What We Owe

Chapter Seventeen

I woke up to a loud thump from downstairs. I sat up and looked over to Stefan's side but he wasn't laying next to me. I got up, wrapping myself in a robe. I walked downstairs to find Stefan sitting at the kitchen counter and two men I didn't recognize carrying out the couch Trigger had bled out on last night. Candles were still littered throughout the room. Stefan was reading a newspaper but looked up to me with a smile.

"Good morning, Mrs. Burlosconi." He said. He turned his body and I went to him. I hugged his neck and kissed him.

"Taking your role as a trophy husband so seriously already?  I thought it would take you at least a week to start redecorating." As soon as I made the joke I felt guilt wash over me. Trigger was dead and I had made a joke about replacing the couch he had just died on. Stefan saw it in my cringe.

"Don't," He said, "It's okay." He ran a hand over my hair and kissed me again. He stood and walked over to make my coffee. I sat in the seat he had just left and looked at the newspaper. The headline of the article read "Man found dead under Manhattan bridge Identified." I skimmed through the article.

"Who's Antonio Rossi?" I asked. 

"Trigger." He answered

"Why was his body under the bridge?" I tried to read the article but it was short and gave little details.

"It's where Ox and Matteo took him." I felt my heart drop.

"You dumped his body?" My tone was accusatory. He turned and leaned on the counter. The coffee maker was hissing to life behind him.

"It's what we do when one of us get's murdered by an enemy. Trigger knew that before he died. He will receive a proper burial. We leave them for the cops to find. If they can find evidence on his body that leads to an arrest of the person responsible, it helps us."

"You mean Dex, right? You want them to find something leading back to Dex?"

"Yes. He is safer in prison than on my streets. He has to be dealt with one way or another." He turned and I looked back down to the newspaper. Nothing had been disclosed to the public about his manner of death or if any evidence had been found.

"But he was here last night, what if it comes back to you?"

"It won't." He said curtly.

"But how do you-" I started asking.

"Claire, it won't. This isn't my first or last time dealing with one of my men being murdered." He turned and came over to me, grabbing my face. "I know you are new to this but I have already told you I don't want you involved in mafia business. It's not safe. The less you know, the safer you are." He kissed my forehead.

"Stefan, we're married. I'm not safe now and I'm more involved than ever. And this involves Dex so.." His eyes narrowed, making me rethink what I was about to say.

"So..?" He asked.

"So.. I just think we need to talk about it." I wasn't backing down on this. I was still trying to believe Dex was capable of killing someone. We didn't kill in our business back in Chicago. It was an escalation that didn't sit right with me. I needed to just talk to Dex, I could fix this.

"There is nothing to talk about. It's better for you to not know what becomes of Dex."

"Stefan, this is because of me. He did this because of me. Trigger is dead because of me. You can't kill him when-" He cut me off.

"Claire, I am warning you to tread lightly when it comes to Dex. He decided to play with the big boys. He made his choices. You haven't made a choice here that puts any of the blame of Trigger's death on you. You asked me if the men I killed deserved it, when I said yes, you left it alone. Dex deserves what he has coming now. It's not up for discussion." He set the coffee cup in front of me and place the creamer right next to it.

"So I get no say now? My opinion is just to remain unspoken or not listened to?"

"No, but Claire I have a code I live by. Our business has ran on this code for decades. Trigger was one of my fathers men before he was mine. He has friends and family here who are now burying him because of Dex's choice. I am not sparing him because you asked me to. You are right, you are part of the mafia now by marriage. You are my wife and if you want to be involved, the first thing you will have to do is swear to live by the code. You can either be involved and responsible for what happens to him, or let me take care of it."

"So that's it? There's no exception to the rules?"

"No, there it isn't." He said simply.

"What about me? I'm an exception. I tried to kill you, but I'm alive."

"It's different Claire and you know that."

"Is it though, different? I would be dead if you hadn't unloaded the gun. Your men would have came after me. Dex's gun was just loaded, that's the only difference. I'm not saying he should go unpunished but I am asking you, as your wife, to not kill him, Stefan."

"Don't." He said, eyes filled with warning.

"I just did. Please, for me, break the fucking code. Spare Dex's life. Do not kill him. Stefan, he's the only family..." I trailed off.  He shook his head. "I didn't mean that you weren't.. I'm just saying that he-"

He cut me off again. "That he was there for you. That makes him less of an asshole but not less guilty."

The elevator button rang and Melanie, Ox, and Matteo walked into the kitchen. Melanie's smile faded when she saw the tension between Stefan and I.

"Honeymoon over already?" She frowned. "Jesus, I am never getting married." She sat down next to me.

"Ox will be with you guys today, Matteo and I have business to take care of." Stefan went to the stairs. I went to say something but I didn't want to cause a scene in front of everybody.

Matteo came over to me, placed a fist on his heart and dipped his head. Ox followed behind. I looked at them, waiting for them to say something but they didn't.

"They're giving you their loyalty and respect as Stefan's wife." Melanie whispered.

"Oh. Okay well.. thanks." I said, having no idea what else to say. Melanie laughed. The two men walked back into living room.

"So you and Stef seemed... weird." She said, taking my coffee and sipping it. I didn't even try to stop her.

I didn't say anything. Weird wasn't even close to what we were right now. I got up. "I'll be right back." I said to Melanie. I jogged up the stairs and found Stefan in the closet, loading his guns.

"Can we-"

"I have to go to work Claire. Please just leave this alone."

"Can you just let me fucking finish a sentence?" His eyes shot to me and narrowed again. At least I had his attention.

"Can you answer one question for me and I swear I will drop it.. for now."

He let out a sigh and nodded once.

"If Trigger hadn't been killed and Dex hadn't ever involved himself with the Mafia after you took me, would you of ever tried to kill him?"

His eyes were still narrowed and his jaw ticked.

"Honestly, yes." He answered. That's exactly what I thought.

"Then stop blaming the code. You would have killed him, code or no code. Even though you knew it would have hurt me. So be a man next time and admit the truth from the start. This is personal, not fucking business." Stefan whipped around the island and backed me into the wall.

"It's very fucking personal Claire, but you need to decide where your loyalty is. To your husband or the man who was there for you through a few hard years. I made a vow to be there for you through the rest of them. You knew who I was, what I did for work, and my feelings about Dex. So be a woman next time and accept that you chose yesterday and throwing a tantrum doesn't make you more loyal to him. You betrayed him yesterday by marrying me. You made the decision. Watch it before you turn your back on your husband too." And with that, he left me.