“Stop trying to control every aspect of my life and I will.”
“I’m keeping you safe.”
“You’re suffocating me.”
Silence settles over us and I let it reign. It’s better that way.
Then I hear him move closer and feel the heat of his body behind me even though he’s not touching me.
“Luca asked me something this morning.”
My chest constricts and I turn slightly but don’t face him fully. “What did he ask?”
“He wanted to know why I wasn’t around. Why his mama’s friend wasn’t there when he was born.”
I go cold immediately, like a bucket of ice was emptied on me. I finally spin around to face him, panic crawling up my throat.
“What did you tell him?” The words come out sharp. Desperate. “Dante, what did you say?”
He’s standing closer than I thought. “I told him I lived far away. That I didn’t know his mama very well back then, but now I’m here to keep you both safe.”
My chest loosens and I stare at him, trying to process what he just said. “You…you lied to him?”
“Yes.”
“But you don’t lie. You’re ruthless and brutal and honest to a fault. You don’t?—”
“I lied to my son,” he says quietly, and there’s something raw in his voice. “Because he’s five years old and he doesn’t need to know the truth yet. Because that’s a conversation we need to have together when he’s ready. Not because he asked an innocent question over breakfast.”
I’m stunned into silence. This man who demands absolute honesty from everyone, who tortures people for information,who runs his empire on fear and brutal truth—had lied to protect Luca from a painful reality?
I’ve watched them bond over breakfast and books and bedtime routines where Dante tucks Luca in, and my heart cracks seeing the ruthless killer transform into a surprisingly tender father. But this? This, I didn’t see coming.
Although he’s a completely different man with me: demanding, controlling, and ruthless in his expectations. I still can’t believe this.
“I don’t understand you,” I whisper.
“What’s there to understand?”
“You could have told him the truth. Could have used it as ammunition against me. Could have turned him against me for keeping you away.”
“He’s five, Scarlett. Not a weapon in whatever war you think we’re fighting.”
“I just…I didn’t expect that.”
His jaw tightens. “Expected me to be cruel? To hurt him just to hurt you?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. You’re ruthless with everyone else.”
“Everyone else isn’t my son.” He takes a step closer and I’m suddenly very aware of how small the space between us has become. “I’m a lot of things. A killer. A monster. Everything you’ve accused me of being. But I won’t use that boy to settle scores with you. He deserves better than that.”
The raw honesty in his words catches me completely off guard. This is the man I’ve been running from for six years. The manI’ve been terrified would corrupt my son with his darkness. And he just proved he has more integrity than I gave him credit for.
“Thank you,” I say quietly. “For not telling him.”
“Don’t thank me. I want him to know the truth. But when he’s ready. When we can explain it together in a way that won’t destroy him. And for the record, this doesn’t change anything.”
Here we go again, back to square one.
