He asks nonchalantly, but I can hear the truth behind it.

"Your brother."

He wasn't expecting that. His head moves to the side as he inspects me.

"And?" He says, his voice colder than before.

"Danny told me once that he would find my weakness."

He squints, not understanding. "He did. Your family."

"He did, yes. But it wasn't that family - that was just my secret. It was my real family. Enzo and Stef. You both underestimated how far I would go for them, even when I was newly pregnant."

When he doesn't say anything, I add, "I know what your weakness is, Tony."

He lets out a short, humourless laugh. "Sure."

"You're insecure."

He almost flinches, I struck such a nerve, which almost makes me laugh. "No, I'm not," he counters like a child.

"You always have been. I would say it stems from your clear Daddy issues, but frankly that's just boring."

"Shut up, Cat."

I tilt my head. "Why? What do you care about what I think of you?"

"I don't," he says through gritted teeth.

"Wrong again," I tell him and shrug.

That annoys him more.

"Shut your mouth," he says slowly, almost a growl.