Alessandro doesn't shift an inch. His expression remains carved from ice. "What do you want?"
My father leans forward slightly, attempting to turn the momentum of the conversation—and my survival—entirely to his advantage. The mask of the grieving, worried parent evaporates completely, replaced by the calculating gaze of a businessman.
"With Luca and the Kuznetsovs taken care of, the territory is shifting," Massimo says smoothly, his eyes locked onto Alessandro's. "The Caruso family needs to fortify its borders to ensure the transition remains stable. I want more weapons, Alessandro. I want you to increase our supply shipment by forty percent, starting this week."
Alessandro scoffs, a dark, humorless sound. He leans back, looking down at my father as if he were a beggar on the street. "I already gave you weapons when I married Sienna. More than you deserve. And because of Sienna, I increased your supply shipment to thirty percent all the way from fifteen. Are you trying to tell me that isn't enough?"
Massimo’s frown deepens, his jaw hardening as he tries to twist the knife. "Are you saying Sienna isn’t worth that?"
I let out a sharp scoff of my own. The sheer nerve of this man. Alessandro was willing to let go of his entire empire this morning just to keep me safe. I will never forget that.
"Massimo, Sienna is worth so much more than you will ever understand," Alessandro says, his voice dangerously low, "but you are not going to benefit from it. You’ve never treated her like a daughter, so why the hell should you enjoy the benefits of being her father?"
My father’s cold gaze snaps over to me, burning with accusation. "Is that what you told him? That I wasn’t a good father to you?"
A volatile cocktail of anger and old pain explodes in my chest, but I force my voice to remain dead calm. I look him straight in the eye. "I’ve never lied about you, Father. I just told him exactly what living with you was like and I let him judge for himself."
My father let out a low, venomous growl, his grip tightening on his cane. "Did you tell him you ran away with that boy, Domenico, and whored yourself out? Did you tell him I had to save your reputation from being a slut?"
The words strike like a physical blow, a familiar, suffocating shame trying to claw its way back into my throat.
But before the pain can sink its teeth into me, Alessandro rises to his feet, pulling me up seamlessly with him. He steps slightly in front of me, shielding me from my father’s toxic gaze.
"I know the story, Massimo," Alessandro rumbles, his entire frame radiating a terrifying, lethal aura. "She ran away with Domenico not because she’s a slut, but because a life out there on the streets was a hundred times better than a life as your daughter. That should tell you everything you need to know. What kind of a fucking father are you?"
He growls at us, a low, animalistic sound of pure fury trapped inside an old man’s breaking pride. He opens his mouth to speak, but Alessandro doesn't give him the chance.
"I’m not going to punish you for how you treated her, simply because you are her father," Alessandro states, his voice ringing with a finality that seals the room like a tomb. "But you are not going to benefit from her existence from today henceforth. See yourself out."
Without waiting for Massimo to reply, Alessandro turns on his heel and walks away, his hand firmly holding mine as he leads me right back up the grand staircase.
The moment we cross the threshold of our bedroom, the door clicks shut behind us and the rest of the world completely disappears. I don't give him a second to breathe. I am on him instantly, my lips crashing into his, my hands frantically sliding under the hem of his shirt to feel the warm, solid skin of his back.
A startled, husky laugh escapes him against my mouth. "Whoa," he breathes, his hands coming up to gently catch my wrists.
"That was so hot, Alessandro," I pant against his lips, trying to pull him back down to me.
He smiles, a soft, incredibly tender expression I've rarely seen on him, and firmly holds me at arm's length.
I pout, my brows furrowing as I look up at him. "You don't want me?"
"I want you so fucking bad, Sienna," he says, his voice thick and rough with desire. "But I have something to say first."
I still, my heart skipping a beat at the sudden shift in the air. "Say it."
He nods, taking a deep, heavy breath. Looking at him, my breath catches—I have never seen Alessandro look so incredibly nervous. The fearsome Don who just brought an empire to its knees is suddenly looking at me as if I hold his entire life in my hands.
He lets go of my wrists, his fingers traveling up to gently cup my face, his thumbs wiping across my cheekbones. "When Pietro took you... everything went black," he confesses, his voice cracking slightly. "I didn't care about the territory, the Gallo name, or the elders. I realized right then that none of it mattersif you aren't here with me. I've spent my whole life fighting for power, Sienna, but you are the only thing I cannot live without."
He looks deeply into my eyes, his chest heaving as he swallows hard, laying his soul completely bare. "I love you, Sienna. I love you so much it terrifies me."
Tears prick my eyes, blurring the sight of the fierce, unyielding man who has completely softened just for me.
"I never thought a life could feel complete just because one person is in it," he continues, his voice soft and vulnerable. He leans down, resting his forehead gently against mine, his breath warm on my skin. "I want to spend every single day making up for the pain your father caused you. I want to build a world where you never have to doubt your worth, where you feel safe, and where you are cherished the way you deserve. You're my home, Sienna."
A sob breaks from my throat, the sheer emotion of his words crashing over me.
Alessandro’s expression instantly shifts to pure panic. "Sienna? Did I hurt you? Are you okay? Did I?—?"
