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Lucky for me, he was.
I stared at him, eyes burning.
“Howcouldyou?!”
“You don’t understand!” he began, his voice strained from screaming. “There’s so much you don't know —can’tknow!”
His face was red.
His vein pounded and protruded from his neck to his forehead.
I scoffed, unable to contain my frustration. "Oh, really? Enlighten me then, Dad. Explain to me why you think it's acceptable to be in the fucking mob!”
“I told you!” he bellowed. “That wasn’t me!”
“It was your warehouse!”
“Luca is setting me up! Those motherfucking Bonannos!”
“He wouldn’t do that!” I shot back. “I got shot!”
His face tightened with regret and determination. “You’re naive!”
I shook my head, disbelief coloring my voice. "So, that's it? You think I’m just some idiot?!”
He sighed heavily, his gaze meeting mine. "Anna, I never wanted this life for you. I wanted to shield you from it, to keep you innocent and untouched by it.” His face darkened. “It’s him that pulled you into it! I’m telling you, I wasn’t at the warehouse! I didn’t have anything to do with it!”
“I was already in this world!” I shouted. “You knew that world was what I’ve dedicated my life to!”
“You don’t think Iknowthat?” He pointed to his chest roughly. “Every day was walking on fucking eggshells!”
“Whoareyou!?” I snapped.
“I’m your father and the provider of this family!”
“Is that why Mom left?!” I roared. “Did she know the shit you were into!?”
“Back off, Anna!” he growled. “You don’t get to do this! You’re my daughter!”
“Is this why she left!?” I demanded, fueled.
He sighed, his face softening, but only slightly. “Yes,” he whispered, defeated. “I told her I would kill her if she tried to take you I was doing what I thought was right.”
“And once you had enough — why not stop?”
“You don’t just stop the mob!” he cried out. His words — all of them — struck a chord within me, a faint echo of the father who once held me close and promised to keep me safe. But the bitterness remained. “All I have ever done is try to protect you,” he breathed heavily.
"Protect me?" I threw out, my voice laced with anger and sadness.
“Yes,” he choked, eyes glistening with tears.
“And that’s what this is?” I pointed to my injured arm.
His eyes softened, remorse flickering within them. “No.” He shook his head. “And I know it seems harsh, Annabelle, but sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the greater good. I had to make sacrifices to give you a better life.”
Tears welled in my eyes too, my voice cracking with emotion. “Greater good? Selling drugs is for the greater good?”
“Keeping food on the table is for the greater good,” he sighed. “We had nothing; so I did what I had to do, and then you are stuck. You don’t just leave the mob.”
