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It was almost dark when I arrived at Dante’s property.
It was one of the darkest days of the year, so the light was gone just shy of five o’ clock, and it was fitting for the occasion because anytime I was in this man’s presence it felt like a nightmare. I was escorted into the parlor but not offered a refreshment, treated like an enemy rather than an ally who had saved his life.
He entered a moment later and took the seat across from me, the displeasure pulsing in his eyes like a flickering lightbulb. His arms were on the armrests, and he crossed his legs like he was a stuffy museum curator. “Have the Colombians reached out?”
“I’m not here to talk about business.”
“Then what are you here to talk about?”
“You know what.” There was one thing that connected us now. Or, I should say,one personwho connected us. “I love Scarlett, and she knows I do because I told her.” I’d told her when I should have told her sooner. Instead of playing it cool because it was too soon in the relationship to drop the L-bomb, I should have just straightened my spine and spoken my mind. “But she won’t say it back…and I know why.”
Dante had the presence of a statue—devoid of all emotion.
“I’m going to tell her everything.”
His stonelike gaze hardened at the threat. His expressions were always subtle and nuanced because he kept his emotions theway he kept his cards—close to his chest. But the anger was unmistakable.
“As a courtesy, I’ll give you the opportunity to speak to her first. Word it in whatever way you want to make yourself look as good as possible. I don’t care. My agenda is not to show her what a horrible man you are, but to prove that I’ve always been faithful to her, that she’s all I’ve ever wanted since the moment I met her. I’m tired of living with this cloud over my head and watching it pour down on our sunshine.”
Dante said nothing, bringing his hands close together, wearing a ring on each hand. “I meant what I said. Tell her—and your parents are dead.”
I was surprised, but not entirely so. “I saved your ass, Dante.”
“My ass wouldn’t have needed to be saved if you’d just given them the ten percent. I’m not an idiot. I know that was on purpose.”
“If I wanted to kill you, I would just do it myself,” I said. “In fact, I’d prefer it.”
His expression remained hard.
“I saved your daughter. You at least owe me that.”
“Again, you decide to fuck with the Colombians?—”
“And you decided to bring her there. That’s all on you, Dante. As manipulative and deceitful as I think you are, I know you love your daughter very much.” I saw it in the way emotion overcame him in certain moments, the way he’d begged for her life instead of trying to save his own. He did some shitty things, but if it came down to her or him, he would take the bullet so she could walk away. “Tell her, or I will.”
“Then I’ll shoot both of your parents through the fucking eye.”
If only Scarlett knew half the shit that came out of his mouth. “I can tell Scarlett the truth, and if something happens to my parents, you’re the cause of it. You lose your daughter.”
“Then I may as well take your parents so we’re even.”
I hadn’t expected that at all. “You would let innocent people die just to be spiteful?”
“I don’t give a shit about innocent people,” he snapped. “Tell Scarlett the truth, but know that it’ll come at a price. If I lose my family, you lose yours. So you have to decide what’s more important to you. Your marriage or your parents.”
This man really was a sick fuck. “I’ve proven myself loyal to your daughter. It would suit my best interests if I killed you, and while I could snuff out your life without her ever suspecting me, I would never hurt her like that. I would never deprive her of her father. I wish you would grant me the same respect by supporting my marriage to your daughter. She deserves to know the truth—that I would never even look at another woman.”
He blinked a few times, his stare resembling boredom. “As there’s no way to accomplish that without incriminating myself, I can’t help you. You seemed to have done a remarkable job earning her trust, because she’s told me how much she cares for you.” He said it with a hint of disdain, like it made him sick to know that her feelings for me were genuine.
“She married me because she felt like she had to,” I said. “But now she’s married to me because she wants to be. I know that must kill you.”
He returned to his stoniness, looking at me like he felt nothing at all.
“You know I’m innocent. You know I didn’t do any of the things I was accused of.”
“Found guilty of. Big difference, Axel.”
“You think your daughter would love me if any of that shit were true? If I ever treated her that way?”
