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“This ends here. My daughter isn’t part of this life. Whatever the hell this is, it’s over. You understand me?”
I swallow. “Paulie, I don’t want to disrespect my girl’s father?—”
“Your girl?”
“But I can’t promise that. I just can’t. She means too much to me already.”
“I left that life behind,” Paulie snaps. “I didn’t do that so you could drag her back into it.”
“Dad, you haven’t left it behind,” Ruby says, her voice tight, filled with heartache as she glares at her father. I can see his confusion painting every inch of him. “I saw you meet that man in the middle of the night. I saw you hand him a package. That was some pretty mafia-looking stuff to me!”
“What man?” Paulie narrows his eyes, then sighs. “Jeez, Ruby. That was a friend from the construction site. He’s going away for the next few weeks, so he had to meet me at the last minute. I bought a necklace from him for your mother. I know you refuse to believe it, but we’re really going to make it work this time.”
“Really?” Ruby asks doubtfully.
“I swear. I left that life behind a long time ago. I was only involved in it because I had no choice, no other way to make money at the time. When I found out your mom was pregnant, I knew I couldn’t stay in. I knew I had to find a better path.”
“You know as well as me,” I growl, “the Marinos are a big part of why this city’s safe to walk at night. We’re the reason the streets aren’t filled with drugs. We’re the reason?—”
“I know, Luca,” Paulie says, seeming calmer now, “but you’re still a mafioso. You still walk on the unlawful side of the road. I wanted a legitimate life, and that’s still what I want. For myself. For my family.” He holds his hand out to Ruby. “Come on. We’ll talk about this later.”
Ruby flashes a look at me, her eyes wide, but nothing like they were in the hotel room. Terror touches every part of her. “Dad, please don’t make me choose.”
“How long has this been going on?” Paulie demands.
“I don’t know—a week, maybe more.”
“A week.” Paulie laughs gruffly. “You’ll get over it. Or you can choose right now, right here. Your family or the Family, with a capital F.”
“It’s okay,” I tell Ruby. “I’d never drag you away from your family. We can talk about this later.”
“No, you won’t,” Paulie snaps.
“With all due respect, Paulie?—”
“Paul,” he snaps. “Just Paul.”
I sigh, grinding my teeth. Conflicted feelings burn through me. One part wants to turn full savage and defend my closeness with his daughter. This is the same part that wants to push him hard, get him away from Ruby, get her in the car, and drive somewhere we can forget about this drama. There’s another part—the one I’ve got to listen to—that knows I can’t disrespect my woman’s father.
“Paul,” I go on. “I want to make this work, but everybody needs to cool off. Ruby, go with him.”
“I don’t want to abandon you,” she whispers, almost breaking down into a sob.
“Listen to yourself,” Paulie says. “He’s twisted your head up, hasn’t he? Come on.” He grabs her arm, turning toward the house. “I won’t let him make you feel guilty for doing the right thing.”
I grind my teeth some more, hating how he frames it, but I have to try to see it from his point of view. He thought he was done with the mafia life, and then he saw me kissing his daughter. I didn’t want him to find out like that.
Ruby turns, but not before giving me a meaningful look. She bites her lip and then walks toward the house.
I climb into the car. It’s only when they’ve disappeared that I let my rage out. Over and over, I slam my hand against the steering wheel, letting out a guttural roar. Is this it, the end? Now, I’ll have to go back to being the man I was before I found my dream girl. Cold. Dead inside. I don’t know if I can let go of this fire.
Colt grunts as I land a front kick to his midriff, but then he pivots and springs into a single-leg takedown, grabbing my leg and forcing me to hop around on the other foot. With a well-placed trip—moving with the speed and precision few people would expect from a man his size and age—he puts me on my ass. I scramble back to my feet, landing an elbow to the side of his head.
He grunts, and I realize I’ve thrown it harder than I usually would in sparring.
“Keep going,” he growls, reading my hesitation. “Fifty seconds left.”
He lands an elbow on me, causing my brain to rattle in my skull. I raise my guard, shift back, slip a punch, and then throw a leg kick that almost buckles him. Shadow whines from the side of the ring.
