“Right.”
I stood at a crossroads of what to do with Mitch. I could make him disappear, or I could find a legal way to make him disappear.
“There is a way I’ll pay you.”
“How?”
“I want you to relinquish your biological rights to Luca.’
Mitch’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, sure. I’ll do whatever you ask.”
“I’ll have the necessary paperwork drawn up, and we’ll sign it in my attorney’s office.”
Nodding eagerly, Mitch said, “I can do that.”
“Once the contract is signed, I’ll wire one million dollars into your checking account.”
“Holy shit,” Mitch muttered.
“That money ensures you never, ever try to seek Luca out. You are as good as dead to him with your signature.”
“That works for me.”
I closed the gap between us, standing toe to toe with him. “And should you ever try to go back on your word, you’ll be dead for real. Do you understand?”
His face paled. “Yes, Mr. Neretti.”
“Good. Now get the fuck out of here and wait for my call.”
Mitch didn’t have to be told twice. He practically sprinted out of the gallery. When he was gone, I exhaled a long, ragged breath.
Rafe and Gianni came to join me. “That went a lot better than I thought,” Rafe remarked.
“Except for the part about Edoardo.”
With a growl, Rafe replied, “It’s past time to take him out.”
“Yeah, it is. I just hate the mess it’s going to cause.”
“Will you do it yourself?” Gianni asked.
I grinned. “I think I’ve earned it.”
Rafe clapped me on the back. “Come on. Let’s get back to New York.”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE: DREA
Something warm and hard pressed up against me. When I turned over in bed, Leo smiled at me. “Is this okay?”
It was hard for us to snuggle in bed due to being careful of my C-section incision as well as my bullet wound. “It’s amazing.”
“The last thing I want to do is keep something from you, so I need to tell you what happened this afternoon.”
My breath hitched. “Okay.”
I held onto every word as Leo told me about the call from Luca’s father and their meeting. While it was devastating to hear how easily he would toss Luca aside, it brought me so much relief.
But just when I thought my father couldn’t possibly hurt me any worse, he went and betrayed me again. “How did he possibly know how to find Mitch?”
