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“There’s an offshore account for you.” He ran his fingers through his hair to push it off his forehead. “You’ll need a key to access the money. It’s in my safe. There are fake credentials and enough money for you to live on for a while. If this ends the way I think it will, I want you to buy a one-way plane ticket to the Bahamas.”
I swallowed hard to clear the lump forming at the back of my throat. It felt like someone was stabbing me in the gut, taking a blade to my insides. “Dad, you’re scaring me.”
“I’m sorry. I made a choice a long time ago. I thought I could walk away whenever I wanted.”
My top lip trembled. “I’m scared.”
He wrapped his arm around me and kissed my head like a real father who cared about his daughter. “You’ll get through this. So will your mother. She’s safe in California.”
“What will happen to you?”
“Don’t worry about me. I have a plan.”
ChapterSix
NICO
After dinner, Dad walked Vincenzo Vitale to the front door with his hand on his back. I never thought I’d see the two bosses coming together. And it was at the cost of my relationship with Ava.
She hated me.
Stefan had disappeared while we ate dessert and didn’t return until after we finished eating. He looked like he was up to something. Even Dante noticed and asked him what happened to Ava. He waved his hand and said to leave her alone for the night.
Giancarlo left my father’s penthouse the second the staff removed the plates from the table. As usual, he drank too much and shook uncontrollably. It was so obvious he was hiding something from us. Every time he had to speak to my father, he looked uncomfortable.
I wondered if his behavior made Ava so on edge that it triggered her asthma attack. Or maybe it was Paulie’s foul-smelling cologne.
Dad patted Vincenzo on the back. “We’ll speak soon about the engagement party.”
Vittoria hooked her arm through mine and pulled me aside. She glanced up at me with those dark brown eyes that appeared black. Even her clothes didn’t have an ounce of color. I couldn’t believe I had to marry this woman when I had Ava in the apartment beside mine.
Ava was a natural beauty.
And so perfect for me.
Vittoria dug her long nails into my arm and lowered her voice to a menacing tone. “Is that girl going to be a problem for us?”
Fuck.
“No,” I lied. “She’s nothing to me.”
She gritted her teeth. “Didn’t seem like nothing.”
I shrugged. “What do you want me to say? Ava Vianello is young and has a crush on me.”
Vittoria flicked her long, dark hair over her shoulder and snickered. Then she stared at the diamond engagement ring on her finger with a smile. If I were going to propose to a woman, it would have been with the massive rock my dad gave my mother. A promise of his love, even though he couldn’t marry her.
The past was repeating itself with Ava and me. We would never marry, but we could still be together. My parents had made it work for the past thirty years.
“I think it’s safe to say neither of us wants this,” Vittoria tossed back with an attitude. “If I find out anything is going on with the two of you, I won’t think twice about ending the engagement.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” I assured her.
She flashed a closed-mouth smile and left the penthouse with her mom. Carlo and Angelo glared at each other. The joining of our families wouldn’t settle the feud. Every time Angelo looked in the mirror, he remembered Carlo.
That scar haunted him.
Dante spoke to Joey in a strained tone, like it was painful for him to utter a single word to him. He was seconds from wringing his fucking neck. When Carlo attacked Angelo, he took it personally. Like the scar left on Angelo’s cheek was on his skin.
