I reserved the space so we would have privacy but also so I could catch my father off guard. Angelo and I were already seated at the table when the hostess escorted my dad inside the vault. He smiled when he locked eyes with me. I had to force one in return.
Unlike the last time we met for dinner, I didn’t stand to greet him. Neither did Angelo. Dad didn’t seem to notice or mind and pulled out a chair across the table from Angelo and me.
Angelo and I sat next to each other, with my hand on his thigh and him squeezing me for dear life. He was furious. If Angelo had it his way, he would’ve sunk a few bullets into my father’s skull and been done with it. That was the only way my man knew how to exact his revenge. But I wasn’t like him.
“Where’s Faith? I was hoping to see her tonight.”
“She’s at home with her godfather.”
He nodded. “Sonny’s good with her.”
“He’s great with her. We couldn’t have asked for a better godfather.”
My dad picked up the menu and scanned it, even though he ordered the same steak every time. “So, what are you two getting to eat? Want to share a plate of cheesesteak dumplings with me?”
“I’m not hungry enough for an appetizer,” I shot back, trying to keep my voice level.
My stomach had been in knots all day. For all week, I’d been disgusted by his betrayal and sick over our dinner. But we had to clear the air. I wanted to dine and ditch, not sit down and have a heart-to-heart over a meal. It pained me to think this would be one of the last times I would ever see my father. He would never see Faith again. She would never have the chance to know her grandfather.
“I’ll eat some,” Angelo interjected. Like me, he was doing his best not to strangle my dad.
All I had to do was say the word and Angelo wouldn’t think twice. Angelo would have been happy to kill the man who had my mother murdered. It was hard to see him as my father anymore. Because a father would never do what he did to our family. He wouldn’t intentionally take the woman he supposedly loved from his only child.
Angelo rubbed my hand under the table and looked at my dad. “How’s the campaign?”
It was so hard for me to make small talk when all I wanted to do was confront my dad.
Who the hell cared about eating? I sure as shit didn’t.
Even though I knew he was responsible, I wanted to hear the words come from his mouth. One way or another, he would tell me the truth. Because I deserved it. He owed it to me.
Dad smiled and set the menu down in front of him. “So far, so good. The numbers are in my favor.”
“My dad will be pleased.” Angelo’s voice was devoid of emotion.
The waitress interrupted our conversation to jot down our orders, which was a welcome relief from the awkwardness at the table. After she left, we talked about current events and local sports until our food came. All of it was noise. None of us cared about any of the topics we were wasting our time discussing.
“Now that we’re done eating,” I said to my dad, “we can cut the shit. I asked you to come here for a reason.”
He sipped from his coffee mug, staring at me from beneath his dark brows. “Okay. What’s going on? Are you pregnant again?”
I shook my head. “No, nothing like that. I want to hear your side of the story. So, tell me, Dad...” I practically hissed his name. “Why did you have the O’Shea’s kill Mom?”
He cleared his throat and choked on his coffee, setting the cup on the table with a loud bang. “Excuse me? Did you just insinuate I killed your mother?”
I leaned down to remove copies of the papers Sonny and I had found in his office along with my cell phone. As I slid the documents in his direction, I turned on the recording app on my phone and kept it on my thigh. We needed proof of his actions to tie him to her murder.
Dad studied the papers, using the beat that passed between us to buy him some time to come up with a lie. He glanced up at me, his gaze meeting mine. “This proves nothing. Did I have a life insurance policy on your mother? Yes, I did. I have one on you and Faith, too.”
“Why? So you can kill us, too?” My voice rose to a higher octave.
Angelo promised to be quiet and allowed me to talk to my father without his intervention. I also wanted to keep his voice off the recording.
“Honey, I didn’t kill your mother for the life insurance money. That car bomb was meant for me… not for either of you.”
“That’s a lie, and you know it,” I spat back with so much anger in my tone it shook through me. “The numbers don’t lie, Dad. How dumb can you be? You kept a record of everything you ever did for Angelo Sr. You even have sticky notes inside the folders with dates and times. The one note said O’Shea ten-thirty. That was the same time Mom was murdered. You’ve always been friendly with the O’Shea’s. Connor watched over me for weeks after mom died. You killed her! Admit it, and save me the time. I need to understand why you did it. Tell me and maybe I can, one day, find a way to forgive you.”
The last part was a lie. I never had any intention of forgiving him. My heart was too black and broken for forgiveness.
He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers, stared up at the ceiling, and sighed.
“You can keep the papers if it makes you feel better. Just tell me the truth.” They were copies. I had the originals back at the apartment. “Please, Dad. You owe me this. I need to know why you took my mom away from me.”
When he locked eyes with me, his bottom lids were red-rimmed and glassy. “What do you want me to say? That I’m sorry? Because I am. I wish I could take back everything. I should have cut my ties years ago and moved out to the country where your mom always wanted to live. If I could go back in time, I would. I’d redo so many parts of my life. I tried to be a good father. Now you’re a parent you’ll see for yourself.”
“I would never pay someone to kill Angelo for insurance money.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, turning his head away from me. “I needed the money. I felt like I didn’t have a choice. The company was falling apart, and I was under a lot of pressure from outside sources.”
That was his nice way of saying from Angelo Sr.
Tears streamed down my face, one at a time. “Was it worth it? Are you happier now that you’ve ruined our family?”
“No,” he choked out, wiping his eye with the back of his hand. “I hope you never have to make the kind of choices I made for the sake of survival.” This time, he looked at Angelo. “I hope you never force her to make them.”
“I would never,” Angelo shot back, his voice like a growl.
Dad nodded.
Angelo and I had the kind of love that people write stories about. The only thing which could tear us apart was death, and even then, we would still live inside each other’s hearts. My parents never had what I have with Angelo. Their marriage was strained for years. Mom turned to the bottle, and I was pretty sure my dad turned to his assistant, though I couldn’t prove it.
I tapped the button on the recorder on my phone, satisfied with the evidence he’d provided me. Reaching down to my feet, I lifted my purse onto my lap, slipped the phone inside, and stood. I couldn’t look at him anymore. He made the steak in my stomach turn with each second we spent together.
Angelo rose along with me, removed his wallet from his pocket, and dropped a few hundred dollar bills on the table. My dad attempted to stand, but Angelo held out his hand, ordering him to stay put.
“Gianna, please.” My father begged, and it killed me that I no longer felt a thing for him.
Almost every significant moment in my life involved either my dad or Angelo, and I was turning my back on him forever. He broke my heart along with my trust. How could I ever look at him the same way again?
“I need some time,” I told him, even though it was a lie.
No amount of time or space would help me heal from the gaping hole he’d left in my heart. A void, which could never be filled, would always be there because of him.
As I walked out of the vault with Angelo, I contemplated what to do with the information.
Angelo always told me blood demanded blood. I couldn’t do that to my father. But he had to pay for his sins.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Gia
Another week had passed before I came up with a concrete plan to take down my father. A girl I knew from college was now an investigative journalist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. But I could never involve myself in the case. After careful research, I figured out how to make a tape from the audio clip of my father admitting he killed my mom. It wasn’t as hard as I had thought.
I scanned copies of the documents, omitting the handwritten note that mentioned O’Shea. For now, I wanted my father to pay. The O’Shea family would, too. But not today. This was about ruining my father’s election and making him pay for the sins of his past.
Sonny and Faith were out for a walk when someone knocked on my office door, startling me. I glanced up from the envelope I’d just sealed and addressed to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Angelo stood in the doorway in a thousand-dollar suit and a smirk that dampened my panties. His effect on me was always instantaneous. All he had to do was enter a room for me to want to throw myself at him.
“Hey, beautiful.” He locked the door behind him and strolled over to my desk.
I smiled so wide my jaw hurt. “What are you doing here? It’s the middle of the day.”
“I want to see you.”
“Did you do something bad?”
His face lit up in answer. He raised his index finger, beckoning me to come to him, and I got up from the chair without a word.
I stood in front of him, and he towered over me, all six feet three inches of him. “Faith and Sonny will be back any minute.”
“I saw them on my way into the building.” He pushed my curls behind my ear and cupped the side of my face in his hand. “We have the next hour to ourselves.”
I flashed a wicked grin and slid my hands to his chest, feeling his muscles beneath my fingers. “What do you want to do with all this free time?”
He pressed his lips to mine, invading my mouth with his tongue, his kisses greedy and passionate. His hunger for me made me desperate for more. I could never get enough of Angelo. The more he kissed me, time folded in on itself, and I became lost inside him.
Angelo lifted me up with one hand, my body so small in comparison to his. I molded to his muscular frame, clinging to him as he pushed the papers on the edge of my desk out of the way. He lowered me onto the wood, his hand sliding up my inner thigh.
He cupped my ass with his big hands, his erection digging into my stomach as he found his place between my thighs. Planting hungry kisses on my lips, Angelo didn’t waste any time exploring my body. His hands traveled beneath my shirt and bra to cup my breasts. He massaged my nipples, giving them a little pinch.
Angelo owned my body, always taking what he wanted from me without asking. For the longest time, we’d only felt something real with each other. Until we had Faith. She warmed both of our cold, dark hearts.
He shoved my skirt up to my waist, moved my panties to the side, and slid his hand between my thighs, ripping a moan from me. My eyes shut from the intense sensation that rocked me to my core. Locking eyes with me, Angelo pulled me closer and bent forward to roll his tongue over my clit, three fingers spreading me open. Angelo wrecked me from the inside out. I was sure someone in the office had heard us, but I didn’t care.
He was like a magician the way he worked his tongue, each flick placing me under his spell. It never took long for him to make me beg. A few lazy licks to taunt me forced me to grab him by the ends of his hair. My man loved to tease me until I couldn’t take it anymore.
Almost as soon as my orgasm claimed my body, Angelo removed his fingers and replaced them with his thick cock.
“Damn, baby.” He licked his lips and raised my left leg over his shoulder, staring down to watch his cock slide out of me.
Angelo pulled out and slammed back into me, making it hurt more each time. My insides clenched and burned from the loss, instantly satisfied when he thrust into me again. It wasn’t long before I felt the slow pulsing of his cock, the sensation alone enough to make me come again.
He kissed my thigh and smirked. “Best lunch ever.”
I smiled so wide my jaw hurt. “You’re such a dirty boy.”
“My dirty girl,” he growled, sliding out of me.
After we put ourselves back together, Angelo sat in the chair across from my desk and pulled me into his lap. “How are you feeling?” He pushed a loose curl behind my ear and held me tight.
I smiled. “Better now that you’re here. That was amazing. I needed that more than I realized.”
“I meant how are you feeling about turning in your dad?”
I shrugged. “A small part of me feels guilty for what I’m about to do. But then I think of my mom and what her last moments must have been like, and I no longer feel a thing for my father. He killed her to settle a debt, to keep his fortune.”
“He won’t have a fortune much longer.”
“Nope. Who knows what I will have left once it’s over.”
“You’ll still have Faith and me. I can make more money.”
I grazed his cheek with my thumb, staring into his bright blue eyes. “As long as I have you and Faith, I don’t need money. We could live anywhere, be anyone, and I wouldn’t care as long as I had both of you in my life.”
He kissed me so hard my head spun. As our lips separated, I already missed his touch.
“I can’t wait to marry you, Gia.” He pressed his forehead against mine and sighed. “When all of this is over with your dad, no more excuses. We are picking a date and sticking to it.”
“Something has come up every time we’ve tried to plan. Getting kidnapped sort of derailed our plans.”
He shook his head, laughing. “Smart ass. I don’t care if we have to elope. Making you mine is on my list of things to do.”
I threaded my fingers through his short, wavy hair. “I already am yours, silly. We don’t need a piece of paper to make it official when it’s already a done deal.”
A few seconds passed where we stared into each other’s eyes before a knock at the door caused both of us to jump. “Let us in,” Sonny yelled from in the hallway.
I hopped up from Angelo’s lap and ran over to the door. My face lit up when I saw Faith in her stroller, her hands together as if she were trying to clap.
Angelo was behind me, reaching for his daughter. “There’s my little princess.” He spoke in his baby voice, which was beyond adorable. “Did you have fun with Uncle Sonny?”
She giggled at the sound of his voice.
When I was pregnant with Faith, she would kick me when Angelo would talk to her. He did it several times a day, with his hands on my hips and his mouth close to my stomach. We both had the worst fathers in the world, and yet we somehow managed to be good parents. It was a miracle we had survived this long.
I lifted Faith up and handed her to Angelo, who hugged our child as if he never wanted to let her go. He planted at least a dozen kisses on her forehead and cheeks. The same love he’d shown to me for years he gave to our daughter tenfold.
Even though I had lost my family, I gained one with Angelo. He’d given me everything I ever wanted and more.
Chapter Thirty
Angelo
Eighteen Months Later
My father wasn’t thrilled about Lorenzo’s indictment for the murder of his wife, especially when he could be easily linked back to our family. But at least he would never know who was responsible for bringing down our next mayor. In some ways, Sonny and I were traitors for helping Gia. No one would ever know we were involved. Gia had taken all the proper precautions to ensure she didn’t leave any fingerprints.
Ten days had passed after Gia mailed the package to the Philadelphia Inquirer before the police arrested Lorenzo for murder. He’d just been elected the Mayor of Philadelphia, the ink
barely dry before he was hauled off to jail. Every newspaper in the country covered the story of a local politician who had his wife murdered for the life insurance money. The judge made an example of him, handing down a substantial sentence that promised he would never leave jail alive.
It wasn’t the first time a man had stooped that low to make a quick buck, and it wouldn’t be the last. But today was the last day Lorenzo would ever see Gia. I promised Gia I would let her handle things her way, and I did. Except now that Lorenzo was inside, all bets were off. He deserved to suffer the way Gia’s mother had. And he would. I’d made sure of it.
Sonny waited in the car with Faith while I accompanied Gia into the prison to see her father. A former politician hanging out with gang members made me laugh on the inside. When we sat at the table for visitation, I wasn’t surprised to see his left eye was swollen, with small gashes marking his cheeks. The worst had yet to come.
I sat next to Gia across the table from Lorenzo, who looked as though he wanted to cry. He begged my father for protection on the inside, and I convinced the old man to let him rot. Lorenzo was of no use to him in jail, making him dispensable in my father’s eyes. I kept him alive for each year Gia had to suffer because of him and made sure each day was more unbearable than the last.
“Gia,” he managed to choke out, his eyes watery. “I’m surprised to see you.”
“This is the last time,” she informed him. “Please don’t contact me ever again. I can’t pretend like we have a relationship anymore. What you did to Mom is unforgivable. You’re dead to me. You might as well have died on the same day as her because as far as I’m concerned, you did.”
He reached his hand across the table, his fingers making contact with Gia’s hand. She recoiled from his touch. “Please, Gia. I’m a bad man, but I am still your dad.”
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