AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And then what?”
“She started realizing he wasn’t a good man. She tried to pull away. And it seemed to work. He seemed to lose interest. Then she changed. She started seeming more depressed than wild. That was when she told me she was pregnant. And we had to hide it from him. She said he was dangerous, and that was why she had left him. But like I said, it seemed as if he had lost interest in her. But he came to visit one day months later, and he saw that she was pregnant, and he said he wanted the baby. She told him no. We called the police. But...”
“Connections within crime families extend far. I know.”
“We hoped that we were safe. After she had Isabella, she slid into a depression. Only two weeks after Isabella was born she started using drugs. I mean, she had always used them, but when she went out for the night. Not at home, and not during her pregnancy. But she was paranoid, and she was anxious, and she needed something to calm her down. I quit going to class too.” She looked down at her hands. “I was so worried about her. I was so worried about Isabella.”
She took a breath and forged on. “I took care of her, like she was my baby. It just...happened one day. I decided I couldn’t do half. And since Katie couldn’t do it at all, I just did. I fed her, clothed her, rocked her to sleep.” She blinked hard. “One day I went out shopping with Isabella, and when I came back there were police at our apartment. Katie was... Her body was gone already. They said that she had died of a drug overdose. But I was afraid that wasn’t true.”
Min’s eyes met his, and the green fire there was intense. “I will always be afraid that isn’t true. That he wanted the baby. I told the police Isabella was mine. And then the very next day I packed up and I left Italy. I came back home with her. And then he found me. I wanted him to believe that Isabella was my baby. I wanted to... Cast doubt on it. Because I’m sure that he never paid enough attention to me to know whether or not I might have been pregnant. In fact, I doubt he ever would have recognized me no matter how many times he saw me. I’m plain, after all. But I think he found out who was rooming with her, and he began a search. I think he can’t be certain that Isabella is his, and I’m counting on that. I was counting on you standing with me. Because I never slept with him either. So if... If I have a baby. If I have one with you...”
Helpless rage coursed through him, because what could he say? He had been lied to. But Minerva had been doing the very best she could.
There had been nothing else.
And he would never have suggested another plan. There was nothing else. She was correct in that. Claiming the child for her own was brilliant, and using him was brilliant in ways he hadn’t understood.
“He doesn’t believe you, though,” he said.
“He doesn’t know, though,” she said. “I’m sure of that. He’s not completely certain. I don’t think he ever saw Isabella. I don’t think he can be sure if Katie had the baby. Only that there was a baby in our apartment.”
“But you know he wants her anyway.”
“Yes. And if he does any test then he’ll know for sure that she’s his. I fear that if he did a test and found out she wasn’t he would have simply...”
“He doesn’t care for anyone or anything,” Dante said. “Men like that don’t. Men who don’t value life don’t value life of any sort.”
“She’s in danger. And so am I.” Min swallowed hard. “I think he had her killed, Dante. I do. I can’t prove it, and maybe the police covered it up. But what would he do to her? What would he expose her to? And me? Well, he’d just get rid of me, wouldn’t he?”
“You didn’t make that clear enough,” Dante said. “I’m going to make sure he’s dealt with.”
“Please,” Minerva said. “Please don’t...”
“I’m not going to have them killed. But I am going to finance operations to destroy that crime family. And I think I have the connections in Rome to do it. It will all have to be done at once, and it will require money they likely don’t possess. The problem is you have to get everyone within law enforcement on his payroll at the same time.”
She nodded slowly. “Right and that... That’s difficult.”
He shook his head. “Difficult is coming up from the streets of Rome. Starting out the son of a prostitute and becoming a billionaire. That is difficult. This just takes the right moves at the right time, and the right amount of money. And it will be done.”
He stared down at her, at his wife. He had made her his wife in truth, and he could never go back on it. Minerva was his wife, and her protection was his responsibility.
He had grown up on the streets among men like Carlo.
He knew that his father was likely a man quite like him.
And this was his opportunity to do more than simply build another brick in the wall of his own security.
But to knock down the wall that separated an organized crime family from justice.
And he would do it.
For Minerva. For Isabella.
For the boy whom he’d once been.
This was all he could do. At the end of the day, it was the only thing.
He would be a father who protected Isabella. A husband to protect Minerva.
God knew he didn’t have anything else to offer.
