Chapter 90: You Little Cunt

Back then, he had been James. Skinny. Angry. Now he was Inferi. Violence had reshaped him.

“What do you want?”

“Shop has been quite busy today. I always knew you would do amazing things with the shop.” Inferi smiled.

His gaze drifted over the walls. The light fixtures.

“Comes and goes,” she replied.

She refused to let him see pride. Pride could be taxed. Pride could be taken.

“Well, I and your dad had a little deal on the side.”

“My dad had no deal whatsoever with you, Inferi. I am absolutely sure of it.” Vee asserted.

Inferi’s eyes darkened slightly. “You’d be surprised what your father was willing to do when money got tight.”

A flicker of doubt crept in. She crushed it immediately.

“Since you are not ordering anything, please leave.”

Everything happened quickly after that.

One second he was leaning lazily against the counter. The next, his hand shot out, fingers tangling brutally in her hair at the base of her skull. He yanked.

Her cheekbone slammed into the marble edge with a sickening crack. Pain exploded behind her eyes.

Gasps erupted from behind the counter.

Rosa screamed. Tony vaulted forward, rage lighting his face.

Vee lifted her hand sharply, palm out to stop them from coming any closer.

Her vision swam, but her arm did not tremble.

Inferi’s grip tightened, forcing her face sideways against the cold stone. His breath was hot and sour near her ear.

“Now listen to me, you little cunt!” Inferi leaned over her. “I will bring my package over here and you and your little minions there will have them sold. You hear me?”

Her heartbeat slowed instead of racing. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a colder instinct took over.

Vee said nothing. She stayed calm. A dangerous, dark part of her knew exactly what she should do. She only had to call Luca. One call. One sentence. He would not ask for proof. He would not ask for context. Inferi would be erased so efficiently that the block would pretend he had never existed.

And that dark part of her liked that.

It liked the idea of Inferi’s smirk wiped off his face permanently. It liked the thought of blood answering blood.

But she also knew what it would cause.

Mob war.

Inferi ran this strip. Luca owned districts. If one swallowed the other openly, the ripple would not stay contained. Innocent staff would be dragged into power struggles they never signed up for.

And she would become the reason.

Valentina would not be safe again.

So Vee swallowed that sick part of her that wanted a man dead just by breathing so close to her. She swallowed it like bile. Like poison she chose not to spit.

Inferi’s fingers drifted upward, brushing against the diamond pendant at her throat.

The necklace Luca had clasped around her neck just last night.

“That is a pretty necklace,” he murmured. “Looks like this place has been doing alright for a while.”

He chuckled.

The diamond rested against the hollow of her throat. Luca had told her it was for protection. At the time she had rolled her eyes.

Now she understood.

Inferi released her abruptly. The absence of his grip was almost jarring.

Then he spun the cash register toward him, the metal scraping loudly against the counter. He popped it open and scooped out the money.

He walked leisurely out of the shop, money folded in his fist, shoulders relaxed.

The bell chimed politely behind him.

Rosa rushed to her immediately, hands hovering over Vee’s face.

Tony stood, breathing hard, fury vibrating through him.

Vee straightened slowly.

Her cheek throbbed.

“It’s fine. I’m fine. Don’t make a fuss, please.” Vee said.

Rosa looked unconvinced. “He could have broken your jaw.”

“But he didn’t.”

“I’ll get you some ice.”

“Rosa, no! I said don’t make a fuss.” The sharpness in her tone sliced through the air. Because fuss meant attention. Attention meant word spreading. Word spreading meant Luca hearing about it.

She moved toward Tony, who was still trembling with anger.

“Delivery orders,” she said calmly.

Tony didn’t say anything.

They worked side by side without speaking, boxing pizzas, stapling receipts, stacking delivery bags.

Vee’s cheek throbbed in time with her pulse. Every movement tugged at the swelling beneath her skin. She kept her head angled slightly.

Tony was preparing to leave when he stopped short to look at her.

“What?” Vee asked, sharper than she intended.

“You have a bruise.” Tony pointed to her face.

“What?” She lifted a hand to her cheek and felt it properly for the first time. Tender. Puffy. The skin hot beneath her fingertips.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!” She rushed into the small bathroom at the back of the shop, the door slamming shut behind her. The fluorescent light flickered overhead.

She looked in the mirror.

The damage was undeniable.

A dark bruise was blooming from her cheekbone up toward the outer corner of her eye, violet and angry against her pale olive skin.

It looked worse than it felt.

She gripped the edges of the sink.

She couldn’t let Luca see it.

If he saw it, there would be no containing him. Inferi would be dead before midnight and the block would drown in the aftermath.

She inhaled sharply.

Cancel. She had to cancel.

Tell him she would be spending the night with Valentina at their house. It would not even be a lie. She could say her sister needed her.

Surely he would understand why she needed to be with her sister.

Surely he would not push.

But she knew Luca.

He did not accept distance easily.

She splashed cold water on her face. The shock stung. She pressed a paper towel against her cheek.

“Think,” she whispered to her reflection.

Could she cover it with makeup?

Her phone buzzed in her apron pocket.

Her heart dropped.

She did not check it.

She hurried out of the bathroom, mind already forming sentences.

Luca stood at the counter.

He had taken off his coat. It was draped over one arm. His other hand rested lightly on the counter, long fingers tapping.

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